Imagine you’re reading an incredibly insightful article about optimizing your WordPress site’s performance. The writer mentions a fantastic case study that dives deeper into how a simple tweak improved page speed by 40%. Excited, you click the link, expecting to gain some actionable insights.
But instead…
Boom. A 404 error page.
You hit the digital equivalent of a brick wall. The article that was promising just a moment ago suddenly feels incomplete. You try refreshing. Maybe even searching for the missing page manually. But it’s gone, and now you’re left annoyed.
That’s the damage a broken link does. It’s not just an inconvenience, it disrupts trust, kills engagement, and reduces credibility. If this happens too often, your audience might not return at all.
This is why keeping links in check is so important. You don’t want your readers, or Google for that matter, running into dead ends.
Broken links are one of those hidden problems that creep into websites over time. They frustrate users, hurt SEO rankings, and can make a site look neglected. But why do they happen, and how can you fix them before they cause damage? In this guide, we’ll break down exactly what broken links are, why they’re a concern, and how to prevent them.
Search engines like Google crawl websites to understand their structure. If they encounter too many broken links, it signals poor site maintenance. This can lead to:
- reduced rankings as Google prioritizes well-maintained sites, wasted crawl budget where search engines spend time on dead links instead of valuable content
- and loss of link equity, where backlinks pointing to broken pages no longer pass SEO value to your site.
But most importantly, for your visitors, broken links create a frustrating experience. Clicking a link only to land on a 404 error makes visitors question the reliability of your site. If they run into too many broken links, they might leave altogether, increasing bounce rates.
Beyond user experience and SEO, broken links can also impact conversions and trust. Imagine a potential customer trying to access a product page, only to find it no longer exists. Or a journalist clicking a link in your press release that leads to nowhere.
Broken links don’t just inconvenience users, they just erode trust and credibility.
Common Causes of Broken Links
So, how did they get there in the first place? Great question. Let’s look at the most common reasons.
- Deleted or Moved Pages (404 Errors) – When a page is removed or its URL changes without a proper redirect, existing links to that page break. This is one of the most common causes of broken links. This happens on your own site as well as external sites you’ve linked to.
- Typographical Errors – A simple mistake in a URL—like missing a character, extra spaces, or incorrect formatting, that’s a broken link as well.
- Changed URLs Without Redirects – If you restructure your site’s URLs, you know, change your permalinks, but don’t implement 301 redirects, old links become useless.
- External Websites Going Offline or Changing Structure – If you link to an external site that goes offline, rebrands, or restructures its URLs, those links stop working. This is especially common with linked articles and resources.
- Issues with Dynamic Links or Query Parameters – Some sites use query parameters (e.g.,
?ref=campaign) to track links. If these parameters change or are mistyped, the link might break.
How to Find Broken Links on Your WordPress Site
Finding broken links manually is unrealistic, especially on larger sites. Fortunately, several tools help automate the process.
Since internal broken links are the worst for the user’s experience, you’ll be wanting to fix those first. And luckily, there’s a good tool that helps you with that: Google Search Console.
Don’t Do This Inside WordPress
While it might seem convenient to install a WordPress plugin to handle broken link detection, this approach comes with serious drawbacks. We’ve got four good reasons why you really shouldn’t do this inside of WordPress with a plugin.
1. Performance Issues
Broken link checkers work by crawling your entire website and scanning every single link. When this happens inside WordPress, it puts a heavy load on your server, leading to slow page speeds, higher CPU usage, and potential downtime for visitors. This is particularly problematic for shared hosting environments where server resources are limited.
2. Increased Database Bloat
Many WordPress plugins store their results and logs in the database, adding unnecessary weight to your WordPress installation. Over time, this leads to database bloat, ultimately making your site slower and less efficient.
3. Background Scanning Can Conflict with Other Processes
Some broken link checker plugins run scans in the background, which can interfere with other essential tasks like backups, scheduled posts, and caching mechanisms. This can lead to unexpected performance issues and make troubleshooting site slowdowns more difficult.
4. Better Alternatives Exist
Instead of using a WordPress plugin, you can use Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, or Dead Link Checker to scan for broken links externally. These tools perform deeper, more accurate scans without putting any load on your website.
If you prefer an automated solution, you can set up external site monitoring tools that periodically check your links without burdening your WordPress installation.
Google Search Console (GSC) is one of the best ways to detect broken links directly from Google’s perspective.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console is one of the best ways to detect broken links directly from Google’s perspective. Log into Google Search Console and select your website property. Navigate to the ‘Indexing’ section and click ‘Pages.’ Look for the ‘Not Found (404)’ section under ‘Why pages aren’t indexed.’ Here, you’ll find URLs that Google reports as broken.
Once you have a list of broken links, determine if they need fixing. If the page was removed intentionally, ensure it’s replaced with relevant content or a custom 404 page. If it was moved, set up a 301 redirect to the new location. If it’s a typo in an internal link, update the link to the correct URL. Finally, verify the fix by requesting reindexing in GSC.
Now, let’s look at a more extensive solution that also looks at external links.
Screaming Frog
Screaming Frog crawls your site like a search engine and identifies all broken internal and external links. It’s ideal for SEO professionals who need a deep scan. Run a crawl and filter results for 404 errors to pinpoint broken links.
Dead Link Checker
If you’re looking for a quick way to find broken links without installing software, Dead Link Checker is a great option. Enter your website URL, and it will scan for any dead links on your site.
How to Fix and Prevent Broken Links
Great. So, now that we’ve found those pesky broken links, let’s look at how you can fix them.
Fixing Existing Broken Links
The best way to handle broken links is through proactive maintenance. If a page has moved, a 301 redirect ensures visitors and search engines land on the correct page. Internal links should be updated in posts, menus, and footers to point to the right location.
This is a very cumbersome process, and it requires you to go through all of your posts, pages, products, etc. Per content, you’ll literally need to go in edit mode and fix the URL. Tedious, but it’s the only way.
For broken external links, either find a replacement resource or remove the link altogether.
Preventing Future Broken Links
So, how do you keep your content health great? Well, you’ll have to regularly look at what Google Search Console is telling you to catch those 404 errors early. Running site scans every few months helps maintain link integrity. Finally, when linking to external sites, avoid temporary or unreliable pages to reduce the risk of future broken links.
Broken links can damage SEO, but most certainly will erode trust and hurt the user experience. The solution is to stay on top of them by proactively scanning for issues and fixing them efficiently, you can keep your site clean and functional.
A little maintenance goes a long way in keeping your WordPress site healthy!
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