What Are Broken Links?
Broken links are hyperlinks that no longer lead to a valid webpage. These links either return a 404 error or direct users to irrelevant pages. They occur due to:
- Deleted or moved pages
- Incorrect URL structures
- Expired external links
- Website migrations without proper redirects
Why Are Broken Links Bad for SEO?
Search engines and users both rely on working links for navigation. Broken links harm SEO by:
- Hurting user experience – Visitors get frustrated when they land on an error page.
- Increasing bounce rate – Users leave your site quickly, signaling poor quality to Google.
- Wasting crawl budget – Google bots waste time crawling non-existent pages.
- Losing backlink value – If your internal or external links are broken, your link equity decreases.
How to Find Broken Links on Your Website
Use these tools to detect broken links:
- Google Search Console – Identify crawl errors and 404 pages.
- Ahrefs or SEMrush – Scan for broken backlinks and internal links.
- Broken Link Checkers – Online tools like Dead Link Checker help find broken links.
How to Fix Broken Links and Improve SEO
Follow these steps to resolve broken links and boost rankings:
- Redirect 404 pages – Set up 301 redirects to relevant pages.
- Update outdated links – Replace or remove broken external links.
- Check internal links – Ensure all internal links are pointing to active pages.
- Use a custom 404 page – Improve user experience by guiding visitors to relevant content.
How Broken Links Impact On-Page SEO Ranking
If broken links are not fixed, they can:
- Lower search rankings due to poor website quality
- Reduce organic traffic by making your site harder to navigate
- Decrease trust and credibility in the eyes of users and search engines
Final Thoughts
Broken links negatively impact SEO rankings, user experience, and site credibility. Regularly auditing and fixing them ensures higher rankings and better engagement. Need help optimizing your website? Let Social Media Max handle it for you!
Call us at 0161 399 3517
Email: Syed_66@hotmail.com
Visit: Social Media Max