Broken Links: Find and Fix 404 Errors on Your Website

Learn how broken links hurt SEO and user experience, and how to fix them.

Broken Links: Find and Fix 404 Errors on Your Website

Why Broken Links Matter

Broken links (404 errors) create poor user experience and can hurt your SEO. They signal to search engines that your site isn't well-maintained.

Impact of Broken Links

User Experience

  • Frustrates visitors
  • Increases bounce rate
  • Reduces trust

    • SEO Impact

  • Wastes crawl budget
  • Loses link equity
  • Can hurt rankings

    • Types of Broken Links

    Internal Broken Links

    Links within your site pointing to non-existent pages.

    External Broken Links

    Links to other websites that no longer work.

    Incoming Broken Links

    External sites linking to pages you've removed.

    Common Causes

  • Deleted pages: Content removed without redirects
  • URL changes: URLs modified without 301 redirects
  • Typos: Mistakes in manual link creation
  • External site changes: Linked sites restructuring
  • Domain expiration: Linked domains expiring

    • Finding Broken Links

    Our Tool Checks

  • All internal links
  • External link validity
  • Image and resource links
  • Anchor link functionality

    • Manual Methods

  • Google Search Console (Crawl Errors)
  • Server access logs
  • Site crawlers

    • Fixing Broken Links

    Priority Order

  • Fix high-traffic pages first
  • Focus on internal links
  • Update or remove external links

    • Fix Options

  • 301 Redirect: Point to equivalent content
  • Update link: Fix to correct URL
  • Remove link: If content no longer exists
  • Create content: Build missing page if valuable

    • Scan your site for broken links with our free checker tool.