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How To Find and Fix Broken Links on Your Website

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Broken links on a website can frustrate users and negatively impact search engine optimization (SEO). Fortunately, there are various tools and methods to efficiently find and fix broken links.

In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll cover:

  • Why finding and fixing broken links matters
  • Signs that indicate you may have broken links
  • 12 useful tools to identify broken links on your site
  • Tips for preventing new broken links
  • Steps for fixing identified broken links
  • Additional proactive link maintenance practices

Also known as "dead links," broken links lead to error pages like the infamous 404 "page not found" instead of functioning content. They can occur for various reasons:

  • The linked page was deleted or moved without redirecting the old URL
  • There was a typo when adding the link
  • The website containing the linked page became inaccessible

Broken links negatively impact both users and search engines:

For users:

  • Broken links disrupt the user experience and navigation
  • Users may see error pages instead of expected content
  • It reflects poorly on the website‘s quality and maintenance

For search engines:

  • Crawlers may index error pages, thinking that‘s the destination content
  • Broken links prevent crawlers from fully indexing site content
  • It can be interpreted as a sign of poor site quality and maintenance

By finding and fixing broken links promptly, you provide a seamless experience for users while also maintaining positive signals for search engine crawlers.

Some indicators that your site likely contains broken links include:

  • Getting 404 error reports in your analytics
  • Noticing frequent 404 errors in search engine crawl reports
  • Users complaining about dead pages they encountered
  • Pages not getting indexed or dropped from search engines
  • Moving your site to a new domain or platform
  • Having many outbound links to external sites
  • If your site has gone a long time without link maintenance

Relying solely on obvious user complaints or crawl errors to identify broken links means you‘re likely missing many of them. Being proactive with link maintenance tools and practices is key for a healthy, well-connected website.

To locate and diagnose broken links on your site, both free and paid tools are available. Here are 12 recommended options:

1. Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Screaming Frog is one of the most popular SEO crawlers, used to audit technical SEO issues like broken links.

Key features:

  • Spider your site to find all internal links and status codes
  • Filter to only show 404 errors
  • See what pages are linking to the 404s as the referrer
  • Downloadable CSV reports

How to use Screaming Frog to find broken links:

  1. Install and open Screaming Frog SEO Spider
  2. Enter your website URL and click "Start"
  3. Once crawled, sort the "Status Code" column to surface 404 errors
  4. Click "Inlinks" to see what pages link to the 404s
  5. Export and save a CSV report for reference

This makes it easy to identify the 404 URLs and diagnose the referring pages that need updated links.

2. Ahrefs

Ahrefs offers a full SEO and marketing toolkit, including a dedicated broken link checker.

Key features:

  • Checks broken links on your site and ones pointing to your site
  • Sort and filter to prioritize critical links
  • Export CSVs for fixing workflows
  • Schedule recurring checks for ongoing link rot monitoring

How to use Ahrefs to find broken links:

  1. Go to Ahrefs‘ broken link checker
  2. Enter your target website URL
  3. View a list of all broken links identified
  4. Export the detailed CSV check report
  5. Use the "Linked To" and "Links From" data to inform fixing priorities

Ahrefs makes it easy to run as many checks as needed, tracking improvements over time.

3. SEMrush

SEMrush is a robust all-in-one digital marketing toolkit. Within its Site Audit tool, broken links can be detected.

Key features:

  • Identifies broken internal and external links
  • See HTTP response status codes
  • Role-based reports if using full SEMrush suite
  • Customizable link health thresholds

How to use SEMrush to find broken links:

  1. Initiate a Site Audit for your website
  2. Under Issues, navigate to Broken Links to see errors detected
  3. Export detailed link reports as needed
  4. Leverage link data and filters to prioritize fixes

Keep in mind, full SEMrush access is needed to use the Site Audit tool. They offer various paid plans.

4. Sitechecker

Sitechecker offers a dedicated broken link checking tool.

Key features:

  • Scans up to 150 pages for free
  • Checks both internal and external links
  • Crawls without needing to install software
  • CSV and PDF reports
  • API available

How to use Sitechecker to find broken links:

  1. Go to Sitechecker‘s broken link checker
  2. Enter your website URL
  3. Run a scan and wait for it to complete
  4. View and export the detailed broken link reports
  5. Use the link data to prioritize fixes

For smaller sites, Sitechecker‘s free tier may provide enough scans to keep links maintained. Larger sites may need paid plans.

