Percentage of DoFollow Internal Links is the share of a page’s parsed anchor links that point to the same site and carry no nofollow attribute, reported on a 0–100 scale. Because the denominator counts every recognized anchor on the page — external links included — a high value often reflects raw navigation volume rather than deliberate internal-link strategy.
| Factor ID | RG-LNK-020 |
|---|---|
| Family | Links on the page |
| Measurement | Percentage (0–100) |
| Measured zone | Anchor links in the rendered page body |
What it measures
This factor reports the share of all parsed anchors that RankGear classifies as internal and that lack a nofollow attribute. It is a single ratio describing how much of a page’s link surface is made up of crawlable, same-site links rather than external links or links that ask crawlers not to follow them.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear treats relative links as internal, and treats absolute HTTP or HTTPS links as internal when their host matches the analyzed page. It counts the internal anchors that carry no nofollow, divides that count by all recognized anchors on the page, and multiplies by 100. A page with no recognized anchors yields an undefined result rather than a zero.
What RankGear looks for
<a href="/pricing/">…</a> → internal, dofollow (numerator + denominator)
<a href="https://rankgear.com/blog/">…</a> → internal (host matches), dofollow
<a href="/legal/" rel="nofollow">…</a> → internal, NOT counted (has nofollow)
<a href="https://other-site.com/">…</a> → external (denominator only)dofollow_internal_pct = (internal anchors without nofollow / all recognized anchors) × 100| Anchor type | Counts toward |
|---|---|
Internal anchor, no nofollow | Numerator and denominator |
Internal anchor with nofollow | Denominator only |
| External anchor | Denominator only |
| No recognized anchors on the page | Result is undefined |
How to optimize it
Treat the number as an observation about a page’s link mix, not a target to inflate. The productive work is building helpful, crawlable internal links that connect users to relevant pages, supporting topics, conversion paths, and important site sections — using descriptive anchors that point to the correct destinations. Remove any accidental nofollow from ordinary internal navigation unless there is a specific reason to keep it. A higher percentage that comes from genuine, useful internal linking is meaningful; a higher percentage manufactured by padding the page with repetitive links is not.
Important considerations
- The denominator includes external links, so pages with many outbound links can show a lower percentage even when their internal linking is sound.
- A high percentage can simply reflect navigation volume — large menus, footers, and template links — rather than editorial internal linking.
- Internal-link relevance and site architecture matter more than the raw ratio.
- Avoid adding repetitive template links solely to raise the value.
- This is a prioritization signal that relates to position within a measured result set. It does not, on its own, make a page rank or guarantee a ranking — correlation is not causation.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.