How to Find and Fix Broken Links on Your Business Website
To find broken links on your business website, crawl your pages with a link checker that requests every link it finds and records the HTTP status code each one returns. Any link that returns a 4xx or 5xx error, times out or fails to resolve is broken. You then fix each one by updating it to the correct address, redirecting the missing page or removing the link altogether.
Broken links rarely announce themselves. A supplier changes its website, a product is discontinued, someone renames a page, and links that worked last quarter now lead to an error. Running a broken link checker regularly catches them before customers or search engines do.
Internal and external: two different problems
Internal broken links point to pages on your own site that no longer exist. They are fully under your control, waste the crawling attention search engines give your site, and interrupt the paths visitors use to reach your products and contact pages. Fix every one.
External broken links point to other websites that have moved or disappeared. You cannot fix the destination, but you can update or remove the link. They matter most on pages where you cite a source or recommend a partner, because a dead reference undermines the credibility of the page.
Reading the status codes in a link report
- 200 OK: the link works.
- 301 or 308: permanently redirected. Not broken, but worth updating to the final URL to save a hop.
- 302 or 307: temporarily redirected. Check whether the move is really temporary.
- 404 Not Found: the page does not exist at that address. The most common broken link.
- 410 Gone: the page was deliberately removed. Google’s documentation says it treats most 4xx errors the same way, so the practical effect is similar to a 404.
- 403 Forbidden: access refused. Sometimes a genuine problem, but some sites return 403 to automated checkers while working perfectly in a browser.
- 5xx: a server error at the destination. It may be temporary, so recheck before acting.
- Timeout or DNS failure: the destination did not respond or the domain no longer exists. An expired domain is a particular risk, because someone else can register it and serve unrelated content to anyone following your link.
Watch for soft 404s too: pages that display “not found” or almost no content while returning a 200 status. A link checker will report these as working, and Google may flag them in Search Console. They are worth fixing just as much as a hard 404.
Worked example: a sample broken link report, explained
The sample below comes from a crawl of a 48-page website for a US home services company. The checker followed 620 links and reported 14 problems. Here are the most instructive lines.
| Line | Found on | Broken link | Status | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Main navigation (all 48 pages) | /services/water-heaters | 404 | Internal |
| 2 | /blog/winter-checklist | /blog/pipe-insulation-guide | 404 | Internal |
| 3 | /about | Former trade association page | 404 | External |
| 4 | /financing | Lending partner application page | Timeout | External |
| 5 | /blog/energy-rebates | Government energy programme page | 301 | External |
| 6 | /reviews | Review platform profile | 403 | External |
| 7 | /contact | /images/team-photo.jpg | 404 | Internal resource |
Line 1 looks like one broken link but is really 48, because it sits in the main navigation and appears on every page. The service page was renamed to /services/water-heater-repair. Updating the menu fixes it everywhere at once, and a 301 from the old address catches any external links and bookmarks. Always fix template-level links first; they account for a large share of the total.
Line 2 is an old blog post linking to an article that was deleted. If a closely related article exists, link to that instead. If not, remove the link and adjust the sentence so it still reads naturally.
Line 3 is an external page that has gone. Search the association’s site for the page’s new location; if it has none, remove the link or replace it with the organisation’s home page.
Line 4 is the most commercially important finding: customers trying to apply for financing hit a dead end. Recheck it immediately in a browser. If it is still down, contact the partner and temporarily replace the button with a phone number.
Line 5 is not broken. The government site moved the page and redirects correctly. Updating the link to the final URL is good housekeeping, not an emergency.
Line 6 is likely a false positive: many large platforms block automated requests. Open it in a browser. If it loads, mark it as checked and move on.
Line 7 is a missing image. Visitors see a blank space or a broken image icon on the contact page, which looks careless at the moment someone is deciding whether to get in touch. Re-upload the file or update the path.
Check your own site now: enter your website address in the free broken link checker to see every broken internal and external link, the page it appears on and the status code returned, then work through the list using the priorities above.
Deciding between update, redirect and remove
For each broken link, ask three questions in order.
- Does the content still exist at a new address? Update the link to point there directly. If it is your own page, also add a 301 redirect from the old URL.
- Is there a close substitute? Link to the most relevant alternative. Sending visitors to a loosely related page, or to the home page, frustrates them and can be treated by search engines as a soft 404.
- Neither? Remove the link and edit the surrounding text. A clean sentence without a link is better than a link to nothing.
When you add redirects, check them with a redirect checker so that a fix today does not become a redirect chain after the next round of changes.
Keeping broken links from coming back
- Redirect before you rename. Whenever a page’s URL changes, set up the 301 at the same time.
- Use a helpful 404 page. Include search, popular services and contact details, so a visitor who does land there has somewhere useful to go.
- Schedule a monthly crawl. Small sites can do this in minutes; larger ones should check key templates weekly.
- Review external links on high-value pages. Financing, pricing and partner pages deserve a manual check every quarter.
- Combine with a broader audit. A website SEO checker will catch related issues such as missing titles or headings while you are working through the pages.
Frequently asked questions
Do broken links hurt SEO?
A handful of broken external links will not sink a site, but they make individual pages less useful. Broken internal links do more harm: they cut off routes that search engines use to discover and understand your pages, and they stop visitors reaching the content you want them to see. Fix internal links first.
How often should I check my website for broken links?
Monthly suits most small business websites. Check immediately after a redesign, a migration, a change to the navigation or the removal of products or services. Sites that publish frequently or link to many external sources benefit from weekly checks.
Should I use a 404 or a 410 for a deleted page?
Either is acceptable for a page that has gone for good with no replacement. Google treats them similarly in practice. What matters more is not leaving internal links pointing at the deleted page, and redirecting instead whenever a genuinely relevant replacement exists.
Why does a link work in my browser but show as broken in a checker?
Some websites block automated requests or return a 403 or 429 code to anything that does not look like a normal browser. Others require a login or use heavy JavaScript. If the link loads correctly for a human visitor, it is not a problem for your readers, though you may want to recheck it later.
Broken links are small faults with outsized effects on how trustworthy and well maintained a business looks online. A short monthly routine keeps them in check. Start by crawling your site with the TechBullion dead link checker and fixing the navigation and high-value pages first.
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