As the name suggests, Dead Link Checker is purpose-built for analyzing link rot.

Key features:

  • Quickly finds 404 errors on your site
  • Can scan entire sites or specific pages
  • Easy-to-read report formatting

How to use Dead Link Checker to find broken links:

  1. Go to Dead Link Checker
  2. Enter your target URL
  3. Click "Check Links" to run a scan
  4. View the summary and detailed results
  5. Download the CSV report if needed for further analysis

Dead Link Checker provides a user-friendly way to get instant insight into link errors on a given page or site.

Dr. Link Check is another convenient online broken link checking tool.

Key features:

  • Scans up to 1,000 links for free
  • Tests internal and external links
  • Detailed CSV reports
  • Chrome extension available

How to use Dr. Link Check to find broken links:

  1. Go to Dr. Link Check
  2. Enter your website URL
  3. Run a free scan up to 1,000 links
  4. View and export the detailed broken link report
  5. Use the data to inform your link fixes

For smaller sites, Dr. Link Check‘s free tier provides substantial value. Those with larger sites may need a paid plan.

7. SEO Site Checkup

SEO Site Checkup offers various tools for technical SEO audits, including detecting broken links.

Key features:

  • Crawls your site architecture
  • Finds 404 errors and broken external links
  • Diagnostics for additional SEO issues
  • CSV exporting for all reports

How to use SEO Site Checkup to find broken links:

  1. Initiate a Site Checkup scan
  2. When complete, view the Broken Links report
  3. Export the CSV report for additional analysis
  4. Combine with other data points to prioritize link fixes

This tool brings together many technical SEO reports to power a holistic website audit.

LinkMiner focuses on analyzing links, including identifying broken ones.

Key features:

  • Scheduled scans to monitor broken links over time
  • Filters and prioritization tools
  • Bulk redirect manager
  • Link recovery outreach tools

How to use LinkMiner to find broken links:

  1. Connect your website within LinkMiner
  2. Run an initial broken link scan
  3. Review prioritized lists of errors identified
  4. Schedule recurring scans to stay on top of new link rot
  5. Use built-in tools to redirect or do outreach to fix broken links

LinkMiner provides robust management for keeping both internal and external links maintained over time.

Xenu Link Sleuth is a longtime favorite free broken link checking tool.

Key features:

  • Comprehensive site crawls
  • Detailed site mapping reporting
  • Exports results to Excel or other file types

How to use Xenu Link Sleuth to find broken links:

  1. Download and open the Xenu application
  2. Enter your target website URL
  3. Configure scan scope and export settings
  4. Run the crawl scan to identify broken links
  5. Review results and export reports

Despite its dated interface, Xenu remains a powerful option for in-depth technical SEO crawls.

10. Integrity from Linkody

Linkody offers Integrity as a dedicated link checking solution.

Key features:

  • Automatic site crawls
  • Configurable scan scope
  • Dashboard tracking with notifications
  • Scheduled scans

How to use Integrity to find broken links:

  1. Create an Integrity account
  2. Connect your target website for crawling
  3. Review detected broken links and diagnostics
  4. Schedule recurring scans and enable notifications
  5. Use Integrity data to inform link fixes

Integrity provides automation to keep a consistent pulse on link health without ongoing manual scans.

As the name suggests, Link Checker Pro focuses solely on finding broken links.

Key features:

  • Automatic website crawling
  • Scheduled scans
  • Email and desktop notifications
  • Link redirect manager

How to use Link Checker Pro to find broken links:

  1. Sign up for Link Checker Pro
  2. Add your website and configure scan settings
  3. Review detailed reports of errors identified
  4. Schedule recurring scans and enable notifications
  5. Manage redirects and track link health over time

Link Checker Pro aims to provide comprehensive software for automating broken link maintenance.

Free browser extensions like Broken Link Checker provide on-the-fly broken link scanning while browsing a site.

