Checking Broken Links on a Website: Complete Guide

SEO & Website Maintenance

Checking broken links on a website is the process of scanning every hyperlink across your pages to identify URLs that return errors — most often a 404 Not Found response — so they can be corrected before they harm your visitors or your search engine rankings. Even a handful of dead links can silently erode your SEO authority and frustrate users who hit dead ends instead of the content they expected.

What Is Checking Broken Links on a Website?

Direct answer: Checking broken links on a website means systematically auditing all internal and external hyperlinks to find those that return HTTP error codes. The goal is to restore a seamless navigation experience and ensure search engine crawlers can move through your site without hitting dead ends.

A broken link — sometimes called a dead link — occurs when a URL a page points to no longer resolves to a working resource. This can happen because a destination page was deleted, a URL structure was changed without a redirect, an external site went offline, or a simple typo was introduced during editing. According to Wikipedia’s article on link rot, the degradation of hyperlinks over time is an unavoidable reality of the web — making regular audits a non-negotiable maintenance task.

A typical audit dashboard highlights broken links across a site, making it easy to prioritize fixes.

Why Broken Links Are a Serious SEO Problem

Search engines like Google use crawlers to follow links and discover content. When those crawlers encounter broken links, several damaging things happen simultaneously:

• Wasted crawl budget: Every request a crawler makes to a dead URL is a wasted opportunity to index your real content — particularly critical for large sites.
• Lost PageRank flow: Internal links pass authority between pages. Broken internal links sever that flow, leaving valuable pages under-ranked.
• Poor user signals: Visitors who land on 404 pages bounce immediately. High bounce rates and low dwell times send negative quality signals to search algorithms.
• Damaged credibility: External broken links suggest your content is outdated and poorly maintained — reducing trust with both users and search engines.

The Best Tools for Checking Broken Links on a Website

Several tools exist across the free-to-enterprise spectrum. The right choice depends on your site size, technical comfort, and audit frequency.

Systematic checking of broken links on a website often starts with a structured checklist and the right toolset.

Step-by-Step: How to Check and Fix Broken Links

Follow this five-step process to audit and repair broken links efficiently:

1. 1

   Crawl your entire website

   Launch your chosen tool and point it at your homepage or sitemap. Allow it to crawl all pages — do not restrict the crawl depth, as broken links often hide in older, deeper content.

2. 2

   Filter for HTTP error codes

   Sort or filter results by status code. Target 404 Not Found errors first, then 410 Gone, 500 Server Error, and any redirect chains (301 loops) that may cause crawl issues.

3. 3

   Locate the source pages

   For each broken URL, your crawl tool will show which page contains the broken anchor tag. Note both the source page and the broken destination URL — you need both to make the correct fix.

4. 4

   Fix, redirect, or remove

   Choose the right resolution: update the link to a live URL, implement a 301 redirect if the content has moved permanently, or remove the anchor tag if the resource no longer exists anywhere.

5. 5

   Re-crawl and verify

   Run a fresh crawl to confirm every previously broken URL now returns a 200 OK response. Verify in Google Search Console that crawl errors have cleared — this may take a few days as Google re-crawls the updated pages.

Internal vs. External Broken Links: Different Risks, Different Fixes

Not all broken links carry the same weight. Understanding the distinction helps you prioritize your repair queue:

How Often Should You Audit for Broken Links?

The right cadence depends on how frequently your site changes and how large it is:

• Small sites (under 50 pages): A quarterly audit is generally sufficient, combined with a quick manual review whenever you publish new content or restructure URLs.
• Medium sites (50–500 pages): Monthly audits using an automated tool keep broken link counts manageable without consuming excessive time.
• Large sites (500+ pages): Weekly or continuous monitoring via scheduled crawls in tools like Ahrefs or Screaming Frog is ideal. Set up alerts so new 404 errors are flagged immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Checking broken links on a website involves reviewing HTTP status codes for every URL your site references.

Prevention: Stopping Broken Links Before They Happen

Fixing broken links is reactive. The smartest strategy combines regular audits with proactive prevention:

• Always set 301 redirects when you change a URL, delete a page, or restructure your site architecture. This preserves both user experience and link equity.
• Audit before and after migrations: Site migrations are the single largest source of mass broken links. Run a full crawl before and after any platform change or URL restructure.
• Use relative URLs internally where your CMS supports it, so internal links remain valid even if your domain changes.
• Vet external links before publishing: Check that every outbound link you add is live at the time of publication. Revisit older posts periodically to verify external sources remain accessible.

Conclusion

Checking broken links on a website is not a one-time task — it is a continuous discipline that protects your SEO rankings, preserves user trust, and ensures search engine crawlers can efficiently index every page you have worked hard to create. By combining the right tools, a structured five-step audit process, and proactive prevention habits, you can keep your site’s link health in excellent condition year-round.

Start with Google Search Console to surface the errors Google already knows about, then use Screaming Frog or Ahrefs for a deeper site-wide crawl. Fix internal broken links first, then address external ones. Schedule recurring audits so dead links never accumulate unnoticed. For a broader technical SEO strategy that puts broken link management in context, Rank Authority offers in-depth resources to help you build and maintain a technically sound website.