How to Find and Fix Broken Links on Your Website (2026)
Short answer: scan your site with a free broken-link checker, export every URL returning a 404 or other error, then fix each one — redirect internal links to the closest live page, replace dead outbound links with working sources, and remove links that have no good replacement. A monthly scan keeps the problem from quietly growing back.
1. What counts as a broken link — and why it matters
A broken link is any hyperlink that points to a page that no longer loads successfully. Most of the time that means a 404 (page not found), but server errors (5xx), timeouts and DNS failures count too. Links break for predictable reasons: a page was deleted, a URL changed during a redesign, a product went out of stock and was removed, or an external site you linked to shut down or restructured.
There are two kinds, and they hurt you differently:
- Internal broken links — links between your own pages. These are the serious ones. They waste Google's crawl budget, strand link equity on dead ends, and can push useful pages out of the index because nothing points to them anymore.
- External broken links — links from your site to other websites. These frustrate readers and make a page look unmaintained, but they cost you less directly in rankings.
For Pakistani businesses the problem is often worse than it looks. Product pages get deleted when stock runs out, WhatsApp and Facebook links change when pages are renamed, and old blog posts link to tools and services that no longer exist. A site that has been live for three years can easily carry hundreds of dead links without anyone noticing — because nobody clicks every link on their own site.
2. How to find broken links: the free workflow
You do not need a paid crawler to find broken links. Start with the free route — it catches the vast majority of issues on small and medium sites:
- Run a full-site scan: paste your homepage URL into my free broken link checker and let it crawl every internal and external link it finds. Export the list of errors — that becomes your fix list.
- Check Google Search Console: open the Pages report and look for "Not found (404)" entries. These are URLs Google tried to crawl or that users reached and got nothing. Cross-check them against your scan results.
- Scan a single important page: for a high-traffic landing page or a long guide, run the checker on that one URL before and after you edit it. A targeted check is faster than a full crawl and catches the links your visitors actually click.
- Use a desktop crawler for big sites: the free version of Screaming Frog crawls up to 500 URLs and lists every client error with its source page. Use it when your site is too large for an online scan, or when you need the "linked from" column to find every page pointing at a dead URL.
Rule of thumb: fix the broken links on your most-visited and most-linked pages first. A dead link on a page that gets 1,000 visits a month matters far more than ten dead links on pages nobody visits.
3. Fix internal broken links first
Internal links are yours to control, so they should never stay broken. Work through the list in this order:
- The target still exists under a new URL: update the link to point at the new address. If many pages link to the old URL, fix the links and add a 301 redirect from the old URL — the redirect catches bookmarks and external links you cannot edit.
- The target was deleted with no replacement: remove the link, or point it at the closest live category or guide. Never link a navigation menu or a call-to-action to a dead page.
- The link is a typo: a missing letter in a slug is the most common cause of all. Compare the link against the real URL in your CMS before assuming the page is gone.
- The target is a PDF or image: media files get renamed and moved during redesigns. Check that downloadable files and image links resolve, especially on product and resource pages.
On WordPress, a search-and-replace across the database fixes site-wide URL changes in minutes — but back up first and test on a staging copy. On Shopify, check the URL redirects section after any product or collection change, because Shopify does not create redirects automatically when you delete a product. For a full audit of how your internal links are structured, read my guide on internal linking strategy for content sites.
4. Fix external broken links: replace, don't just delete
Outbound links rot faster than internal ones because you do not control the other end. A study, a tool or a supplier page you cited two years ago may have moved, paywalled or vanished. For each dead outbound link:
- Find the new location: search for the page title or paste the dead URL into the Wayback Machine. If the content moved, update your link to the new address.
- Find an equivalent source: if the original is gone for good, link to a comparable authoritative source — a Google developer doc, a vendor's current documentation, or a fresh piece of research.
- Remove it as a last resort: if no replacement exists, delete the link but keep the sentence readable. A link to nothing is worse than no link at all.
- Check the anchor text: while you are editing, make sure the linked text still describes the destination. A link that says "free tool" should not land on a pricing page.
