How To: Check for broken links and fix them

What are broken links?

Simply defined, broken links are internal and external links originating from your site that lead to a dead end. That is, visitors see the 'Page not found' message. It is common for blogs to have broken links. You may have moved or deleted a post, or they may have been misplaced when you moved your blog or changed your domain name.

Why do I need to fix broken links?

The experts will tell you that broken links adversely affect your SEO or Google Page Rank. While this true in the long term, you have nothing to worry about if you regularly check your site for broken links and fix them. This is important not just for SEO, but also for user experience. You want your readers to see as little of that dreaded '404 Page Not Found' as possible. It's like cleaning the clutter in your house. Nobody's going to arrest you for a dirty house, but you'll have fewer visitors! So, think of this as spring cleaning dead links. I recommend doing it once a month, otherwise the pile up can be difficult to manage.

How can I find broken links?

Create an account on Google Webmaster Tools if you don't already have one. This service is very useful for site owners and offers many tools that can be quite handy. You will be asked to verify your site or blog once. After it's been verified, go to your Dashboard, click on Crawl on the left sidebar and then on Crawl Errors in the sub menu. Click on the Not found tab. This is a list of links that Google had a record of but couldn't find on your site anymore.

Next, scroll down and take a look at the list of crawl errors. Now, here's where you have to play detective. Click on each link.

You will get the window below, which will give you information on where that broken link was found. You can check that post or page and either correct the broken link or redirect it to the right place. You will have to do this using 301 redirect either through a plug-in or your blog dashboard. Once you have addressed the issue, click Mark as fixed. Don't worry if you can't find all of them. Some of them may be on your sidebar, while others may be in your source code. You can focus on the links that are most likely to affect your readers.

You are not entirely done! Webmaster Tools only shows the internal links on your blog that are broken. To see the external broken links that you have linked to on your blog, use an online tool like Broken Link Checker. It will quickly give you a list of links that are no longer working. Click on the URL where they have been found and remove them.

And that's all there is to it! Make sure you routinely rid your blog of broken links, and keep it clean.


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