Broken Links: Common Causes and How to Fix Them

A surgery nexus is simply a hyperlink connected your website that leads to a non-existent aliases inaccessible webpage, often returning a 404 correction erstwhile clicked.

Broken links frustrate visitors who can't entree the contented they request and harm your SEO by preventing hunt engines from efficaciously crawling pages and passing nexus equity.

Below, we'll spell complete a much elaborate mentation of what surgery links are, really to find them connected your site, and really to hole them to amended personification acquisition and hunt performance.

What Are Broken Links?

A surgery nexus is simply a hyperlink that nary longer leads to its intended destination because the target page has been deleted, been moved, aliases go inaccessible.

When personification clicks a surgery link, they often spot a 404 (not found) error. In immoderate cases, they whitethorn spot different errors that bespeak a surgery link, including:

• 410 (gone) error: Indicates the page was permanently deleted
• 400 (bad request) error: Indicates an rumor pinch the requested URL
• 502 (bad gateway) error: Indicates 1 server sewage an invalid consequence from different server

Broken links connected your tract hap astir commonly when:

• Your pages are deleted and your links that constituent to them aren’t updated
• Your URLs that you nexus to alteration without being decently redirected
• External websites region aliases relocate contented you’ve linked to

For example, if you delete a merchandise page but your navigation paper still links to it, visitors clicking that paper point will onshore connected a 404 correction page.

Both soul links (links pointing to pages connected your ain site) and outer links (links pointing to different websites) tin break, but they require different approaches for fixing.

How to Find Broken Links

To find surgery links connected your website, usage Semrush’s Site Audit tool, Google Search Console, a browser extension, aliases manual checks.

1. Use Site Audit

Semrush’s Site Audit instrumentality is simply a accelerated measurement to find surgery links because it crawls your website and reports each soul and outer nexus it finds that returns an error.

To find surgery links pinch Site Audit:

1. Set up a task utilizing either the default configurations aliases your ain civilization configurations and tally a crawl
2. After the crawl finishes, spell to the “Issues” tab
3. Enter “broken” successful the hunt bar
4. Click the nexus successful "# soul links are broken" to spot links pointing to surgery pages connected your site
5. Click the nexus successful “# outer links are broken” to find links pointing to surgery links connected different websites

Clicking done to either rumor will return you to a surface that shows the pages containing the surgery links, the surgery URLs, and the returned HTTP position codes. This makes it easy to benignant and prioritize which issues to hole first.

2. Check Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) tin besides beryllium utilized arsenic a surgery nexus checker that finds pages returning 404 errors erstwhile Googlebot tries to crawl them, which tin uncover broken soul links.

To find surgery links successful GSC:

1. Open Google Search Console
2. Go to “Indexing” > “Pages”
3. Under "Why pages aren't indexed," click "Not recovered (404)" (or different correction that indicates a surgery link)

GSC will past show you a database of really galore pages it detects pinch that rumor and a database of URLs that triggered the error.

3. Use Browser Extensions

Browser extensions for illustration Broken Link Checker fto you scan a azygous page for surgery aliases redirected links arsenic you browse. 

Broken Link Checker lists each nexus connected the page, shows its HTTP position (including 404s and redirects), and highlights surgery links. This helps you quickly find and hole surgery links.

Using a browser hold to find surgery links is perfect for reviewing individual pages—not for site-wide audits.

4. Manually Check for Broken Links

Another measurement to find surgery links is to manually click each nexus connected a page to corroborate whether it loads correctly, though this method is impractical for ample sites.

Manual checks are astir useful for confirming that fixes—like updated links aliases redirects—are moving arsenic intended.

How to Fix Broken Links

There are aggregate ways to hole surgery links that dangle connected whether you cognize the origin and whether the nexus is soul aliases external.

• Internal links springiness you afloat power complete the destination URL
• External links require a different attack because you can’t negociate different site’s URLs

How to Fix Broken Internal Links

In astir cases, fixing surgery soul links comes down to redirecting postulation to the correct page, updating links to constituent to the champion destination, aliases removing links to contented that nary longer exists.

Set Up 301 Redirects

Use a 301 redirect erstwhile a page has been moved to a caller URL aliases erstwhile you person different page that serves the aforesaid purpose. 

A 301 redirect permanently forwards users and hunt engines from the aged URL to the caller 1 and preserves astir of the original page’s nexus equity.

Using 301 redirects is particularly important erstwhile different soul pages (or outer websites) still nexus to the aged URL.

You tin group up redirects astatine the server level. 

For Apache servers, adhd a redirect norm successful your .htaccess file. Before adding redirect rules, make judge the rewrite motor is enabled.

