Broken links is one of the most frequent technical SEO problem that drag website down. As a blogger, business owner or webmaster, the process of how to find and fix broken links is an absolute necessity to ensure that you’re properly taking care of your high-ranking site.
In this article, we are going to talk about everything that how to find and fix broken links.
- What are broken links and why care about them
- How to find broken links – step by step process
- Proven method to cure them forever.
- Sound strategies to avoid having broken links in the future
By the end, you’ll have mastered how to find and fix broken links like an SEO expert.
Table of Contents
What Is a Broken Link and Why Are They Bad for Your Site?
So before we take a look at how to find and fix broken links, lets understand what they are.
A dead link (also called a broken link) is a hyperlink that leads to a 404 error page.
Types of Broken Links
- Broken Internal Links – They link to pages that don’t exist within your website
- External Broken Links – These link to pages on other sites that no longer exist.
- Damaged Outbound Links – These are outbound links from your site that are no longer functioning
Why You Must Fix Broken Links
Knowing how to find and fix broken links is important because they create:
- Shitty User Experience – Angry users go elsewhere
- SEO HARM – Google prefers sites that are not too broken links.
- Lost Link Juice – Broken internal links lose their ranking power
- Fewer Conversions – No purchase checkout links = no purchase.
How to Identify Broken Links: 3 Proven Tactics
So, here’s how to find broken links and how to fix them like a pro.
Method 1: Google Search Console
Google offers a free tool that will help you spot any broken links in your site’s index.
Steps:
- Navigate to Google Search Console > Coverage Report
- Look for “404”s on your “Excluded” version pages
- Export the list for fixing
Method 2: Screaming Frog SEO Spider (Free / Paid with Extended Feature)
This multitasking crawler searches for broken links throughout your entire site.
How to Use It:
- Get Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs)
- Add your domain and start crawling
- Use the “4XX” Errors filter to identify broken links
Method 3: Using Online Broken Link Checkers
Free tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush or Broken Link Checker do the work of detecting recursively for you.
Best Free Checkers:
- Dead Link Checker
- W3C Link Validator
How to Fix Broken Links: 4 Best Methods for Permanent Solution
First up, you now know how to find and fix broken links, go ahead and try these fixes:
Solution 1: 301 Redirects (For Moved Pages)
Redirect dead URLs to relevant live pages.
- If you use WordPress: Redirection Plugin Use.
- For Others: Edit. htaccess file
Solution 2: Update or Remove Links
- Fix damaged internal links and change to appropriate links
- Remove links to deleted pages permanently
Solution 3: Repair External Links
- Find archived pages via Wayback Machine
- Replace broken outbound links with working ones
Solution 4: Design a Smart 404 Page
A custom 404 page improves user experience with:
- Search bar
- Navigation links
- Contact options
How to Avoid Broken Links in Future
Learning how to find and fix broken links is not enough prevention is better.
- Run Monthly Link Audits (Screaming Frog recommended)
- Keep Track of Your Outbound Links (Check My Links Chrome Extension)
- Employ the Right Redirects (301 vs 302)
- Use Google Alerts to Your Advantage Getting Google Alerts for 404s was a relatively easy way to keep an eye out for I found it super helpful.
Conclusion:
Well, that’s how to find and fix broken links the right way. In using this guide, you will:
- Improve SEO rankings
- Enhance user experience
- Boost site credibility
Don’t forget: Regularly finding broken links is every bit as important as fixing them. Be sure to bookmark this tutorial on how to find and fix broken links for future reference!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a broken link?
A broken link (or dead link) is a link that directs a visitor to a web page that has been deleted or moved (even if a forwarding URL has been established), a page that has never existed, or a page that cannot be found because of a misspelling in the page’s address. Broken links can be either from internal (a link to your website from the same site) and external sources ( websites other than its own).
2. Do I need to fix broken links on my site?
It’s important to fix broken links because:
- They damage SEO rankings (Google punishes sites with too many 404s).
- They are annoying to users and drive up a site’s bounce rate.
- They leach link equity (SEO value from backlinks).
- They can block conversions (broken checkout links, for example).
3. How can you find broken links the easy way?
The fastest free methods are:
- Google Search Console (coverage report)
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider (free version scans up to 500 URLs)
- How do you find broken links in a website?
4. How Do I Fix an Internal Link that is Broken?
- Option 1: Correcting the link to the actual page.
- Option 2: If the page is no longer live, create a 301 redirect to a similar alternative.
- Option 3: Extract the hyperlink if there is no substitute.
