Broken links are a real headache for website owners and developers. They significantly degrade user experience and negatively affect SEO. In this article, let’s take a detailed look at how to find broken links online. We’ll also explore why it’s important to detect them and how to do it properly.
How to Find and Remove Broken Links?
A broken link is a hyperlink that leads to a non-existent page. For example, the site may be unavailable when attempting to follow the link. Typically, users see an error when clicking such a link, such as:
- 404 Not Found — the page was not found;
- 403 Forbidden — access denied;
- 500 Internal Server Error — internal server error;
- and others.
Causes of broken links include: page deletion without proper redirection, typos in the URL, content moved without updating links, or links to external resources that have been removed or changed.
Why Is It Important to Find Broken Links on a Website?
- User Experience (UX): Broken links frustrate visitors and damage the site’s credibility.
- SEO rankings: Search engine crawlers lower their trust in websites with many broken links, which can affect search ranking.
- Traffic loss: If potential customers can’t access the content they want, they will go to your competitors.
How to Find Broken Links on a Website Online?
There are several ways to detect non-working links. Here are some options:
Manual Check
If the site is small, you can go through the pages manually and check all the links by clicking on each. This is simple but very time-consuming and best suited for websites with just a few dozen pages.
Using Online Platforms
- BrokenLinkCheck.com — A free and convenient tool that allows checking up to 3000 pages at once.
- Dead Link Checker — Allows checking individual pages or the whole site, with options for automated checks.
- Dr. Link Check — A fast online scanner with detailed reports on broken links.
Using Site Scanning Software
For large websites, it’s more convenient to use desktop software:
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider — A professional tool that scans the site and detects broken links, redirects, duplicates, HTTP errors, and more.
- Xenu’s Link Sleuth — An old but still useful tool for Windows that efficiently finds broken links and displays site structure.
Using Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool for webmasters. The “Coverage” section shows crawl errors, including broken links referenced by other pages on your site.
Using WordPress Plugins
WordPress is commonly used for various website needs. It allows automatic scanning of all site pages to find links that no longer work. After installing a plugin, a dedicated section appears in the admin panel with a list of all broken links, which can be edited or removed without manually opening each post.
Using Browser Extensions
For quick checks of individual pages or small websites, browser plugins are suitable:
- Check My Links for Google Chrome
- Link Checker for Firefox — checks for broken links directly in the browser window.
How to Fix Broken Links?
After finding broken links, it’s important not just to remove them but to fix the issue properly:
- Correct the URL if there’s a typo;
- Replace the link with a valid, up-to-date one;
- Set up a 301 redirect from the old address to the new one;
- Remove the link if the resource no longer exists and has no replacement.
Broken links are not just a minor technical issue — they pose a real threat to the website’s reputation and search engine rankings. Regular audits and timely fixes will make your site more user-friendly, reliable, and appealing to both search engines and visitors.