Do not obsess over every dead outbound link on old posts. Prioritize pages that rank, pages that convert, and pages you actively promote. A 2021 blog post with three dead links can wait; your homepage, services page and top ten blog posts cannot.
5. 404, 301 or 410: choosing the right response
Not every dead URL should become a redirect. Picking the wrong status code creates its own problems — chains, soft 404s and wasted crawl budget. Here is the decision table I use:
| Situation | Correct response | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Page moved to a new URL | 301 redirect | Passes most link value and sends users to the right place |
| Page deleted, close replacement exists | 301 to the replacement | Keeps traffic and rankings on a useful page |
| Page deleted, no replacement | 404 with a helpful page | Honest signal; a good 404 page suggests alternatives |
| Page deliberately removed forever | 410 Gone | Tells Google to drop it faster than a 404 |
| Temporary outage or maintenance | 503 with Retry-After | Stops Google treating a temporary issue as permanent |
Two mistakes to avoid: never redirect every dead URL to your homepage — Google treats that as a soft 404 and users bounce — and never chain redirects (A → B → C) when you can point A straight at C. If your redirect map is getting messy, run a dedicated check; my redirect audit guide walks through finding chains, loops and wrong targets.
6. Fixing broken links at scale
A 20-page site can be fixed by hand in an afternoon. A store with 2,000 products needs a system:
- Group errors by cause, not by URL: one deleted category can produce 200 broken links. Fix the category once — with a redirect or a restored page — and most of the list disappears.
- Fix templates before content: a dead link in your header, footer or sidebar appears on every page. One template fix can clear hundreds of errors in a single deployment.
- Use bulk redirects carefully: redirect patterns (for example, all old /product/ URLs to their new /shop/ equivalents) save hours, but test a sample first. A wrong pattern can redirect live pages by accident.
- Track what you fixed: keep a simple sheet with the broken URL, the fix applied and the date. When the same URL breaks again in three months, you will know whether it is a new problem or a regression.
If broken links keep reappearing after a migration or a theme change, the cause is usually a process problem, not a link problem — nobody owns URL changes. Make "check redirects and internal links" a line item in your launch checklist for every redesign, and run a scan the day after go-live.
7. Stop broken links from coming back
Fixing broken links once is a project. Keeping them fixed is a habit:
- Monthly scan: run the full-site check once a month and after every bulk content change. Put it on the calendar — if it is not scheduled, it does not happen.
- Watch Search Console weekly: the Pages report surfaces new 404s as Google discovers them. A sudden spike usually means a recent deployment broke something.
- Never delete a URL without a plan: before removing a product, post or category, decide its destination — redirect, replacement or a deliberate 404 — and write it down.
- Audit your outbound links yearly: older posts accumulate dead external links. A yearly pass over your top 20 posts keeps them credible.
- Keep your tools current: a slow or broken page is often the first sign of a deeper issue. Pair your link checks with a regular speed review — my PageSpeed Insights tool gives you a quick read on any page.
Broken links are unglamorous work, but they are the kind of maintenance that compounds. Every dead end you remove makes your site easier to crawl, easier to trust and easier to use — and the sites that win in search are usually the ones that are simply better maintained. If you want the full picture of your site's health, run a free SEO audit and see what else needs attention alongside your links.
Sources and further reading
Frequently asked questions
How often should I check my website for broken links?
Run a full broken-link scan at least once a month, and again after any redesign, migration or bulk content change. Large ecommerce stores and news sites should check weekly, since product and article URLs change far more often.
Do broken links hurt SEO?
Yes. Broken internal links waste crawl budget, break the flow of link value between your pages and can cause useful pages to drop out of the index. Broken external links are a smaller ranking factor, but a page full of dead outbound links signals poor maintenance to both users and search engines.
Should I redirect or delete a broken link?
Redirect when a close replacement page exists — a 301 passes most of the link's value to the new URL. Delete or replace the link when no equivalent page exists. Return a 410 Gone only for pages you deliberately removed and never want indexed again.
Want your site's links checked properly?
I run hands-on technical SEO audits for businesses in Pakistan — broken links, redirects, crawlability and speed, prioritized by impact.
