Webmaster Tools Internal Links

[Carlos-R]

Hi all,

I have around 400 links in the navigation menu (site-wide) and when I use webmaster tools to check for internal links to each page; some have as many as 250K and some as little as 200.

Shouldn't the number of internal links for pages found in the navigation menu be relatively the same? Or is Google registering more internal links for pages linked closer to the top of the code

Thanks!

[Mike.Goracke]

After diving deeper, it looks like it is a matter of breadcrumbs and other types of navigation.

Here is an example of how different pages are linking to /Mens_Bags-600/:

/Electric_Goggles_and_Electric_Sunglasses~65

• links once via the top navigation

/Surfdome_Mens_Bags-600/132

• links twice via the top navigation and the breadcrumb

/Bags-372/

• links three times via the top navigation, left navigation, and in as in-line text as MENS BAGS>

As you can see, depending on the page, the linking structure can vary greatly on your site. I didn't dive extremely deep into your site, so there definitely could be other instances of other types of linking structures on different page layouts. This would definitely explain why some of your pages have MANY in links, while others don't.

I hope this helps; otherwise, like I said, Screaming Frog can pinpoint exactly where your in links are coming from, which can help you figure out the entire linking structure of your site.

Hope this helps.

Mike

[Carlos-R]

Hi Mike - Thanks for your response. I can see how breadcrumbs could inflate internal links, but I don't it is the case this time.

Mens_Bags-600/ - 436 products, all with links to that page.

Womens_Bags-226/ -   771 products, all with links to that page.

Both pages can be found in the site-wide navigation.

According to Webmaster Tools, the men's page has 203,062 internal links and women's 8,644.

If the difference were due to the breadcrumb, the women's page should have had more links, right?

Cheers,

Carlos

[Mike.Goracke]

Hi Carlos,

I think part of this has to do with the breadcrumb functionality you have built into your site.

So for instance, /Mens_Wetsuits-598/ has a ton of inlinks. Part of this is because your top navigation is linking to /Men_Wetsuits-598/ on every page on your site, then your breadcrumb functionality is linking to /Mens_Wetsuits-598/ on each of your 252 men's wetsuit products.

If you want a further look at internal linking structure, I would recommend Screaming Frog SEO Spider. It will scan your entire site and can show you all internal in-links and out-links for each page on your site.

I hope this gives you some insight as to what is happening. It is not of course a comprehensive explanation, but you can see how something as small as a breadcrumb can easily inflate the number of internal links.

Mike