7 Pros + 4 Cons of the LinkWhisper WordPress Plugin

Internal links are like the teeth flossing of running a website. Unanimously, everybody – from your readers to Google to consultants to UX people – says that you should do it.

But does everyone do it? No!

Why? Because it’s inconvenient, does not have an immediate reward, and is mind-numbingly boring.

I jumped on LinkWhisper license years ago to solve this problem. But the software was awful. But then, they rebuilt it from scratch. I now have it on this site, my portfolio sites, and client sites. Here’s why I love about it…and what is still missing.

Pros

Solves The Most Time Consuming Task for SEOs

Internal linking has always been one of my most time-intensive tasks when optimizing websites. LinkWhisper has completely transformed this process. I’ve found that what used to take me hours, now takes just a few minutes. The AI-powered suggestion engine identifies relevant linking opportunities automatically as I write or edit content. It’s particularly effective at finding contextual matches that I might have missed even with years of running a website and “having it all in my head”.

Very Affordable Pricing, Given Time Saved

At $97/year for a single site license LinkWhisper isn’t cheap, but offers exceptional value. I’ve calculated that it saves me roughly 15-20 hours of work per month on my main website. When I compare this to my hourly rate of $100 the plugin essentially pays for itself within the first month of use. The 10 site license at $217/year for up to 10 sites is even more cost-effective for my client work. There’s no complicated tiering or hidden fees – just straightforward pricing based on the number of sites you need to manage.

Lots of Granular Settings for Each Site

I particularly appreciate the level of control LinkWhisper provides. The dashboard lets me customize linking behavior for each individual site. I can set preferred anchor text variations category exclusions and linking rules. The keyword-level controls are especially useful – I’ve set it to avoid certain terms and prioritize others. The ability to specify link placement preferences (beginning middle or end of paragraphs) gives me precise control over how links appear in my content.

Generally Well-Built & Designed

The user interface is clean intuitive and integrates seamlessly with the WordPress editor. I’ve had zero conflicts with my theme or other plugins across multiple sites. The dashboard loads quickly and the link suggestions appear almost instantly. Reports are well-organized and easy to navigate. I particularly like the bulk editing features which let me review and implement multiple link suggestions across several posts at once. The recent addition of the content report feature has made it even easier to identify posts that need more internal links.

Cons

Advanced Options Are Not Well-Explained

I found myself constantly referring to support documentation when trying to use LinkWhisper’s advanced features. The click-tracking settings lack clear explanations and the custom rules interface doesn’t provide enough guidance. For example when I tried setting up domain-specific linking rules I had to contact support to understand how the priority system worked. The knowledge base articles could use more real-world examples and step-by-step tutorials especially for features like custom anchor text variations and link position preferences.

Requires SEO Knowledge To Really Use Well

Despite its AI capabilities, LinkWhisper isn’t exactly a “set and forget” tool. I’ve noticed that getting the most value requires a solid understanding of SEO principles and internal linking strategy. The plugin suggests links based on keyword matches but you need to know which suggestions make sense for your site architecture…otherwise you’ll end up with a lot of pointless, weird links. During my testing I saw many technically correct but strategically poor suggestions that could have created irrelevant internal links if I hadn’t known better. New users might struggle to separate valuable linking opportunities and unnecessary connections.

Can Use A Lot of Resources Accidentally

I learned the hard way that LinkWhisper can impact site performance if not configured carefully. Running link suggestions on large posts with multiple images can temporarily slow down the WordPress admin area. The bulk linking feature once caused my server CPU usage to spike when I tried processing 1000+ posts simultaneously. The plugin’s database tables can also grow significantly if you’re analyzing thousands of posts which may affect backup sizes and storage limits.

Tips & Best Use Cases

After extensive testing I’ve discovered several key strategies to maximize LinkWhisper’s effectiveness. Here are my top recommendations:

Configuration Optimization

I recommend starting with these optimal settings:

• Set link suggestions to 8-10 per post
• Enable “Only show contextual links”
• Limit anchor text to 2-4 words (no single word links)
• Exclude navigation menus and footers from link scanning

Content Organization

• Creating topic clusters before running bulk suggestions
• Using categories to segment content
• Maintaining a clean URL structure

Time-Saving Workflows

• Running link suggestions immediately after publishing
• Using bulk operations for older content
• Creating custom rules for product pages

Next Steps

If you’re spending hours manually managing internal links for yourself or clients, LinkWhisper could be the solution you need. The plugin is an essential WordPress plugin on any significant site that I manage.

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