IntelliLink Craft
Complete Documentation & SEO Mastery Guide
1. Introduction
Welcome to LevelNetwork IntelliLink Craft. This plugin is designed to be your ultimate semantic architecture assistant for WordPress. Internal linking is one of the most powerful, yet often neglected, on-page SEO strategies.
What is it used for?
- Building a strong, contextually relevant internal linking structure.
- Passing PageRank (link juice) efficiently between your pillar content and cluster articles.
- Manually configuring target keywords for intelligent link suggestions.
- Keeping your site healthy by detecting orphaned pages and broken links.
2. Installation
1Install the Plugin: Download and install `intellilink-craft-smart-internal-linking-auto-linker` from your WordPress dashboard or upload it to your plugins directory.
2Activate: Activate the plugin. You will see a new "IntelliLink Craft" menu on the left side of your dashboard.
3. AI Setup & API Keys
Generate SEO keywords automatically using Artificial Intelligence:
- Native AI (Free): In the Free version, you can select the
WordPress AI Client (wordpress_core)provider. This uses WordPress 7.0+'s built-in AI capabilities. - Premium APIs (PRO): Upgrade to the PRO version to connect directly to premium third-party APIs like
OpenAI,Google Gemini, orAnthropic Claude. This allows customizing model strings and API connection statuses.
4. Target Keywords Configuration
Target keywords represent the core topics a specific post is trying to rank for. IntelliLink uses these keywords to find link opportunities in other posts.
1Open any Post or Page in the Block Editor / Classic Editor.
2Scroll down to the "IC - Target Keywords" meta box.
3Manually type the "Target Keywords" for your current post (comma-separated).
Note: If you use RankMath, Yoast SEO, SEOPress, or All in One SEO, IntelliLink will automatically pre-fill this field with your existing focus keywords!
4Click the Save button to save the keywords without needing to save the entire post draft.
(You can click the "Suggest Keywords" button to automatically generate keywords using the native WordPress AI client or premium APIs if the PRO add-on is active.)
5. Link Suggestions in the Editor
While writing a new post, you might want to link to your older, existing content. IntelliLink does the heavy lifting:
- In the post editor, click the "Scan Links" button in the IC - Internal Link Suggestions meta box.
- The plugin will search your entire database for other posts that have "Target Keywords" matching the text you are writing.
- You will see a contextual highlight preview showing exactly where the keyword appears in your text.
- If the keyword appears multiple times in your text, each context will be displayed with a recommendation to link only the first valid occurrence to avoid excessive looping.
- Select your preferred Link Target (e.g., Same Window or New Window).
- Click Copy HTML to copy the link code, and paste it into your editor.
Note: The Auto-Insert feature is optimized for the Classic Editor and standard Gutenberg. If you use page builders like Enfold, Elementor, or Divi, we recommend using "Copy HTML" instead.
6. Category Siloing
Category Siloing is an advanced SEO technique that involves grouping related content together to establish strong topical authority. By interlinking articles only within the same category, you create a "silo" of relevance that search engines love.
To enable this feature (Free version):
- Go to IntelliLink Craft -> Settings.
- Check the box for "Category Siloing" and click "Save Settings".
How it works: Once enabled, the Internal Link Suggestions will only recommend linking to posts that share at least one category with the post you are currently editing. This prevents cross-linking unrelated topics and diluting your silo strictly.
7. Auto-Linking Engine & Total Automation
Configure dynamic auto-linking across your website:
- Auto-Linking Rules (PRO): Define keyword-to-link rules via the "Auto-Linking" page to automatically transform matching text into anchor links dynamically on the frontend. Customize rule target windows, search rules, and paginate large sets.
- Auto-Link Colors (PRO): Customize the link color and link hover color of your auto-generated links using visual color pickers in the Advanced Settings to match your branding.
- Total Automation (PRO): Automatically generate Auto-Linking Rules whenever you define Target Keywords for a post. Zero manual work required to build your site's link graph! Additionally, if an AI Provider is active, synonyms for those rules can be generated silently in the background via WP-Cron.
- Excluded Zones & Post Exclusions (PRO): Exclude specific URLs/Post IDs or specific page areas (e.g. #footer, .menu) by listing CSS classes/IDs from the Auto-Linking engine.
8. Global Link Opportunities (PRO ONLY)
Ever wonder if you mentioned a target keyword in an old post but forgot to add a link? The Global Link Opportunities dashboard scans your entire website against all your target keywords in real-time, immediately highlighting where you missed internal links. With one click, you can inject the link seamlessly into your old content without even opening the editor!
9. Link Stats, Orphans & Broken Links
Monitor your website's architecture health:
- Run Data Sync: Force the plugin to crawl and analyze your posts to gather up-to-date health statistics.
- Orphaned Posts (Free): View articles that currently receive zero internal links from other pages to fix crawling bottlenecks.
- Broken Link Scanner (Free): Deep-scan your internal links and get alerts for broken links (404 status codes) to ensure your visitors never hit dead ends.
10. Smart Tooltips
Smart Tooltips enhance the user experience by showing a beautiful Wikipedia-style preview of the linked page when a user hovers over an internal link generated by IntelliLink Craft.
To enable Smart Tooltips (Free version):
- Go to IntelliLink Craft > Settings.
- Scroll to the Advanced Settings section.
- Check the box for Enable Smart Tooltips.
- Click Save Settings.
Once enabled, any link inserted via the "Copy HTML" button or automatically created by the Auto-Linking engine will trigger a tooltip showing the target page's featured image and excerpt. The tooltips are automatically disabled on touch/mobile devices for optimal usability.
11. SEO Strategy & Best Practices
The Pillar-Cluster Strategy
To use IntelliLink effectively, adopt a Pillar-Cluster architecture for your content:
1. Define Pillar Pages: Create long, comprehensive guides on broad topics (e.g., "The Ultimate Guide to Digital Marketing"). Set the Target Keyword for this page to "Digital Marketing".
2. Create Cluster Content: Write smaller, specific articles related to the pillar (e.g., "Email Marketing Tips", "Social Media Strategy").
3. Use Target Keywords diligently: Consistently fill out target keywords for each post so the link suggestion engine has a reliable data source when you need to interlink your cluster content back to your pillars.
12. Support & Contact
If you have any questions or want to upgrade to PRO, visit our website:
Developer Site: LevelNetwork
PRO Upgrade: Upgrade to PRO