How to Use Google Search Console Data to Improve Your Internal Linking

If you’ve ever looked at your Google Search Console (GSC) account and thought, “That’s nice, but what the hell am I supposed to do with this?”, you’re not alone.

GSC is a brilliant tool, but it’s also a bit of a rabbit hole – full of valuable data, but not always obvious in how it should drive action. One area it can help with massively is improving your internal linking. Not in a theoretical, jargon-filled SEO nonsense way – but in a practical, let ’s-make-your-site-better way.

This post is going to cover:

• Why Internal Linking Matters
• Step 1: Open Performance Report and Switch to Pages
• Step 2: Identify Pages with High Impressions and Low CTR
• Step 3: Find Orphaned Pages Using GSC + Screaming Frog (or Ahrefs)
• Step 4: Use the Links Report to See What Google Thinks is Important
• Step 5: Look at Query Data to Add Internal Links Where Relevant
• Step 6: Prioritise Content Hubs and Pillar Pages
• Step 7: Fix Low-Value Links
• Step 8: Track Changes and Results
• Final Thoughts

Why Internal Linking Matters (Quickly).

Before we start pulling reports, let’s be clear about why this matters.

Internal links are how your site works. They’re what tell Google, “this page is important”, “these two things are related”, and “this page supports that one”. They’re also what help your visitors find stuff, understand context, and stay longer. If you don’t have a proper internal linking structure, Google can’t crawl or understand your content properly – and people can’t navigate it either.

Step 1: Open the Performance Report and Switch to Pages.

Log in to Search Console and go to Performance → Search results.

Switch the view to Pages rather than queries. This shows you which pages are actually getting impressions and clicks from Google, and that’s where the fun starts.

Step 2: Identify Pages with High Impressions and Low CTR.

Filter your report to show pages that are getting high impressions but low click-through rates (CTR). These pages are ranking for something, but they’re not getting clicked.

Now, this might be a title/meta problem (and it often is), but it also signals an internal linking opportunity.

Step 3: Find Orphaned Pages Using GSC + Screaming Frog (or Ahrefs).

GSC alone won’t show you orphaned pages – i.e. pages that exist on your site but have no internal links pointing to them.

To find these:

1. Crawl your site using Screaming Frog
2. Export a list of all URLs from GSC
3. Compare the two lists

Step 4: Use the Links Report to See What Google Thinks is Important.

Go to Links → Internal Links in GSC. This shows you which pages have the most internal links pointing to them. Sense-check your internal linking strategy here.

Step 5: Look at Query Data to Add Internal Links Where Relevant.

Go to the Performance → Queries tab and filter by page. You’ll see what search terms that page is showing for. Add internal links using those phrases from other relevant pages.

Step 6: Prioritise Content Hubs and Pillar Pages.

If you’ve built content clusters, check their structure. Are the supporting posts linking back to the pillar? Does the pillar link back out? Use GSC to assess performance and tighten the links.

Step 7: Fix Low-Value Links.

Look for links with vague anchor text like “click here” or that are buried in the footer. Replace them with contextual, helpful links using meaningful anchor text.

Step 8: Track Changes and Results.

Keep a spreadsheet of what you change, where you link to, and when. Then monitor impressions, clicks and average ranking positions to see what’s working.

Get on it.

Internal linking should be intentional. GSC won’t do it for you, but it will show you the gaps. Fix them and your site will be easier to use, rank better and work harder for your business.

We’ve found that sorting your internal site linking can have a really beneficial impact on your search results – it’s pretty obvious why: you are helping Google and other search engines to understand your site and its content better.

Serprocket can help you with this task by showing you pages that could use more internal links – It gives you a full internal linking report to then action, and you can add tasks in the app to make sure these internal links all get sorted.