Check up to 60 links on a page for 4xx and 5xx errors and timeouts, so visitors and crawlers don't hit dead ends.
How to use the Broken link checker
- Enter a page URL.
- Wait while each link is requested.
- Fix or remove the links that fail.
Why fix broken links
Broken links waste crawl time, frustrate visitors and make a page look neglected. Broken outbound links on old posts are the most common cause.
Reading the results
The stats show how many links are on the page, how many were checked, and how many are broken or OK. Each checked link has its final status. 2xx is fine. 404 and 410 mean the page is gone. 403 often means the other site blocks automated requests rather than a real problem. 5xx means that server is failing, possibly only for a while. "error" means no answer within 8 seconds or a connection failure. Redirects are followed for up to 5 hops, so a link that redirects to a working page counts as OK. The first 60 unique links are checked, with #anchors ignored. Tick "Only show broken" to see just the failures.
What to do with each broken link
For an internal 404, fix the link or add a 301 from the old URL to the right page. For an external page that moved, search for its new address and update the link. If the content is gone, link to another good source or remove the link. For a 5xx or timeout, check again later before changing anything. For pages with more than 60 links, check the most important sections first, such as the article body.