FAQ
General
Do I need both plugins?
No. Each plugin works independently. However, they are designed as a pipeline — Auto Focus Keyword creates the keyword layer that Automatic Internal Links consumes. Together, they are more effective than either alone.
Which SEO plugin is required?
At least one of: Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All in One SEO, or SEOPress. All in One SEO and SEOPress support is version-scoped: Auto Focus Keyword 1.0.8 writes missing focus keywords, and Automatic Internal Links 2.0.7 reads them for linking.
Is the pipeline destructive? Will it modify my existing content?
Auto Focus Keyword writes only to the focus keyword meta field — it does not touch your page content. Automatic Internal Links injects links at render time via the the_content filter — it does not modify your database content. Deactivating either plugin removes its effects immediately.
Auto Focus Keyword
Does it overwrite existing focus keywords?
FETCH only selects items whose focus keyword field is empty, so a keyword you have already written is not part of the batch. One caveat is worth knowing: the protection is in that selection, not in the write. If a field is filled between the moment you run FETCH and the moment you run SYNC, the sync writes the page title over it. Run SYNC on a fresh FETCH rather than on a list prepared hours earlier.
Is the page title always the right keyword?
Not always. It is a practical shortcut that works well for product catalogs but may need manual refinement for editorial content. Read more.
Automatic Internal Links
Why does the free version say "automatic" if SYNC is manual?
The SYNC process is triggered manually, but the link creation itself is automatic — the plugin scans and creates all matching links in one operation. The continuous AUTO LINKS mode (no manual trigger) is a Pro feature.
Does it create links inside existing links?
No. The <a> tag is always excluded from the replacement logic. The plugin never nests links.
Does it create self-referencing links?
No. The plugin always checks the current page ID against the link destination and skips matches.
Is it compatible with WPML or Polylang?
From Automatic Internal Links 2.0.8, links that would cross a language boundary are filtered out at render time, using the language filter WPML provides. The check is fail-open: where the language cannot be determined, or where no plugin supplies it, the link is still created. Polylang has not been tested. Read more.
Is it compatible with ACF?
Not for content stored in ACF custom fields, as the plugin uses the the_content filter which does not process postmeta content.
Does it affect site performance?
Minimally. Database queries are cached as WordPress transients (default: 14 days). The SYNC process runs in batches. Read more.