Today I will show you how to find external links on your website without using paid plugins.
This is something that you typically need to find broken links to other websites or identify specific links to a website. These methods are free alternatives to tools like Screaming Frog.
Internal linking should be done intentionally. It is not enough with linking to an article that is relevant to a keyword or phrase. It should be done in an structured way amongst pages within a certain topic in your site and also the hyerarchy of the pages should be taken into account so that the link juice flows as it should. Check out here how to structure and add internal links in your site without plugins.
Also, if your website is multilingual, you might face an extra challenge, which is making sure that anchor keywords link to the content in the right language. Check this article if you would like to learn how to update internal links to their language when you translate your site.
How to find links in your website:
Download the plugin Search Regex:
Once installed you can find it on Tools – Search Regex.
In Preset select No preset.
In Search, type: <a href=”https://.
This search will return all links in your website.
How to find internal links in your website:
If you want to find all internal links in your website (pages or posts with links to other pages or posts) you can run a very similar search in Search Regex.
In Preset select No preset.
In Search, type <a href=”https://nameofyourwebsite.
This search will return all links in your website named nameofyourwebsite
How to replace links in your website:
In order to replace links in your website automatically you can use this Use Search Regex with a different command.
In Search, type <a href=”https://website123.com
In Action, choose Global Text Replace.
In Replace, write the new link that you want to replace the old one.
I recommend you check one post updated to make sure all looks ok before making any changes.
Also, it is a good idea to check your WordPress backup so that it is on hand in case you need to revert to the latest backup.
This search will return all links in your website named nameofyourwebsite.
I hope that this post on how to find external links on your website without using paid plugins was helpful.
Another thing that you can do with this plugin, for example, is to use it to updated translated internal links. Check the link to find out how.
Stay whisker-tuned for my next purr-fect marketing update!
Missing me already, dear human? You can find me on X and Facebook.
Moxie