How to Find and Fix Broken Links on Your Website (Simple Guide)
Broken links are one of those problems that slowly make a website worse without you noticing right away. A visitor clicks a link, lands on an error page, and often leaves. Search engines also do not like pages that lead to dead ends.
The good thing is that finding and fixing broken links is not difficult. You just need a simple process and a bit of regular checking. In this guide I will show you how to do it properly.
What Are Broken Links?
A broken link is a link that points to a page that no longer exists or cannot be reached. When someone clicks it, they usually see a 404 error page.
Broken links can happen for several reasons:
- You deleted a page but did not update the links pointing to it
- A page URL was changed
- An external website you linked to removed the page
- There was a typing mistake in the link
Why You Should Fix Broken Links
Broken links create a poor experience for visitors. People get frustrated when they click something and land on an error page. Over time this can increase your bounce rate.
From an SEO point of view, too many broken links can make it harder for search engines to crawl your site properly. Fixing them keeps your website cleaner and more trustworthy.
How to Find Broken Links
Use Free Online Tools
There are free tools that can scan your website and show you broken links. Some of them check both internal and external links. You can also use a sitemap checker or site audit tool if you have one available.
Check Google Search Console
Google Search Console sometimes shows crawl errors and pages that return errors. Open the Pages or Indexing report and look for any issues related to not found pages.
Manually Check Important Pages
For your most important pages, you can also open them and click the links yourself. This is useful for catching problems that automated tools might miss.
How to Fix Broken Links
Once you find a broken link, you have a few options depending on the situation.
If the Page Still Exists
Update the link so it points to the correct URL. Make sure you use the full and correct address.
If the Page Was Deleted
You can either:
- Remove the link completely
- Replace it with a link to a similar and relevant page
- Set up a redirect from the old URL to a new relevant page (if you control the website)
If It Is an External Link
When an external website removes a page, you cannot fix their site. In this case, either remove the link or find a better source to link to instead.
Best Practices When Fixing Links
- Fix internal links first because you have full control over them
- Do not leave broken links pointing to important pages
- After fixing, test the link to make sure it works
- Keep a simple list of fixed links so you do not repeat the same work
How Often Should You Check for Broken Links?
You do not need to check every day. For most small websites, checking once every one or two months is enough. If you publish a lot of content or make frequent changes, you can check more often.
It is also a good idea to check after you delete or rename any pages.
Simple Process to Follow
- Scan your website using a free broken link checker or audit tool.
- Note down the broken links you find.
- Decide whether to update, replace, or remove each link.
- Make the changes.
- Test the links after updating.
- Check again after a few weeks.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Ignoring broken links for a long time
- Only checking the homepage
- Replacing a broken link with another irrelevant link
- Forgetting to test the link after fixing it
- Deleting pages without updating the links that pointed to them
Final Thoughts
Broken links are easy to ignore, but fixing them makes your website cleaner and more professional. Visitors will have a better experience, and search engines will find it easier to crawl your pages.
Start by checking your most important pages. Fix the obvious broken links first, then make it a habit to check periodically. Small consistent work like this adds up over time.
You can also use the free tools available on this website to help check your sitemap, meta tags, and overall site health while you are fixing links.