How to Find Broken Links on a Website
A broken link is a link to an address that returns an error. For visitors, it’s a dead end; for bots, it’s wasted crawling; for you, it’s a leak of internal weight. You can find such links on any page using a free broken link checker, and across the entire site using a crawl with link profile collection.
Where They Come From
- The page was deleted or renamed, but links to it remained.
- Moving to a new address without permanent redirects.
- Typo in the address during manual layout.
- The external site you linked to has closed.
- A link to http when the site has long been on https.
How to Read the Results
| Code | What to Do |
|---|---|
| 404 / 410 | Replace the link or set a 301 redirect to the current page |
| 500 and other 5xx | Server issue: check again, the error may be temporary |
| 403 | Access denied — sometimes this is how bot protection responds, it’s worth checking manually |
| Timeout | Slow or unavailable host: if it’s an external site, it’s better to remove the link |
What to Do with Findings
- Gather a list of broken addresses and see if there is a replacement for them.
- If there is a replacement — set a permanent redirect and fix the links in the content.
- If there is no replacement — remove the link or direct it to the nearest relevant section, not to the homepage.
- Check if external links lead to deleted pages: such addresses should be redirected, otherwise, external link weight is lost.
Broken Links That Point to You
A special case is when external sites link to your deleted pages. Such a link already exists, someone placed it, but the weight goes nowhere. Find addresses that external links point to and that return 404, and set a permanent redirect from them to the nearest relevant live page. This is the cheapest way to gain link weight: you don’t have to pay for anything, the links are already there.
Regularity is More Important Than One-Time Cleanup
Links break gradually, so checks should be repeated. A complete picture of the site with error grouping is provided by SEO Audit — it also monitors dynamics between checks.