Here’s what it looks for illustration to redirect a azygous page successful an .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^old-page-url/?$ https://yourdomain.com/new-page-url [R=301,L]

For Nginx servers, adhd the redirect wrong the due server block:

location = /old-page-url {
    return 301 https://yourdomain.com/new-page-url;
}

Most CMS platforms besides supply redirect devices that grip this configuration for you without requiring you to edit server files.

Update URLs for Suitable Substitute Pages

Update soul links erstwhile you cognize the astir due destination page, moreover if a redirect exists. 

Linking straight to the last URL reduces unnecessary redirects that return up much resources.

Update surgery links to suitable substitute URLs when:

• A page was moved and you cognize the caller URL
• Content was consolidated into a caller page
• A redirect is already successful spot but soul links haven’t been updated yet

Use Site Audit to place each pages still linking to outdated URLs and update those links successful bulk wherever possible. This attack is much reliable and scalable than manually uncovering and replacing links.

Remove Broken Internal Links

Remove an soul nexus erstwhile the referenced contented nary longer exists and nary applicable replacement page is available.

If the surrounding matter is still useful, region only the hyperlink and support the text. If the reference itself is nary longer relevant, region the full conception to support the contented meticulous and up to date.

How to Fix Broken External Links

Fixing surgery outer links typically intends either updating the nexus to a suitable replacement aliases removing it entirely.

Update URLs (if Possible)

Update an outer nexus erstwhile you tin confidently place a suitable replacement, specified arsenic a caller URL connected the aforesaid tract aliases a akin assets connected a different website.

Updating URLs for surgery outer links useful champion when:

• You cognize that a tract moved contented and wherever the contented moved
• The taxable and intent of the original assets are still relevant
• You tin switch the nexus pinch a much existent aliases much charismatic source

If you’re incapable to find a replacement that genuinely matches the original intent, it’s amended to region the link.

Remove Broken External Links

In practice, removing surgery outer links is the astir communal fix.

If the outer contented isn’t accessible and can’t beryllium reliably replaced, keeping the nexus adds small worth and leads to a mediocre personification experience.

When removing an outer link, support the surrounding matter if it still makes consciousness connected its own. If the reference depends connected the outer root to beryllium useful aliases credible, region the full conception instead.

How to Prevent Broken Links

Preventing surgery links comes down to avoiding internal linking mistakes and making judge you double-check outer links. 

More specifically, you tin do the pursuing to forestall surgery links:

• Add redirects earlier deleting pages: Set up a 301 redirect to the astir applicable replacement page earlier removing aliases moving content. This ensures users and hunt engines are automatically sent to a valid page alternatively of encountering an error.
• Test links earlier publishing caller content: Click done each nexus aliases scan the page pinch a browser hold to corroborate it loads correctly. Catching surgery aliases incorrect links earlier publishing is 1 of the easiest ways to forestall errors.
• Use stable, descriptive URLs: Create URLs that bespeak the contented and building of the page to trim the likelihood of needing to alteration them and instrumentality redirects later on

Final Steps to Protect Maintain Your Site’s Links

Avoiding and fixing surgery links helps sphere nexus equity and improves navigation for your visitors.

A afloat tract audit is the champion measurement to place surgery links that request to beryllium addressed. Get started pinch Site Audit.

FAQs About Broken Links

What Causes Broken Links?

Broken links are astir often caused erstwhile pages are deleted without updating links, URLs alteration without due redirects, aliases a URL contains a typo.

How Do Broken Links Affect SEO?

Broken soul links make it harder for hunt engines to crawl your tract and tin interrupt the travel of nexus equity betwixt pages, weakening your site’s technical SEO wellness and negatively affecting hunt visibility.

External surgery links don’t straight harm rankings, but they create a mediocre personification acquisition and tin trim spot successful your content.

What Is the Best Way to Find Broken Links?

The champion measurement to find surgery links is to tally a crawl utilizing a instrumentality for illustration Semrush’s Site Audit. An audit identifies each surgery soul and outer links, shows the pages containing them, and lists the HTTP position codes returned.

How Do I Fix Broken Links connected My Website?

To hole surgery links, first find whether the nexus is soul aliases external. 

For surgery soul links, update the URL, adhd a 301 redirect, aliases region the nexus if nary replacement exists. 

For surgery outer links, update the nexus erstwhile a reliable replacement is disposable aliases region it.

What Is the Difference Between 404 and 410 Status Codes?

A 404 position codification intends a page is missing but whitethorn return successful the future. A 410 position codification intends the page was intentionally removed and won’t return. Search engines driblet 410 pages from their scale much quickly.

Is Broken Link Building the Same As Fixing Broken Links?

No, broken nexus building isn’t the aforesaid arsenic fixing surgery links. Broken nexus building is simply a nexus building method that involves uncovering surgery outer links connected different websites and suggesting your contented arsenic a replacement. 

Fixing surgery links connected your ain tract focuses connected improving personification experience, maintaining tract health, and preserving nexus equity—not acquiring backlinks.