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Broken links, also known as “dead links,” can frustrate your visitors, hurt your SEO, and make your site look unprofessional. The good news is that finding and fixing these issues only takes a few minutes with the right tools.
Step 1: Understanding Broken Links
Before you begin fixing your website’s broken links, it is important to understand why they are a problem. They can send your visitors to error pages, which hurts their trust and can even cause them to leave your website. Additionally, search engines see broken links as a sign of poor website maintenance, which could negatively impact your search rankings on Google, Yahoo, and other search engines.
- Visitors lose trust when your links don’t work.
- Search engines may see your site as poorly maintained.
- Broken links can reduce conversions and sales on your website.
Step 2: Use a Free Tool to Find Broken Links
While you can manually click every link on your website, there are plenty of free tools you can use to do the work for you:
Step 3: Review the Report
Using one of the above tools will give you a list of broken links. Some common types of broken links are:
- Old blog posts that link to removed pages (on your website or others).
- Outdated product or service pages.
- External websites that no longer exist.
Step 4: Fix the Broken Links
You have one of many options:
- Update the link if the page URL has changed.
- Replace the link if you have a similar page with useful information.
- Remove the link if no good replacement exists.
- Create a 301 Redirect to a relevant page.
Step 5: Recheck Your Website Regularly
Broken links can pop up at any time, especially when you link to external websites. Try setting a reminder to use a broken link check tool every few months.
Quick Win for Small Businesses
Spend just 10 minutes today running a broken link check. Fixing even a small handful of dead links can improve your website’s user experience, increase your credibility, and have a positive impact on your SEO.
