How to Find and Fix Broken Links on Your Website (2026 Guide)

TL;DR: Finding broken links requires crawling your site with tools like Google Search Console, browser extensions, or dedicated broken link checkers. Fixing them involves either updating the link to a working URL, setting up 301 redirects, or removing the link entirely. Prioritize fixing links on high-traffic pages first.

Every website accumulates broken links over time. Pages get deleted, URLs change, external sites disappear, and redesigns shuffle content around. The question isn't whether you have broken links but how many and how quickly you find and fix them. A systematic approach to finding and resolving broken links keeps your site healthy for both users and search engines.

Why Broken Links Matter

Broken links affect your site in three key ways. First, they hurt SEO by wasting crawl budget, breaking internal link equity chains, and signaling poor maintenance to search engines. Second, they damage user experience by creating dead ends that frustrate visitors and increase bounce rates. Third, they reduce your site's credibility, making your content appear outdated or unreliable.

The good news is that broken links are one of the most straightforward SEO issues to identify and fix. Unlike content quality problems or technical architecture issues, broken links have a clear diagnosis (the link returns an error code) and a clear resolution (redirect, update, or remove).

Part 1: How to Find Broken Links

Method 1: Google Search Console (Free)

Google Search Console reports pages that returned errors when Googlebot crawled your site. This data comes directly from Google, so it reflects what the search engine actually sees.

1. Log into Google Search Console and select your property.
2. Navigate to "Pages" in the left sidebar.
3. Look for pages listed under "Not found (404)" in the "Why pages aren't indexed" section.
4. Click the 404 row to see the specific URLs.
5. Export the list for tracking.

The strength of this method is that it shows exactly what Google encounters. The limitation is that it only reflects pages Google attempted to crawl, which may not include all your broken internal links. Data is also delayed by days or weeks.

Method 2: Manual Checking (Free, Slow)

For very small sites with fewer than 20 pages, you can check links manually by visiting each page and clicking every link. This gives you the user's perspective on what works and what doesn't.

This approach makes sense when you have a simple site and want to do a quick verification. It doesn't scale beyond a handful of pages and will miss links buried in older content.

Method 3: Browser Extensions (Free)

Browser extensions check all links on whatever page you're currently viewing.

Check My Links for Chrome highlights valid links in green and broken links in red. Install it, visit any page on your site, and click the extension icon to scan all links on that page.

Link Checker for Firefox provides similar functionality for Firefox users.

These are best for spot-checking important pages like your homepage, pricing page, and navigation links. They're not practical for auditing an entire site because you have to visit each page individually.

Method 4: Dedicated Tools (Recommended)

Dedicated broken link checkers crawl your entire site automatically, following every link the way a search engine would.

SecurityBot crawls up to 2,000 pages per scan, runs automated weekly crawls, and provides on-demand manual scans. Results show the source page, broken URL, and HTTP status code, with CSV export for tracking. At $5/month, it's the most cost-effective option for indie hackers and small teams.

Screaming Frog is a desktop application popular with technical SEOs for detailed one-time audits. The free version handles up to 500 URLs.

Ahrefs includes broken link detection in its site audit feature, bundled with a comprehensive SEO toolkit starting at $99/month.

Interpreting Your Broken Link Report

When you have your list of broken links, the HTTP status code tells you what type of problem you're dealing with.

404 Not Found means the page doesn't exist at that URL. This is the most common type of broken link. The page was deleted, the URL changed, or there's a typo in the link.

403 Forbidden means the server is blocking access to the page. This might be intentional (the page requires authentication) or a configuration issue (the server is blocking certain user agents).

500 Internal Server Error means the destination server has a problem. For external links, this may be temporary. For internal links, investigate the server-side error.

Timeout means the server didn't respond within the expected time. This could be a temporary network issue or a permanently offline server.

Part 2: How to Fix Broken Links

Strategy 1: Update the Link (Easiest)

When the target page moved to a new URL, the simplest fix is updating the link to point to the correct location.

1. Find the new URL for the content. Check if the page moved or if a similar page exists.
2. Update your link in the CMS, template, or source code.
3. Test the fix by visiting the page and clicking the updated link.

This is the cleanest solution because it eliminates the redirect hop and ensures users go directly to the right place.

Strategy 2: 301 Redirect (Best for SEO)

When you control the broken URL (it's on your own site), setting up a 301 redirect preserves SEO value from any backlinks pointing to that URL.

In Apache, add to your .htaccess file:

Redirect 301 /old-page /new-page

In Nginx, add to your server block:

location = /old-page {
    return 301 /new-page;
}

Use 301 redirects when the broken page had backlinks from external sites, users might have bookmarked the URL, and the content moved to a new location with a different URL.

Always redirect to the most relevant existing page. Redirecting everything to your homepage is poor practice and search engines may treat homepage redirects as soft 404s, negating the SEO benefit.

