Broken Link Checker

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Find and Fix Broken Links Fast with Broken Link Checker [2025 Guide]

Broken links send visitors to dead ends instead of the content they’re looking for. In 2025, search engines notice these problems, and rankings can drop fast if you don’t fix them. Users lose trust when they keep running into errors, and that means fewer people stick around.

Keeping your site healthy means checking and fixing those links before they hurt your traffic or sales. With a broken link checker, you’ll spot issues right away and keep your site’s experience smooth. In this guide, you’ll see how easy it is to find and fix broken links so your website stays strong all year.

Understanding Broken Links and Their Impact

No website is safe from broken links. These errors quietly erode trust, lower search rankings, and frustrate visitors. If you want to keep your site running smoothly, it helps to know exactly what broken links are, how they show up, and why they matter.

What Are Broken Links?

A broken link is any hyperlink that leads to a page that doesn’t exist or can’t be reached by the user. They show up as error messages—most often “404 Not Found”—or endless redirects that never deliver the content you want.

Links can break for many reasons:

Deleted pages: Content gets removed but old links stay.
Changed URLs: A page might be moved or renamed without setting up a proper redirect.
Typos: Entering the wrong address when creating a link leads visitors to nowhere.
Server issues: Sometimes, the website a link points to is temporarily down.

There are two main types of broken links:

Internal broken links: These point to pages within your own website. If you move or delete content and forget to update these links, your visitors hit a dead end.
External broken links: These point to pages on other websites. If those other sites change their content, your links no longer work.

Most broken links show up as a 404 error, but sometimes you’ll see other problems like “500 Internal Server Error,” timeouts, or infinite redirect loops. Each of these interrupts the visitor’s journey and can leave a bad impression.

Want more detail about the different types and causes of broken links? The team at Evolve Websites explains it well here.

How Broken Links Harm Your Website

Broken links aren’t just a minor annoyance. They can cause big problems for both your visitors and your business.

Let’s take a closer look at how:

1. They break visitor trust

No one likes clicking a link only to land on an error page. It feels sloppy and makes your site look unprofessional.
A few broken links, and people start to question whether your content is up to date or reliable.

2. Increased bounce rates

When visitors hit an error, many leave your site right away.
High bounce rates signal to search engines that people aren’t finding what they need, which can lower your position in results.

3. Lower SEO rankings

Search engines want to send people to useful, working content. If your site has too many broken links, you look less trustworthy.
Broken links make it harder for search bots to crawl and index your content, which means your pages could get ignored or ranked lower.
Broken links can seriously damage your SEO efforts, making it harder for potential visitors to find you.

4. Lost traffic and missed opportunities

Every person who hits a broken link is a person who might never come back.
Over time, the total loss in trust, traffic, and rankings can mean fewer leads, sales, or followers.

If you want to dig deeper into the real-world consequences, GreenCheck’s article explores why you should always fix broken links.

Checking for broken links and fixing them quickly helps protect your reputation, keeps visitors on your site, and maintains search engine trust. Fewer errors mean a stronger site—to search engines and real people alike.

Using a Broken Link Checker: Step-by-Step Guide for 2025

Fixing broken links starts with the right tools and a simple plan. In 2025, fast website scans and easy result management are the new normal. Whether you run a blog, business site, or a giant e-commerce store, catching link issues before search engines or users do is one of the quickest ways to keep your site healthy and strong.

Choosing the Right Broken Link Checker for 2025

Broken link checkers keep getting smarter every year. In 2025, more websites are choosing all-in-one SEO tools or dedicated plugins that speed up the job and save time. You want a checker that scans your full site, lets you fix links right away, and helps you sort real problems from false alarms.

Here are some top choices to consider:

Ahrefs: Offers deep site audits, a clean dashboard, and powerful broken link filtering. It’s great for both internal and external links.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider: Well-known for its in-depth crawling and export options. It checks every nook and cranny, even catching links buried deep in your site.
SEMrush: Combines link checking with overall site health scores. You can set automated scans and receive detailed reports straight to your inbox.
Google Search Console: Free and simple. It won’t catch every external broken link, but it’s handy for spotting crawl errors Google itself finds.
WordPress Plugins: Tools like Broken Link Checker for WordPress and AIOSEO’s Broken Link Checker directly alert you when a link goes down, and you can edit or remove broken links right inside your dashboard.

When picking a broken link checker, look for these must-have features in 2025:

Cloud-based scanning (no server slowdown)
Automated reporting
Quick-fix options (edit, unlink, or set up redirects in one click)
Smart filtering (ignore false alarms like password-protected or rate-limited pages)
Bulk actions for updates
Link history and trend tracking to spot recurring problems

For a detailed tool-by-tool comparison, check out this round-up of the best dead link checkers for 2025.

How to Scan Your Entire Website for Broken Links

Scanning your site for broken links can be as simple as starting a tool and waiting for a report, but getting accurate, useful results takes a bit of know-how. Here’s how to run a comprehensive scan:

Open your broken link checker (Ahrefs, Screaming Frog, SEMrush, or your plugin of choice).
Enter your site URL into the scanner and select your scan options. Most tools let you crawl just your domain or include all subdomains and directories.
Start the scan. If you have a large website, this can take several minutes or more.
Review the results dashboard. Most tools will list every broken link it found, showing the source page, the broken URL, and the exact error code (404, 410, timeout, etc.).
Sort and filter results. Focus first on fixing internal broken links—they hurt SEO the most. Then scan for high-traffic pages with broken external links.
Fix problems right from the tool if it supports it. Plugins like Broken Link Checker let you edit or unlink directly from your results or use bulk actions for faster cleanup.
Mark fixed links as resolved. Some tools track changes so you don’t re-check links that are already corrected in future scans.

