404 Links or Broken Links Guide for Beginners
Broken links do more harm to your site than you might realize. Imagine visitors clicking on your link, hoping to find helpful information, only to land on a 404 error page. They will leave your site with a negative impression.
This causes them to lose trust in your site and drives potential customers to your competitors, who provide a smoother user experience, especially when they encounter many broken links.
You don’t have to let broken links pull your website down. This article will teach you how to identify and repair broken links, ensuring a better visitor experience and stronger SEO performance. Before we guide you on ways to fix broken (404) pages on your site, let’s answer some of the questions you have in mind about broken links.
What is a Broken Link?
A broken link is a link on a website that no longer works. When people click on it, they are sent to an error page instead of the expected page.
This usually happens when a webpage is deleted or moved, resulting in a 404 error or a mistyped URL. Broken links irritate visitors and can make your site look unreliable.
Do broken links affect user experience?
Yes, broken links affect user experience and can lead to frustrating 404 errors. When visitors click on a link that doesn’t work, they feel annoyed and disappointed.
This can cause visitors to leave your site quickly, which makes them less likely to return. A smooth experience is essential for keeping visitors happy and engaged.
How Do Broken Links Impact Your Overall SEO Strategy?
Broken links can hurt your SEO strategy because traffic and SEO backlinks to these pages will often be diluted or removed from your site’s SEO performance. Search engines use crawlers or bots to scan your website. These bots follow all the links on your site to check if they lead to valid pages. If a link leads to a page that gives an error or doesn’t exist, the bot detects it as a broken link. This information is then used to assess your website’s quality and performance.
Search engines may think your website lacks credibility when they find broken links. Broken (404) links can make it difficult for people to find your site; you must fix broken links to help improve your site’s visibility and keep search engines and visitors happy.
How to Find Broken and Fix Links on Your Website
Finding broken links on your website is easier than you think. You don’t need to be a tech expert to find broken links on your website. With the simple methods and tools available, anyone can do it.
Below are some simple ways to find and fix broken links on your site:
- Manually Check Links on Your Site: The most challenging way to find broken links is to go through your website and click on each link. If any link leads to an error page or says “404,” it’s broken.
- Browser Extensions: You can add extensions likeCheck My Links to your browser. They will quickly identify broken links on any webpage you visit.
How to Use Google Search Console to Find and Fix Broken Links on Your Site:
Free tools like Google Search Console can automatically find broken links. Follow these steps below to find and fix broken links on your site using Google Search Console:
Step 1: Open Page Indexing Report and Select Your Property (Website) by Clicking this Link
Step 2: Once You Select a Property, You Will See Indexing Report Like this:
Step 3: Scroll Down and Click on “Not Found (404):
Once you click on the “Not found (404)” indexing report in Google Search Console, you will see deleted pages that will return 404 (not found) errors when someone clicks on them.
Now that you have learned how to find 404 pages on your site let’s learn how to address them for the best user experience by creating 404 pages and proper redirections.
How to create a 404 page?
A 404 page is what visitors see when they try to open a page that doesn’t exist or has been moved. It’s like a “roadblock,” showing that the link they clicked on is broken.
Simple steps to create a 404 page:
- Design a Simple Website: Keep the design clean and easy to understand. Add a message like “Sorry, the page you’re looking for doesn’t exist.”
- Include Helpful Links: Offer SEO links to essential parts of your website, like the Homepage or About page. This helps visitors find valuable information instead of leaving.
- Add a Search Bar: A search bar allows visitors to quickly find what they’re looking for, even if they hit a roadblock.
- Be Friendly: A friendly tone can make visitors to 404 pages less annoying.
Creating a good 404 page can turn an error into an opportunity to keep visitors on your site.
Simple Steps to Fix Broken Links on Your Website
After finding broken links, fixing them is simple. However, fixing broken links can significantly impact your website’s user experience. Follow these steps to improve your website, making it more reliable and enjoyable for visitors.
- Update the Link: Ensure it directs users to a valid page to avoid 404 errors. If the link redirects to the wrong page, change it to the correct one. Test the new link to ensure it works correctly and leads to the right page.
Here are simple ways you can do it:
- Edit the Link in Your Content Management System (CMS): If you use platforms like WordPress or Shopify, go to the page or post where the link is. Find the broken link and update it with the correct URL.
- Update the Link in HTML (for custom websites): If you manage your website’s code, open the page where the link is broken. Find the <your site
="broken-link"> part and replace the old URL with the new one. Save the changes, and the link will now work.
- Redirect the Link: You can set up a redirect if the page has been deleted and leads to a broken internal link. Visitors who click the old link will be automatically redirected to the right page.
Redirecting a broken link can be done in a few ways:
- Using a Redirect Plugin (for WordPress users): If you use WordPress, plugins like “Redirection” let you set up redirects without coding. Enter the old and new URLs, and the plugin will handle the rest.
- Manually via .htaccess (for advanced users): If you’re comfortable coding, add a redirect rule to your website’s .htaccess file. This will automatically send visitors from the old link to the new one, reducing the chances of encountering a dead link.
- Using cPanel (for some hosting services): Many web hosts offer cPanel, which allows you to set up redirects easily. Look for the Redirects section and enter the old and new links.
- Remove the Link: If you no longer need the page, you can remove the broken link entirely. This helps clean up your site and prevents frustration for visitors.
Best Practices to Avoid Broken Links in the Future
Here are some simple steps you can take to avoid broken links on your website in the future:
- Regularly Check Your Site for Broken Links: Set aside time every few months to check your website for broken links. Regular checks will help you catch issues early and keep your site running smoothly.
- Use Permanent URLs: When creating links, use permanent URLs (permalinks) that won’t change. For example, using “year like 2020, 2024, 2050” in your URLs is not a good practice if you want to make the URL evergreen. This ensures your links stay active for a long time. Avoid moving or deleting pages often, as this can create broken links.
- Use Redirects: If you must move or change a page, set up a redirect. A redirect automatically sends visitors from the old URL to the new one so they don’t end up on a broken page.
- Monitor Backlinks and Maintain a Consistent Update Schedule: Track links from other websites that point to your site (backlinks). If a backlink leads to a page you’ve changed, ensure it’s updated or redirected. Also, stick to a regular update schedule for your site to keep everything fresh and working correctly.
Conclusion
Broken links give a negative impression of your website. They irritate visitors, harm your site’s reputation, and can hurt your SEO rankings. Fixing broken links ensures a better visitor experience and helps search engines trust your site more. This leads to higher rankings and more traffic over time.
By following these simple steps, your site will perform better and see tremendous success in the long run. If you found this guide helpful, don’t forget to share it with others.
Broken Links SEO FAQs
What is the easiest way to find broken links?
The easiest way to find broken links is by using broken link checkers or Google Search Console. These tools scan your website and quickly point out any links that lead to error pages.
You can also use browser extensions like Check My Links to find broken links on your pages.
Do broken links hurt SEO?
Yes, broken links can negatively impact SEO. Search engines like Google see broken links as a sign that your website is not managed correctly. This can lower hurt rankings in search results, making it more difficult for users to find your site.
Can I fix broken links on someone else’s website?
You can’t directly fix broken links on someone else’s website, but you can inform them about the issue. For example, you could inform the website owner about the broken link, which might help them fix it.
