Knowing what to do with broken links on your website will have an impact on its SEO.
We’ve all been there at some point. You’ve been searching endlessly online for a specific product, and just when you think you’ve found it, you click on the link and are instantly sent to a dead end. This is commonly referred to as a 404 error or a broken link.
What Is a Broken Link?
A broken link is a link on a website that no longer functions as a result of one or more of the following issues:
- The destination web page has been moved or is no longer available.
- The web page owner has given an incorrect URL for the link.
- Users can access the linked web page because it exists. Perhaps the webpage has been made private.
Though Google says that 404 errors need not hurt SEO, broken links can adversely affect the user experience and create higher bounce rates.
We’ll show you how to detect, avoid, and fix those annoying 404 issues on your website so that you can keep people on your site for longer and more engaged.
How to Detect Broken Links
There are several plugins and tools available to search for 404 errors and broken links. Some of them have been found to be unreliable since they are CPU hogs that slow down your website and even your computer.
Rank Math is one of our favorite WordPress plugins since it includes a broken link detector.
We recommend using Google Search Console as an alternative way to find broken links on your website.
To perform this simple task, you should:
- Sign in to your Google account that is linked to your website.
- Navigate to Google Search Console
- Click on your account
- On the sidebar to the left, go to the drop-down menu labeled “Crawl”
- Click on “Crawl Errors”
- Click on the link and you’ll be able to view detailed information about that broken link.
How to Avoid Broken Links on Your Website
You have the power to prevent 404 error messages. Consider refreshing and updating your content instead of deleting pages with old information.
How to Fix Broken Links
One of the most frequent and simple ways to fix broken links on your website is to use a plugin like Rank Math or to update your .htaccess file to create 301 redirects.
Adding a 301 Redirect to .htaccess
The syntax for creating the 301 redirects will look like the following:
Redirect 301 /landing-page-2 https://www.yourdomain.com/landing-page-1
- /landing-page-2 is everything behind the forward slash after your domain name.
- The second half is the full URL of the new page to which the link would be directed.
Updating The 301 Redirects via .htaccess
Editing the .htaccess file is simple but dangerous if you are unfamiliar with the procedure. We do want to warn you that a single missing character might cause your entire website to crash. It is strongly advised that you copy the complete file and put it into Notepad as a backup in case you break your website.
- Log in to your direct admin access page.
- Navigate to the File Manager.
- Open the public_html folder.
- In the account settings, make sure that “Show hidden files” is checked.
- Click on the edit button to edit the HT Access file.
- Insert the 301 redirect
- Press save
- Click on the old broken link and ensure that it is going to the new destination.
Broken Links From External Sources
You may sometimes receive a broken link error as a result of an external site improperly linking back to you with an incorrect URL. It is recommended that you contact the author or webmaster and request a change to the incorrect URL.
Correcting broken links on your website may help improve your SEO, provide a better user experience, and improve your site's performance. It may, however, be very overwhelming and confusing. We can assist you. Contact our Digital Marketing Strategists in Florida - USA or Karachi - Pakistan, and call +92 (309) 514-8449 or request a free consultation and website review today.
