How To Fix Broken Links

Many things can go wrong with a website. Sometimes, think break. Well, they always do. That’s why you have to keep an eye on a website, however small. And broken links are one of the most popular — and underestimated — problems. Here’s our short guide on how to fix broken links.

How to fix broken links

Broken links aren’t just inconvenient for your users — they can hurt your site’s overall performance. People notice and get angry, and Google notices, too, ranking your site lower in the search results. In short, you can’t ignore the problem like so many other web admins. You have to act. Thankfully, fixing this issue is relatively easy.

You can do it manually, but who has the time for that? Nowadays, there are many tools to do the job for you. The most popular — and free — is Google Analytics. Ahrefs offer a similar tool called Site Audit, and we recommend it as well. There are others, of course — you choose the one you prefer. WordPress users like us can use a wide range of plugins. WP Broken Link Status Checker is a good one.

Every service has a different way of doing things, but finding links is never complicated. The next thing you should do is remove all the broken ones. Bear in mind that all links count — backlinks, external or internal. Sometimes, a link doesn’t work because of a typo in the address. Sometimes, the page might be deleted or moved. 

To fix a link, first, find what’s the problem. It might be that you just have to fix the typo in the code. If a link leads to a broken/inexistent page, remove the link or add another one. Don’t forget the correct anchor, too — mix things up, and Google will punish you!

If your internal link leads to a page you yourself have deleted, it might be best to recreate it — or simply remove the link. 

And if the link is external, the steps are the same. Either find a working link or remove it altogether.