Broken Links: How They Hurt Your SEO and How to Fix Them the Right Way
Broken links are one of the most overlooked technical issues in the SEO world, yet they are among the most damaging.
Whether they lead to a 404 error, redirect endlessly, or point to a page that no longer exists, broken links weaken
user experience and send negative quality signals to search engines. In a digital landscape where attention spans are
short and competition is fierce, every broken link represents a lost opportunity. This guide breaks down what broken
links are, why they occur, how they impact SEO, and how to fix them systematically.
What Are Broken Links?
A broken link is simply a hyperlink that no longer leads to its intended destination. When a user clicks it, they’re
met with error messages like 404 Not Found, 410 Gone, 500 Server Issues,
or worse—dead pages that load nothing at all. Search engines crawl these links, too, and when Google encounters excessive
errors, it begins to downgrade the trust and authority of the website. Broken links happen over time as content changes,
websites shut down, URLs get updated, or old resources are removed without proper redirection.
They fall into two categories: internal broken links, which occur within your own website, and
external broken links, which link out to another domain. Both matter. Internal broken links disrupt navigation
and crawlability, while external broken links damage credibility and user trust.
Why Broken Links Hurt SEO
Google evaluates user experience heavily when determining rankings. Broken links lead to frustration, bounce,
and a breakdown in content flow. When visitors hit a dead end, they leave the site faster, spiking bounce rates and reducing
engagement metrics like time-on-page. These behaviors tell Google your site is poorly maintained.
From a crawling perspective, broken links disrupt how Googlebot navigates your website. If the crawler reaches
multiple dead URLs, it wastes crawl budget—especially detrimental to large websites or those with frequent content updates.
Over time, Google may stop indexing new content consistently or may assign lower priority to your pages.
And then there is the trust factor. Websites with numerous broken links appear outdated, unreliable, and unprofessional.
Even users who would have converted may hesitate if they encounter multiple navigation errors. Search engines interpret those
signals the same way users do: a sign of poor quality.
Common Causes of Broken Links
Broken links can happen for dozens of reasons, many of which are unintentional. Here are some of the most common:
1. Deleted Pages
When you remove a page without assigning a redirect, any link pointing to it becomes broken instantly.
This often happens during website redesigns, content cleanups, or category restructuring.
2. URL Changes
Even small alterations—hyphens, capitalization, categories, or updated slugs—can break a link.
Without redirect management, users and Google will land on dead pages.
3. Moved Content
Pages moved into different folders or under different taxonomies generate broken links unless properly redirected.
4. External Websites Shut Down or Change URLs
External linking is valuable for context, sourcing, and credibility. But when another website updates its structure,
your external links may break without warning.
5. Typos in URLs
A single letter out of place is all it takes to create a broken link. Typos are especially common in manually written
links or legacy content.
How Broken Links Affect User Experience
Beyond SEO, broken links have a direct impact on the people who visit your site. Few things frustrate a user more
than clicking a link expecting helpful information, only to land on an error page. When this happens, users often:
- Close the tab immediately (bounce)
- Lose trust in your site’s reliability
- Fail to complete conversions
- Question whether the site is actively maintained
These behaviors, in turn, reinforce negative SEO outcomes. Google considers user engagement and satisfaction critical
signals, and broken links degrade both.
How to Find Broken Links
Finding broken links is easier than most people think—especially if you use the right tools. Here are the best ways
to scan your site:
1. Google Search Console
Under the “Pages” and “Crawl” reports, Google Search Console alerts you to URLs returning 404 or similar errors.
2. Semrush or Ahrefs
Both tools have built-in site audit features that scan internal and external links across your entire website.
3. Screaming Frog
A powerful desktop crawler that identifies broken links with precision. It’s ideal for large sites and full audits.
4. WordPress Plugins
Tools like Broken Link Checker (or your custom Quick SEO modules) automate detection inside WordPress sites.
5. Manual Testing
This works for small sites but is time-consuming for any site with more than a few dozen pages.
How to Fix Broken Links
Once you’ve identified broken links, repair them using one of the following methods depending on the cause:
1. Set Up Redirects
If a page was moved or deleted, implement a 301 redirect to point users and search engines to the correct
destination. Avoid redirect chains, as they slow performance.
2. Update the Link
If the destination still exists but the URL changed, simply update the hyperlink to the correct URL.
3. Restore the Missing Content
Sometimes the best solution is bringing back the page—especially if it had backlinks or ranking history.
4. Remove the Link
If the content no longer exists anywhere and no alternative is relevant, remove the link entirely.
5. Replace with a Better Resource
Broken external links are often opportunities to improve your content by referencing newer, more authoritative sources.
Preventing Broken Links Long-Term
Maintaining link health is an ongoing task. The best approach is prevention through systematic monitoring.
Use automated scanning tools weekly or monthly depending on your content volume. Always implement redirects for
structural changes. And before removing pages, verify what links point to them—both internally and externally.
Link hygiene is part of managing a healthy website. By staying proactive, you prevent user frustration, preserve
SEO value, and strengthen your website’s overall authority.
Final Thoughts
Broken links might seem like a small issue, but they stack up quickly and send strong negative signals about your
site’s quality. Fixing them not only improves user experience but protects your SEO performance and keeps your
content ecosystem stable. Regular audits, careful redirects, and ongoing link maintenance ensure your site remains
trustworthy, accessible, and search-engine friendly.
