How to Find and Fix Broken Links

What this means

A broken link points at a page that returns an error, usually a 404. There are two kinds:

• Internal broken links go from one of your pages to another of your pages that no longer works.
• External broken links go from your page to another website's page that has moved or gone.

A site audit lists the page each broken link sits on and where it points, so you know exactly what to edit.

Why it matters

Every broken link is a dead end. A visitor who clicks one has to back out and look again, and many won't. Search engines follow links to find your pages, so internal broken links also waste their time and can hide pages from them.

Internal ones matter most, because they are entirely in your control and usually point at pages you want people to see.

How to fix internal broken links

1. Open the page the link is on (the "page" column in the audit).
2. Find the link. Your browser's find tool (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) helps if you search for the link text.
3. Point it at the right page. If the page moved, use its new address. If it's gone, link to the closest page that still exists, or remove the link.
4. Check menus, footers and sidebars too. One broken link in a menu shows up on every page of your site.

If many pages link to the same missing address, it is often quicker to add one permanent (301) redirect from the old address to the new one. That fixes every link at once. The guide on broken pages explains how to add redirects on each platform.

Common causes

• A page was renamed and its address changed.
• A blog post was deleted but older posts still link to it.
• Links were copied from a staging or test site and still point there.
• A typo in a link added by hand.

How to fix external broken links

1. Open the link's address yourself. Sometimes the other site was only down for a moment.
2. If the page moved, search that site for it and update your link to the new address.
3. If the page is gone, link to a different source that says the same thing, or remove the link.

You can't fix someone else's website, but you can choose where you send your visitors.

Checking your fix

Click the link on your live page and make sure it opens the right page.

If you use Duality, broken links depend on more than one page, so the next monthly audit confirms they are fixed. If you fixed a lot at once, you can run a full audit from Site Audit instead of waiting.