Broken links (also called dead links) are one of the most common website problems — and one of the easiest to fix. But most site owners ignore them until traffic drops.

This guide explains why broken links matter and how to find and fix them systematically.

What Is a Broken Link?

A broken link is a hyperlink that points to a page that no longer exists, or returns an error. Common symptoms:

  • 404 Not Found — the most common; the target page is gone
  • 410 Gone — the page was permanently removed
  • 500 Server Error — the target server is broken
  • Timeout — the target server never responds

Why Broken Links Hurt You

1. Bad User Experience

When visitors click a link expecting content and hit a 404 page, they leave. High bounce rate signals to Google that your site isn't useful.

2. SEO Penalty

Google's crawlers treat broken links as a sign of poor site maintenance. A few broken links won't hurt, but dozens across many pages will lower your overall site quality score.

3. Wasted Link Equity

If an external site links to your page and that page returns 404, you lose the SEO value of that backlink.

4. Lost Revenue (for E-commerce)

If a product page 404s, you lose the sale. Every broken link could be costing you money.

How to Find Broken Links

Method 1: Online Dead Link Checker (Recommended)

Use our free dead link checker. Enter any page URL, and the tool will:

  1. Download the page HTML
  2. Extract all links
  3. Check each link's HTTP status
  4. Report which links return 404, 500, or timeouts

It scans up to 30 links per run — usually enough for most pages.

Method 2: Check Individual Links

If you already know which links might be broken, use our HTTP status checker to verify one URL at a time.

Method 3: Batch Check Multiple URLs

If you have a list of URLs to check (e.g., from your sitemap), use the bulk HTTP checker. It processes up to 50 URLs at once.

How to Fix Broken Links

For each broken link you find, choose one of these fixes:

1. Redirect with 301

If the page moved to a new URL, set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. This preserves SEO value and users get the right content.

2. Update the Link

If the target still exists at a different URL, simply update the anchor's href. This is the cleanest fix.

3. Remove the Link

If the target is truly gone, remove the anchor tag but keep the text. Don't leave a link pointing nowhere.

4. Restore the Page

If the target was accidentally deleted, restore it from a backup or rewrite it.

How Often Should You Check?

Site Type Recommended Frequency
Small blogEvery 3 months
Active business siteMonthly
E-commerceWeekly
News siteDaily

Common Causes of Broken Links

  • You restructured your URL structure and forgot old ones
  • You deleted a page without setting up a redirect
  • External sites you linked to went offline
  • Typos in manually-written href attributes
  • CDN or hosting changes breaking internal paths

Prevention Tips

  1. Use relative URLs when possible — /about instead of https://yoursite.com/about. This way, internal links never break when you change domains.
  2. Always set 301 redirects before deleting a page.
  3. Test external links before publishing.
  4. Use a CMS with automatic redirect management if possible.

Try It Now

Ready to scan your site? Use our free dead link checker — it's fast, free, and requires no sign-up.

For broader site health monitoring, try our HTTP status checker and bulk HTTP checker.

Summary

Broken links are a slow poison for your website. They hurt user experience, waste SEO value, and cost revenue.

Set a monthly habit: run a dead link scan on your most important pages, fix what you find, and keep your site healthy.