How do machines follow the links on my site?
Links is about whether the links on a page lead somewhere real, go there directly, say where they go and lead on into the rest of your site. It matters to a machine because links are how a crawler or an agent moves from one page to the next, and what it learns about each page before it arrives. Below are the 4 checks in this course, what each one looks for, and what good looks like. We follow a sample of the links on the page we scanned; we can't see every link on your site, and links that refuse automated visitors are left out rather than called broken.
All 4 checks count toward your headline score.
The checks in this course
4 checksNo broken links
Do broken links on my page matter to AI crawlers?Dead links waste crawl budget, leak authority, and frustrate readers.
What good looks like On-page links resolve (no 4xx/5xx).
Read more about broken linksLinks don't point at redirects
Why should my links point at the final address?Linking through redirects (or chains) wastes crawl budget and slightly dilutes authority.
What good looks like Internal links point straight at final URLs.
Read more about links that redirectDescriptive anchor text
Why does the wording of my links matter?Descriptive anchors tell engines (and readers) what's on the other end; 'click here' tells them nothing.
What good looks like Meaningful anchor text instead of 'click here' / bare URLs.
Read more about anchor textSensible internal/external link mix
Does my page link enough to the rest of my site?A reasonable internal-linking structure spreads authority; excessive or all-nofollow outbound links are a smell.
What good looks like Healthy internal linking and a sensible nofollow ratio.
Read more about internal linking and nofollowWords you'll meet here
How does your page read to a machine?
A free scan checks these 4 and everything else in about 20 seconds — no signup.
Rather have it handled? No pitch, just a plain-English chat.
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