Key features:

  • Scan any page you have open for 404 errors
  • See broken links highlighted on the page
  • Export detailed checking reports

How to use browser extensions to find broken links:

  1. Install a browser extension like Broken Link Checker
  2. Visit any page on your site
  3. The extension will automatically scan and highlight broken links
  4. Click on the extension icon to view detailed results
  5. Capture and save reports as needed

Extensions provide quick insight when diagnosing a particular page‘s link issues.

In addition to addressing your current broken links, some best practices can help minimize new ones forming:

  • Carefully review new links added by writers: Manually check each new link to confirm it goes to a live, relevant page.

  • Reference links from a site content audit: Cross-check links against your content audit data to ensure the destination pages still exist.

  • Avoid using temporary pages for links: Linking to temporary sales or seasonal pages often leads to future broken links once the content gets removed. Instead, link to more evergreen pages.

  • Redirect old URLs when removing or changing content: Rather than deleting pages outright, set up 301 redirects to route visitors and search engines to appropriate new destinations.

  • Review links in reused content: When repurposing existing content on a new page, double check that all links are still valid in the new context.

  • Use descriptive anchor text: Avoid vague anchor text like "click here" that provides no context for where the link goes. This helps reduce accidental incorrect links.

Being proactive with link hygiene practices is crucial for reducing future link rot as your site grows.

Once you‘ve run link scans, you‘ll need to actually address the broken links discovered. Here are the general steps:

1. Review link reports and separate into redirect candidates vs. removals.

Some 404 links may warrant setting up redirects to route to relevant alternative pages. Others don‘t have good redirect options and are better removed.

2. For redirect candidates, set up proper 301 redirects.

In your CMS or web server, create 301 redirects from each old 404 URL to the appropriate new landing page.

3. Audit pages containing removed links and update or remove as needed.

For links where no good redirect target exists, find pages linking to 404s and either update the link or remove it entirely.

4. For site revisions, expand 301 redirects to catch common legacy links.

When migrating a site or doing a redesign, set up 301 redirects for popular pages, variants, or sections that may get linked to, even if you haven‘t found specific 404 references. This helps avoid future broken links.

5. Re-crawl your site to confirm issues are resolved.

After making fixes, re-run your site crawl and link reports to confirm you eliminated the broken links identified earlier. All 404s should redirect properly or return a 200 status.

6. Make incremental fixes until all flagged errors are addressed.

Don‘t expect to fix every broken link at once. You may need to schedule time weekly or monthly to chip away at identified 404s until all get properly addressed.

Approach broken link fixing as an ongoing maintenance practice rather than a one-time project. Links will continue to break as your site evolves, requiring continual monitoring and updates.

Beyond running link scans and addressing errors reactively, some additional practices contribute to a robust long-term link health strategy:

  • Enable 404 monitoring in your analytics platform – Get notified of common 404 URLs that may indicate broken links. Google Analytics has this feature.

  • Review analytics traffic changes after removing or redirecting pages – Monitor that traffic levels remain consistent, ensuring redirects are mapping properly.

  • Conduct site content audits – Keep track of what pages and assets exist to inform link checking and fixes.

  • Survey most-linked pages – Determine what pages get linked to most frequently to prioritize their monitoring.

  • Analyze external link domains – Keep track of domains you link out to and confirm they remain stable over time.

  • Enable server logs for 404s – Server-side logs can catch crawl errors that analytics misses.

  • Set a site crawl and link check schedule – Ongoing scans at set intervals will identify new issues promptly. Monthly works well.

  • Check broken links before major marketing campaigns – Eliminate broken links pointing to key landing pages to ensure visitors arrive as intended.

Proactively monitoring and maintaining both internal and external links should become a habitual site hygiene practice.

Conclusion

Broken links can hamper users and search engines when not addressed. But with numerous efficient tools and consistent site maintenance workflows, you can detect link errors early and ensure visitors consistently reach your site‘s valuable content and resources.

Links are a critical component of both UX and SEO. Following the practices outlined here will build user and search engine trust through a reliably connected site architecture.

AlexisKestler

Written by Alexis Kestler

A female web designer and programmer - Now is a 36-year IT professional with over 15 years of experience living in NorCal. I enjoy keeping my feet wet in the world of technology through reading, working, and researching topics that pique my interest.