emrysh

<p>Half Baked Link Injection lets you define simple rules that automatically replace whole-word phrases with links when WordPress renders post and page content.</p>
<p>It is designed for clean, predictable linking that stays out of your way. Rules are applied only to <code>the_content</code>, and existing links are never modified. This makes it useful for SEO hygiene, internal linking, and turning recurring terms into consistent references without editing each post manually.</p>
<h4>How it works</h4>
<p>Create one or more injection rules. Each rule includes:<br />
* A phrase (whole-word matching is always used)<br />
* A destination URL (internal relative links or external URLs)<br />
* Optional settings like case sensitivity, where it applies, and how often it triggers</p>
<p>When a post or page is displayed, the plugin scans only the text portions of the content and injects links where appropriate. It will not touch phrases inside existing <code><a></code> tags, and it skips script and style blocks to avoid breaking markup.</p>
<h4>Targeting and control</h4>
<p>Rules can be scoped and prioritized so you stay in control when phrases overlap or your site grows.<br />
* Post type targeting: apply a rule to Posts, Pages, or both<br />
* Priority ordering: lower numbers win when multiple rules could match the same spot<br />
* Tie-breaking: if priorities match, newer rules win</p>
<h4>Occurrence options</h4>
<p>Control how frequently each phrase is linked:<br />
* First<br />
* First + every Nth<br />
* Every Nth<br />
* All</p>
<p>This is useful when you want a light touch on long articles.</p>
<h4>External links done properly</h4>
<p>When a rule points to an external URL, the plugin:<br />
* Adds <code>target="_blank"</code><br />
* Ensures <code>rel</code> includes <code>noopener noreferrer</code><br />
* Lets you append additional rel tokens like <code>nofollow</code> or <code>sponsored</code></p>
<p>Relative URLs stay relative and do not get <code>target="_blank"</code>.</p>
<h4>Built for safety and performance</h4>
<ul>
<li>No recursion into <code>the_content</code></li>
<li>Processes content safely by splitting HTML and touching only text tokens</li>
<li>Skips existing <code><a></code> tags</li>
<li>Skips <code><script></code> and <code><style></code> blocks</li>
</ul>
<h4>Privacy and data</h4>
<p>This plugin does not send any data off-site. Rules are stored locally in your WordPress database in a single option.</p>
<h4>Uninstall</h4>
<p>Uninstalling the plugin removes stored rules from your database.</p>


Half Baked Link Injection

Automatically replace whole-word phrases with links when WordPress renders your content, without touching existing links.

chrisguitarguy

agencypmg

<p>SEO Auto Linker is an update to the much loved <a href="https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/seo-automatic-links/" title="SEO Smart Links" rel="ugc">SEO Smart Links</a> plugin.</p>
<p>The plugin automatically links words and phrases in your post, page or custom post type content.</p>
<p>The difference is that you no longer have to try and guess what links will appear.  Specify keywords in a comma separated list, type in the URL to which those keywords will link, specify how many links to the specified URL per post, and then specify the post type. SEO Auto Linker does the rest.</p>
<p>Bugs?  Problems?  <a href="http://pmg.co/contact" rel="nofollow ugc">Get in touch</a>.</p>


SEO Auto Linker

I just recommended this to Paul Boag of the Boagworld podcast. It's that good that after 4 years since last update it's still working with a WordPress 4.8 I tested it on!

Very robust bit of kit

SEO Auto Linker allows you to automagically add links into your content. Great for internal linking!

Half Baked Link Injection vs SEO Auto Linker