Scan reports can be exported into spreadsheets, helping you keep a maintenance record. Advanced users often plug these reports into project management tools or create custom workflows. Good checkers now highlight new issues versus ones you’ve seen before, saving you time and guesswork.

If you want more hands-on documentation, the Broken Link Checker plugin usage guide explains modern dashboard features made for 2025.

Scheduling Regular Broken Link Checks

Websites are never static. New content, updated URLs, and third-party changes can break links anytime. Manual checks miss problems that happen between scans, so the best approach in 2025 is to schedule automated, regular checks.

Here’s what works well:

Set automated checks to run weekly or monthly, depending on how often your site changes.
Use cloud-based or plugin-powered scanning. Many plugins allow for set-and-forget schedules where you choose when to scan and how you want to be alerted.
Review results via email or dashboard notifications so you don’t waste time logging in daily.
Keep a calendar or log of your scan schedule and updates—this helps spot persistent or recurring issues.

Best practices:

Check high-traffic and frequently updated sites weekly.
Review low-traffic or rarely updated sites at least monthly.
Always run a scan before major launches, marketing pushes, or if you’ve made big changes to content or URLs.

By automating broken link checks, you keep your site clean without constant manual effort. Many tools now offer smart scheduling and reporting, so you only need to jump in when there’s a real issue. For plugin users, new cloud features in the Broken Link Checker plugin make it easy to monitor links without slowing down your site.

A regular checkup routine means fewer surprises—and fewer visitors running into annoying dead ends.

Effective Strategies to Fix and Prevent Broken Links

A single broken link can drop your trust and rankings before you know it, but a strong fix-and-prevention routine keeps your site steady. Addressing broken links is more than damage control. It’s about building habits that make your site stronger long-term. Let’s cover the best methods to clean up broken links and keep future problems out.

Repairing or Redirecting Broken Links

Fixing broken links means finding the issue, deciding the right action, and making the change fast. Here are practical options:

Manual Fixes:

Update the URL: If the page still exists but the link is wrong, swap out the old URL for the current, working address.
Remove the link: If the resource is gone and there’s no replacement, it’s better to delete the dead link than leave a pathway to a 404 error.
Replace with a new source: If new, trustworthy resources are available, swap the broken link for a better one.

Implementing 301 Redirects:

Use 301 redirects for any page you’ve moved or renamed permanently. This sends both users and search engines straight to the new spot.
Redirects keep your SEO strength intact and spare visitors from landing on dead ends.
WordPress users can set up 301 redirects with plugins like Redirection, or more advanced users can manage redirects via .htaccess rules. Learn more about choosing the best redirect type at Rebrandly’s guide to 301 redirects.

Updating Outdated Content:

Regularly review older blog posts, landing pages, or resource lists.
Update any references, citations, or product links—especially if you have evergreen articles that drive lots of views.

Error Page Optimization:

Customize your 404 error page to be helpful: Offer search, suggest top pages, or add a friendly message so visitors don’t just leave.
A creative and useful 404 page can retain traffic and help people find what they want.

Experts recommend focusing on the most important or most visited pages first. For a step-by-step look at the entire broken link fixing process, Backlinko’s resource, How to Find (and Fix) Broken Links, includes more practical advice and tools.

Internal Processes for Prevention

It’s much easier to stay ahead of broken links than to keep fixing them. Setting up standards and clear routines keeps link problems from snowballing.

Set Link Standards:

Draft basic guidelines for linking—like always previewing links before publishing or avoiding links to unstable sources.
Use relative links for internal pages when possible, so domain changes or site migrations break fewer links.

Editorial Processes:

Add a link check to your publishing or editing checklist before anything goes live.
Assign someone on your team or in your workflow to review links as part of their content review duties.

Link Monitoring:

Use broken link checker tools for regular sweeps—monthly or quarterly is usually enough for most business websites.
Automate checks with plugins that alert you instantly when a new broken link pops up.
Keeping a log in a shared doc or project tool helps track what’s been fixed vs. what needs attention.

Staff Education and Communication:

Show your team how broken links impact user trust and SEO.
Share quick training on how to add, update, or verify URLs—especially with guest writers or freelancers.
Encourage habits like testing outbound links and re-checking resource lists regularly.

One of the easiest habits for any team is to re-check links whenever major website or content changes happen, like a site redesign or product update. Semonto’s tips on how to prevent, find, and fix broken links offer more actionable steps for daily site management.

Preventing broken links is about small habits, not big projects. Build these routines and broken links won’t stand a chance.

Conclusion

Keeping your site free from broken links in 2025 has never been easier—or more important. Regular checks help you avoid lost traffic, protect your search rankings, and build real trust with visitors. A broken link checker is your early warning system, catching issues before they cost you.

Start scanning your site today—don’t wait for users or search engines to spot mistakes first. Make broken link checks part of your monthly routine and watch your site stay strong and reliable all year long.

Thanks for reading—and if you’ve seen real results from regular link checks, share your tips below!