Website Links Count Checker

Enter a URL

About Website Links Count Checker

Why Check Link Counts?

Counting links on a website helps with:

1. SEO Optimization:
   • Ensuring a proper internal linking strategy to improve search rankings.
   • Avoiding excessive outbound links that can dilute page authority.
2. User Experience:
   • Maintaining a balanced navigation system.
   • Identifying broken or unnecessary links.
3. Website Audits:
   • Analyzing the link structure for issues like orphan pages (no internal links).
   • Ensuring compliance with Google's best practices.

Types of Website Links to Count

1. Internal Links:
   • Links that point to other pages within the same website (e.g., homepage to product page).
2. External Links:
   • Links that point to other websites outside the domain (e.g., linking to social media).
3. DoFollow Links:
   • Links that allow search engines to follow them and pass SEO value.
4. NoFollow Links:
   • Links with the rel="nofollow" attribute that tell search engines not to follow them.
5. Broken Links:
   • Links that lead to non-existent pages (404 errors).

Ways to Check Website Link Count

1. Manual Methods (Using Browser Developer Tools)

Most web browsers offer built-in tools to inspect links on a webpage.

Steps:

1. Open the webpage in Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.
2. Right-click and select "Inspect" (or press F12).
3. Go to the "Elements" tab and search for anchor tags (<a>).
4. Count links manually or use the Console tab with the command:

javascript

CopyEdit

console.log(document.querySelectorAll('a').length);

Pros:

• No additional tools needed.
• Quick for small-scale analysis.

Cons:

• Time-consuming for large pages.
• Doesn't differentiate between internal and external links easily.

2. Online Website Link Count Checkers

There are various free and paid online tools to count links on a webpage.

Popular Online Tools:

1. Ahrefs Site Explorer – Provides detailed link reports.
2. SmallSEOTools Link Counter – Free and quick link count tool.
3. SEO Review Tools
4. Sitechecker

Steps:

1. Visit any link checker website.
2. Enter the URL of the webpage or website.
3. Get a report on the number of internal and external links.

Pros:

• Quick and user-friendly.
• No technical skills required.

Cons:

• May have usage limitations.
• Some advanced features require a subscription.

3. Using Python to Count Links (Automated Method)

For automation, Python can be used to scrape and count links on a page using libraries like requests, BeautifulSoup, and selenium for dynamic pages.

Example Code Using BeautifulSoup:

python

CopyEdit

import requests

from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

 

def count_links(url):

    response = requests.get(url)

    soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, "html.parser")

 

    # Get all links

    all_links = soup.find_all("a")

    internal_links = [link['href'] for link in all_links if link.get('href', '').startswith('/') or url in link.get('href', '')]

    external_links = [link['href'] for link in all_links if link.get('href', '').startswith('http') and url not in link.get('href', '')]

 

    print(f"Total Links: {len(all_links)}")

    print(f"Internal Links: {len(internal_links)}")

    print(f"External Links: {len(external_links)}")

 

count_links("https://example.com")

Pros:

• Automates the process for multiple pages.
• Provides accurate results with filtering options.

Cons:

• Requires Python setup and programming knowledge.
• May face challenges with dynamic websites.

4. Using SEO Browser Extensions

Browser extensions can help quickly analyze the number of links on a webpage.

Recommended Extensions:

• SEO Minion (for Chrome & Firefox)
• Check My Links (Chrome Extension)
• Link Analyzer Plugin

Steps to Use:

1. Install the extension in your browser.
2. Open the webpage and click the extension icon.
3. The tool will display a count of total links, internal/external, and broken links.

Pros:

• Easy to use without coding.
• Works directly in the browser.

Cons:

• Limited to analyzing one page at a time.
• May slow down the browser on large pages.

5. Using Google Search Console

Google Search Console provides insights on internal links but does not show a count for each page.

Steps to Check:

1. Log in to Google Search Console.
2. Navigate to Links > Internal Links.
3. See the number of internal links pointing to each page.

Pros:

• Official data from Google.
• Helps in link optimization for SEO.

Cons:

• Doesn't provide external link data.
• Requires site verification.

Factors Affecting Link Count Results

1. JavaScript-Rendered Links: Some links are loaded dynamically via JavaScript and may not be detected by standard crawlers.
2. Redirects: Links redirecting to another page may not be counted accurately.
3. Hidden Links: Some links might be hidden via CSS, which affects manual inspection.
4. Duplicate Links: Multiple occurrences of the same link could inflate the count.

Best Practices for Managing Links on a Website

• Ensure a healthy ratio of internal to external links.
• Avoid excessive links on a single page to prevent SEO penalties.
• Regularly check and remove broken or outdated links.
• Use the nofollow attribute for untrusted external links.
• Optimize internal linking for better crawling and user navigation.

Conclusion

There are several methods to check and count links on a website, ranging from manual inspection to automated tools. Depending on the scale and complexity of your needs, you can choose from:

• For Quick Checks: Use browser tools or online services.
• For In-Depth Analysis: Use SEO tools like Ahrefs, Google Search Console.
• For Automation: Write Python scripts or use APIs.