Extract and categorize all the links on any page: internal vs external, follow vs nofollow, with the full external link list. Understand how a page passes link equity in seconds.
Extract and categorize all the links on any page: internal vs external, follow vs nofollow, with the full external link list. Understand how a page passes link equity in seconds.
How it works
Enter your page URL
Paste any public URL and run the check. We fetch the page's HTML and pull every anchor (<a href>) on it, resolving relative links to full URLs so we can tell exactly where each one points.
Review your link breakdown
You get the total link count split into internal vs. external, the number of nofollow links, and a list of the external destinations with each one's follow or nofollow status — a clear picture of how the page passes link equity.
Adjust your linking and re-run
Fix what the breakdown reveals — add internal links to important pages, set sponsored or affiliate links to nofollow, prune dead-weight external links — then run the check again to confirm a cleaner link profile before the next crawl.
What we check
Total links on the page — Counts every real navigational anchor with an href. We skip non-navigational links — in-page anchors (#section), mailto:, tel:, and javascript: — so the total reflects links that actually pass crawl paths and equity.
Internal vs. external split — Compares each link's host against the page's own domain (ignoring the www prefix). Same-domain links are internal — they spread authority through your site; different-domain links are external — they point authority outward.
Nofollow links — Counts links carrying rel="nofollow". Nofollow tells search engines not to pass ranking signals through that link — appropriate for paid, untrusted, or user-generated links, but a mistake on links you want to vouch for.
External destination list — Lists up to 30 external URLs with their full address and a follow/nofollow tag, so you can see exactly which outside sites the page links to and whether each one passes equity.
Relative-link resolution — Resolves relative hrefs (like /about or ../page) against the page URL to a full absolute address before classifying them, so links are correctly bucketed as internal rather than misread.
Link-equity overview — Summarizes the ratio of internal to external and followed to nofollowed links — the shape of how this page distributes authority across your own site and out to others.
Common issues we catch
Too few internal links — A page that barely links to the rest of your site traps its authority and leaves important pages hard for crawlers to reach. Internal links are how ranking signals flow through a site — orphaned or sparsely-linked pages underperform. Add contextual links to related pages.
All external links left as follow — Affiliate, sponsored, and paid links should carry rel="nofollow" (or sponsored). Leaving them followed passes your authority to those sites and can violate search-engine link guidelines. Audit external links and mark the ones you don't editorially vouch for.
Important links blocked with nofollow — The opposite mistake: applying nofollow site-wide (sometimes a leftover plugin setting) on internal links or legitimate references throttles your own link equity. Internal links and trusted citations should generally be followed.
Relative links that resolve wrong — A relative href written incorrectly (a missing leading slash, a stray ../) can resolve to a 404 or to an unintended path that looks fine in the editor. Because the browser may still render the anchor, the broken target hides until something follows it.
Links injected by JavaScript — Menus, related-post widgets and pagination added client-side may not be in the initial HTML a crawler reads first. The links work for users but can be invisible to bots, so the internal links you think exist may not be discoverable.
Excessive links on one page — Hundreds of links on a single page (mega-menus, tag clouds, link farms) dilute the equity each one passes and can look spammy. Keep links purposeful — every link should earn its place and point somewhere useful.
External links to dead or low-quality sites — Linking out to sites that have gone offline, been parked, or are spammy reflects on your page's quality. Periodically review your outbound links; remove or replace ones whose destinations have decayed.
Where this matters
Google Search — Google follows links to discover pages and passes ranking signals (PageRank) along followed links. Internal links shape how authority flows through your site; the rel attribute on external links tells Google whether to pass equity.
rel=nofollow / sponsored / ugc — The link relationship values that control equity flow. nofollow is the general 'don't vouch' signal; sponsored marks paid links and ugc marks user-generated ones. Using the right value keeps you within search-engine link guidelines.
Bing & other crawlers — All major crawlers traverse a site by following links. A clean internal-link structure helps every search engine find and prioritize your pages, not just Google.
WordPress, Shopify & Wix — Themes, menus, and plugins generate large numbers of links automatically — and some apply blanket nofollow or build menus in JavaScript. This tool shows the real link profile that shipped, including the bits the platform added for you.
Affiliate & ad networks — Affiliate links and display-ad code should be nofollow or sponsored. Networks sometimes insert links you didn't hand-place; extracting every external link helps you catch unmarked monetized links that need the right rel value.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between internal and external links?
Internal links point to other pages on the same domain; external links point to pages on a different domain. Internal links spread authority and help crawlers navigate your own site, while external links pass authority outward to other sites you reference.
What does a nofollow link do?
rel="nofollow" tells search engines not to pass ranking credit through that link. It's the right choice for paid, sponsored, or untrusted links and for user-generated content. Followed (normal) links do pass credit, which is what you want for links you genuinely endorse.
How many links should a page have?
There's no hard limit — Google dropped its old ~100-link guideline years ago — but every link dilutes the equity the others pass, so keep them purposeful. A focused page with relevant internal links and a few quality external references beats a wall of hundreds of links.
Should I nofollow my external links?
Only the ones you don't editorially vouch for — paid, sponsored, affiliate, or untrusted links should be nofollow (or sponsored/ugc). Genuine citations and references to quality sources are fine to leave as normal followed links; that's a natural, healthy part of the web.
Why are some of my links missing from the results?
We skip in-page anchors (#section), mailto:, tel:, and javascript: links because they don't pass crawl paths. Beyond that, links built by JavaScript after page load may not be in the initial HTML we read — check view-source if a menu link is absent.
How do internal links help SEO?
They distribute authority from strong pages to ones that need a boost, help search engines discover and understand the relationship between your pages, and give visitors paths to related content. A well-linked site indexes more completely and ranks more evenly.
Do relative and absolute links matter?
For SEO, both work as long as they resolve to the right URL. The risk with relative links is mistakes — a missing slash or wrong path can point to a 404 or the wrong page. We resolve relative links to their full address so you can see exactly where each one lands.
How long until link changes take effect?
New or changed links are live for users immediately. Search engines factor them in after they re-crawl the page and the pages it links to — typically days to a few weeks. Improving internal links to a page can speed up how quickly that page is discovered and re-evaluated.
This is one of several free SEO tools from Custom Web Audits.
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