Broken links can have a negative impact on your website’s visitors user experience. This means lower search engine rankings, frustrated visitors and, more importantly, less sales. If you don’t regularly check your websites for broken links you risk losing visitors and damaging your hard earned reputation. In this guide you’ll learn how to use a broken link checker to scan your website for broken links, how to fix broken links and how to automate dead link checks.
What are broken links and why should you fix them?
Broken links (AKA dead links) are links that, when clicked on, don’t lead anywhere. When your visitors click on them they’ll land on a page saying that this page doesn’t exist or can’t be found.
Why do links break?
- typos where the link has been typed incorrectly
- the link just doesn’t exist anymore because the page was deleted or moved without being redirected
- the website you were linking to doesn’t exist anymore
This can be really frustrating to website visitors and doesn’t paint your brand in a great light.
Why should you check dead links on your website?
There are two reasons for fixing broken links:
- Better user experience
It’s really irritating to click on a link only to be greeted with a ‘this page cannot be found’ error. Visitors leave websites with broken links, and likely will not bother coming back again. If you can’t make sure your links are all working then how much effort are you putting into other parts of your business?
- Search engine optimisation
That’s right my friend, broken links are (yet) another thing that can harm your SEO and Google page ranking. While broken links don’t directly effect SEO, search ranking metrics include user experience and bounce rate. If a user finds a broken link on your site they’re more likely to bounce off your site. - Trust and credibility
A well maintained website looks more credible and trustworthy to people finding your brand for the first time.
Want to know more about SEO? Check out my favourite SEO blog posts here :
The beginner’s guide to Google Analytics
The Google Search Console dashboard – your complete guide
Search engine optimisation on a WordPress site
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The best broken link checker tools
Thankfully checking your site for broken links isn’t a manual task. There are loads of tools around that will scan your website for broken links and tell you where they are so you can fix them.
| Tool | Free/Paid | Key Features |
| Ahrefs Broken Link Checker | Free & Paid | Deep scans and reports |
| Dr. Link Check | Free & Paid | Malicious link detection |
| Online Broken Link Checker | Free | Checks up to 3000 pages |
* Important note *
There is a WordPress plugin, Broken Link Checker, that runs a continuous scan in the background. While it might sound handy to have automated scans this plugin is known to significantly slow down your website, especially if you have a lot of pages and blog posts.
Screenshot of a broken link checker scan report from Ahrefs
Alternatives to the WordPress plugin
- Use one of the tools listed above to run periodic scans of your website
- If you insist on using the plugin, enable it periodically and then deactivate once you’re done fixing your links
How to Check Your Website for Broken Links (Step-by-Step)
Run a broken link scan
- Head over to one of the broken link scanning tools such as Ahrefs Broken Link Checker or Broken Link Checker.
- Enter your website URL and start the scan.
- Wait for the tool to scan your website and display the report. If you have a lot of pages and blog posts on your site this might take a few minutes.
Screenshot of a broken link scan report
Review the broken link report
Once you scan your website for broken links you’ll get a list of dead links which should include:
- The URL of the page/post that is currently linking to the dead link
- The text that the link has been placed on (anchor text)
- The dead link URL
Fix the broken links
There are a couple of options on how to fix the broken link depending on the context of the original link:
Update the link
- If the destination page has moved update the link to the correct URL
- Fix any typos in the link
Redirect the link
- If a page has been deleted, set up a 301 redirect to another relevant page
- The easiest way to do this is by using the Redirection WordPress plugin
Delete the link
- If the site doesn’t exist anymore or the page has been deleted and there’s no relevant alternative page just delete the link.
Final thoughts: keep your site free of broken links
Broken links are irritating for website visitors, and have a negative impact on your SEO and conversions, but they’re easy to fix when you know how and you have the right tools.
What to do next?
- Check your website for broken links today by using one of the tools I mentioned above
- Make a note or put a recurring event in your calendar to check your site regularly, once a month is ideal
- Fix your broken links before your website visitors find them
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