Quick answer: To find broken links on your website, run a crawl using a tool like Screaming Frog or a free online broken link checker. These tools can scan your website and flag URLs returning 404 errors or other failed responses, so you can fix or redirect them. You can also use Google Search Console to identify URLs that Google has encountered and that return errors.
Broken links are one of the most common and most overlooked technical SEO issues.
They are easy to overlook, especially on older websites. They can frustrate visitors, disrupt internal linking, and leave important pages harder to reach. The good news is that finding and fixing them is fairly straightforward with the right SEO tools and good understanding.
This guide walks through what broken links are, why they matter, and exactly how to find and fix them using free and paid tools.
What Are Broken Links?
A broken link is any hyperlink that fails to load its intended destination. Instead of taking a visitor to a working page, it leads to an error, most commonly a 404 page not found.
Broken links come in a few forms:
- 404 errors – the page has been deleted or moved without a redirect
- Dead links – links pointing to a URL that no longer exists anywhere
- Redirect chains gone wrong – a link that loops through multiple redirects before failing
- Server errors – the destination server is down or misconfigured
This gradual buildup of dead links across a website is often called link rot. It happens naturally over time as pages get deleted, URLs change, or external sites restructure their content.
Do Broken Links Affect SEO?
Broken links don’t automatically hurt your rankings, but they can create SEO and usability problems. Broken internal links can make important pages harder to reach, while large numbers of outdated URLs can make site maintenance and crawling less efficient.
- Crawl budget: Search engine bots have a limited amount of time and resources to crawl your site. When bots repeatedly hit dead ends, that budget gets wasted on pages that don’t exist instead of your real content.
- Link equity loss: If a broken link was previously passing authority (from an internal page or an external backlink), that value is lost once the link stops working.
- User experience and bounce rate: Visitors who land on a 404 page tend to leave immediately. High bounce rates and short session times are signals that can indirectly hurt rankings.
- Trust signals: A site riddled with broken links looks neglected. This applies to both search engines and human visitors evaluating your credibility.
None of this means one broken link will tank your rankings. But left unchecked across hundreds of pages, broken links compound into a real technical SEO problem.
How to Find Broken Links on Your Website
The easiest way to find broken links is to crawl your website and review the URLs that return errors. You can do this using several methods.
Method 1: Crawl Your Website With an SEO Crawler
Tools such as Screaming Frog can crawl your website and identify links that return 4xx or 5xx responses.
For a typical audit, you can:
- Enter your website URL into the crawler.
- Start the crawl.
- Review URLs returning error responses.
- Identify which pages contain the broken links.
- Check whether each error is intentional or needs fixing.
This method is especially useful for larger websites because manually checking hundreds or thousands of pages is not practical.
Method 2: Check Google Search Console
Google Search Console can help you identify URLs that Google has encountered and that return errors.
The important thing to remember is that Search Console should not be treated as a complete broken-link checker. It provides valuable information about URLs Google knows about, but a full website crawl can reveal broken links that are not currently surfaced in Search Console.
Method 3: Use a Broken Link Checker
A broken link checker automatically scans pages and checks whether linked URLs are returning successful responses.
Depending on the tool, you may be able to see:
- The broken URL.
- The page containing the link.
- The HTTP status code.
- Whether the link is internal or external.
- The anchor text.
- The number of pages linking to the URL.
This makes it much easier to prioritize repairs.
Method 4: Check Important Pages Manually
Automated tools are useful, but manual review still matters. Pay particular attention to:
- Homepage links
- Main navigation
- Product and service pages
- High-traffic blog posts
- Conversion pages
- Resource pages
- Important internal links
A broken link on a page receiving thousands of visitors deserves more attention than one buried in an old article that receives almost no traffic.
Best Free Broken Link Checker Options
If budget is a concern, these free options cover most needs:
|
Tools |
Best For |
Limitations |
|
Sitewide, ongoing monitoring |
Only shows what Google has crawled |
|
|
One-time or occasional audits |
Capped at 500 URLs |
|
|
Check My Links (extension) |
Quick single-page checks |
Doesn’t scan the whole site |
|
Dead Link Checker (online) |
Small sites, no install needed |
Slower on large sites |
|
Broken Link Checker (WP plugin) |
WordPress sites |
Adds some overhead to page load |
For most small businesses and blogs, combining Google Search Console with an occasional Screaming Frog crawl covers everything needed without spending anything.
Broken Internal Links vs. Broken External Links
Not all broken links should be handled in the same way.
Broken Internal Links
These links point to pages on your own website. They are usually easier to fix because you control both the source page and destination.
For example, suppose an old blog post links to: “example.com/services/seo”
but that page has moved to: “example.com/seo-services”
You can update the internal link to the correct URL. If the page has permanently moved and many other URLs still point to the old address, a redirect may also be appropriate.
Broken External Links
These point to other websites. You don’t control the destination, so your options are different. You can:
- Replace the link with another reliable source
- Remove the link
- Update it to the new URL if the external resource moved
- Keep it only when the destination is still valid and relevant
External links should be reviewed based on usefulness, not simply because they return an error.
Common Causes of Broken Links
Broken links usually appear because something changed after the original link was created. Common causes include:
- Deleted pages: A page is removed without updating links pointing to it.
- Changed URLs: A website changes its URL structure but does not update old internal links.
- Typing mistakes: A small error in a URL can send visitors to a nonexistent page.
- Website migrations: Moving or redesigning a website can create hundreds of broken links when redirects and internal links are not handled correctly.
- Expired resources: External websites may remove reports, articles, PDFs, or other resources.
- Domain changes: An external company may move content to a new domain.
- Old content: Older blog posts often contain links that worked when they were published but no longer work today.
This is why broken-link checking should be part of regular website maintenance rather than a one-time task.
How to Fix Broken Links
Once you’ve identified broken links, fixing them generally comes down to a few options:
1. Set up a 301 redirect
If the page has a clear, relevant replacement, redirect the old URL to the new one. This helps users reach the right page instead of ending up at a dead link.
2. Update the link directly
If you control the page linking out, simply edit the href to point to the correct, current URL.
3. Restore the missing page
If content was accidentally deleted, republishing it at the original URL is often the simplest fix.
4. Remove the link
If there’s no relevant replacement, remove the link entirely rather than leaving it broken or redirecting it somewhere unrelated.
5. Customize your 404 page
For links you can’t immediately fix, a helpful 404 page with navigation options reduces the damage to user experience.
Prioritize internal links first, high-traffic pages second, and low-traffic external link fixes last.
How to Prevent Broken Links
Fixing broken links is only half the job. Preventing new ones from piling up matters just as much.
- Always set up 301 redirects when deleting or moving a page.
- Run a broken link audit on a regular schedule, not just after something looks wrong.
- Use relative or consistent linking conventions to reduce typo risk.
- Check external links before publishing, and periodically afterward.
- Monitor Search Console for crawl errors as an early warning system.
- Document URL changes during site redesigns or migrations so nothing gets missed.
A simple technical SEO workflow can be:
Crawl → Find → Verify → Fix → Recheck
That process helps ensure a broken-link cleanup actually worked.
The Final Thought
Broken links are easy to overlook because they often sit quietly inside old content, resource pages, or internal navigation. At Crawl Vision, we see how small technical issues like these can add up during website audits.
The important thing is not to panic over every 404 you find. A good broken-link audit is about understanding which links are genuinely broken, which ones matter, and what action makes sense for each one.
Use a crawler or broken link checker to find the problems, verify them before making changes, and then update, redirect, replace, or remove links based on the situation.
Regular checks can keep your website easier to navigate, easier to maintain, and technically healthier over time.