Strategy 3: Remove the Link (Last Resort)

When an external site is permanently gone and no suitable replacement exists, removing the link is appropriate. Edit the content to remove the link and rewrite the surrounding text so it reads naturally without it.

Remove links when the linked resource has disappeared permanently, no alternative resource covers the same topic, and the link isn't essential to the content's value.

Strategy 4: Replace with Alternative

For external broken links to useful resources, finding a replacement is often better than removing the link entirely.

Search for a similar resource that covers the same topic. Check the Wayback Machine at archive.org to see if the original content was archived and whether the author republished it elsewhere. Look for a newer or better source on the same subject.

Replacing a broken link with a high-quality alternative actually improves your content while resolving the broken link.

Prioritizing Your Fixes

Fix First (High Priority)

1. Broken links on your homepage. Your most visited page with the most authority to pass through links.
2. Broken links in navigation and footer. These appear on every page of your site, multiplying the impact.
3. Broken links on high-traffic pages. Check your analytics to identify your most visited pages.
4. Links to conversion pages. Any broken link preventing users from reaching pricing, signup, or checkout pages has direct revenue impact.

Fix Second (Medium Priority)

1. Broken internal links on blog posts. Especially recent posts or posts with significant organic traffic.
2. Broken links on category or landing pages. These pages organize your content and pass authority to child pages.
3. Links from pages with external backlinks. Pages that other sites link to are valuable; broken links on them waste that incoming authority.

Fix Last (Low Priority)

1. Broken external links on old content. External sites will inevitably die over time. Fix these during regular maintenance.
2. Links on low-traffic pages. Fewer visitors means less user experience impact.
3. Links in archived content. If the content is clearly dated and rarely accessed, broken links are less critical.

Preventing Future Broken Links

Automated Monitoring

Set up weekly automated crawls to catch new broken links early. SecurityBot runs weekly scans automatically and alerts you when new issues are found, so you can fix problems before they accumulate.

Content Workflow

Check links before publishing any new content. Browser extensions make this a quick step. Use relative URLs for internal links (use /pricing instead of https://example.com/pricing) so links survive domain changes and protocol switches. Document URL changes when they happen, and communicate them to anyone who creates content on your site.

Redirect Strategy

Always set up a redirect before or immediately after deleting a page. Keep a redirect map documenting all your active redirects. Test redirects after implementing them to verify they work correctly. Periodically audit your redirects to clean up chains (A redirects to B which redirects to C).

Common Broken Link Scenarios (And How to Fix Them)

Scenario 1: You Deleted a Page

This is the most common cause of broken internal links. The fix is a 301 redirect to the most relevant existing page. If the deleted page was about a topic covered elsewhere on your site, redirect to that page. If no relevant page exists, consider whether the content should be recreated.

Scenario 2: External Site Died

When a site you linked to goes offline permanently, find an alternative resource on the same topic and update your link. If no alternative exists, remove the link and adjust the surrounding content. Check the Wayback Machine to see if the content was archived.

Scenario 3: URL Structure Changed

Site redesigns and CMS migrations often change URL structures. The fix is creating bulk 301 redirects from old URLs to new ones, then updating all internal links to use the new URLs directly. The redirects handle external backlinks and bookmarks, while updating internal links avoids unnecessary redirect hops.

Scenario 4: Typo in Link

A simple typo in a URL is easy to fix. Edit the content and correct the URL. Search your content for similar typos in case the same mistake was made in multiple places.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to fix broken links?

It depends on the type of fix needed. Updating a link to the correct URL or removing a dead link takes a few minutes per instance. Setting up redirects takes slightly longer, especially if you need to access server configuration. Budget 5 to 10 minutes per broken link for research and fixing. A comprehensive cleanup of dozens of broken links can be done in a single focused session.

Should I fix all broken links at once?

Prioritize high-impact links first and work through the rest over time. Trying to fix everything in one session can lead to mistakes, especially with redirects. Start with the high-priority items (homepage, navigation, high-traffic pages) and schedule lower-priority fixes for regular maintenance windows.

Will fixing broken links improve my rankings?

Fixing broken links doesn't produce a direct ranking boost in the way that earning a backlink does. However, it improves crawlability (helping search engines find and index your content), restores internal link equity (strengthening your site's authority distribution), and improves user experience (reducing bounce rates and increasing engagement). These indirect benefits contribute to better rankings over time, especially if you had a significant number of broken links affecting important pages.

How do I find broken links that other sites have pointing to me?

Broken backlinks (external sites linking to your 404 pages) require a different approach. Use Google Search Console's Links report to see external links, then cross-reference with your 404 pages. Tools like Ahrefs and Semrush have dedicated broken backlink reports. See our guide on broken backlinks and recovering link equity for a detailed walkthrough.

Stop manually hunting for broken links. SecurityBot automatically crawls your site weekly and reports every broken link with exact page locations. Start Free Trial.

Last updated: February 2026 | Written by Jason Gilmore, Founder of SecurityBot