Broken links

A broken link is any hyperlink that points to a destination that no longer works — most commonly a URL that returns a 404 (Not Found), but also 5xx server errors, infinite redirect loops, or DNS failures. They occur on virtually every website at some point.

Why broken links happen

• A linked page was deleted, renamed, or moved without a redirect.
• A site migration changed URL structures.
• An external website you linked to went offline or restructured.
• Typos in URLs (especially in manually written HTML or markdown).
• CMS plugins or imports introduced bad references.
• Tracking parameters or session IDs were stripped or expired.

Why they matter

SEO

• Crawl budget waste. Search engines spend resources following links that lead nowhere instead of discovering valuable content.
• Lost link equity. When a backlink points to a 404 on your site, the ranking signal it would have passed is wasted unless it is redirected to current content.
• Site quality signal. A site littered with broken links appears neglected. Google has stated this isn't a direct ranking factor, but broken links do correlate with lower-quality sites.
• Indexing issues. If important pages are only reachable through broken navigation, they may not be discovered or re-crawled.

User experience

Beyond the technical issues, broken links are a frustrating dead end for users. A visitor who clicks a link expecting helpful content and lands on a 404 is more likely to bounce, lose trust, and not return, resulting in lost conversions.

Broken link categories

• Internal broken links — links within your site to your own pages that no longer work. These are usually the most damaging because they break navigation paths and waste internal link equity.
• External broken links — links from your site to other websites that have gone dead.
• Inbound links to 404 content — links from other sites to your website, but to 404 content. This can happen if a third party accidentally includes a typo in the link to your website. While you can't update the third-party site, you can still resolve this issue by redirecting the incorrect URL to the appropriate page.

How to fix them

1. Identify the original link's intent. What was the user trying to reach?
2. 301 redirect the broken URL to the closest relevant live page if there is one.
3. Update the source link if you control the page where the broken link lives — direct linking is preferable to redirecting when possible.
4. Return a 410 (Gone) if the page is permanently removed and there's no replacement, particularly if it's been deindexed.
5. For external broken links, either remove the link or update it to a working alternative.

Bots, crawlers, and linking

Disclaimer: All information contained herein is for informational purposes only. It is not advice or instructional.