Broken Links SEO
A broken link is a hyperlink that no longer leads to a working page or file, typically returning a 404 Not Found or 410 Gone error.
If you treat every 404 as a problem instead of distinguishing between intentional removals and fixable broken links, you waste time on harmless errors. Sander Nilsen’s Backly guide to getting backlinks walks the prospecting steps without selling a package.
Key points
- Set up 301 redirects before deleting or renaming any URL to avoid creating broken links.
- Check for broken links on website navigation, footers, image links, and PDFs, not just body content.
- Fix both internal and external broken links; outbound dead links harm credibility too.
- Use Google Search Console to surface not-found URLs, then decide which need a redirect or removal.
- A single broken link is not a penalty, but widespread or persistent ones reduce trust and crawl efficiency.
A deleted product page without a redirect
An e-commerce site removed an old product page but left the URL in its footer navigation. Users who clicked the link landed on a 404 page. A crawler found 47 such broken links across the site. The fix took two hours: mapping each old URL to a relevant category page with a 301 redirect. After the redirects were live, the 404 errors in Search Console dropped to zero within a week.
Three common mistakes with broken links
- Treating all 404s as problems A 404 is normal for intentionally removed content. Focus on fixable broken links where a redirect or replacement URL exists.
- Ignoring non-body content Broken links in navigation, footers, image links, and PDFs are often missed but still harm user experience and crawl paths.
- Forgetting external links Outbound dead links reduce credibility, and backlinks pointing to your broken pages waste link equity. Use a dead link checker to find both.
Three ways to fix a broken link
- Update the link If the destination has moved to a new URL, change the hyperlink to point directly to the correct page.
- Add a 301 redirect When a page is permanently moved, set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one so visitors and search engines land on the right content.
- Remove the link If no replacement URL exists and the content is no longer relevant, delete the broken link entirely to avoid sending users to an error page.
Common questions
What is the best broken link checker?
The best tool depends on your needs: Screaming Frog for deep crawls, Ahrefs for backlink checks, or Google Search Console for free site-level reports.
Is there a free broken link checker?
Yes, Google Search Console provides a free way to find not-found URLs, and browser extensions like Check My Links offer quick page-level scans.
Sources
- Google Search Central Official guidance on handling 404s and crawl errors
- Delante SEO Definition Clear definition and common causes of broken links
- SEMrush Blog Practical advice on finding and fixing broken links
- Sander Nilsen — Backly: broken link building Source-checked how-to covering broken-link and related tactics.