Broken link checker for broken links and faulty landing pages
Free individual check · without registration
Check for a URL Defective internal and external links. The tool recognizes 404/410/5xx, shows redirects and helps quickly find broken or problematic link destinations.
- Defects Internal links Usually have higher priority than broken external links.
- Many redirects in internal links are unnecessary and should point directly to the final goal.
- Important navigation, footer and content links should be checked regularly.
- Retrieve HTML page and extract all links
- Differentiating Internal vs. External Links
- Check status codes of the landing pages
- 404, 410, 5xx and timeouts
- Make redirect targets visible
| Type | Anchor | Reel | Status | Objective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No data yet. | ||||
Typical causes of broken links
Defective links rarely occur by chance. Often there are relaunches, migrations, deleted content, changed URL structures or non-retracted redirects behind it. Especially with older websites, broken internal and external links often slowly accumulate.
Relaunch or migration
After CMS changes, URL changes or domain changes, old links often remain behind. Without clean redirects, there are 404 errors and wrong landing pages.
Deleted or postponed content
When pages are removed or moved to new areas, internal links, navigations or old content modules often still point to URLs that are no longer accessible.
Outdated external targets
External links are also ageing. Landing pages disappear, domains run out or content is changed without forwarding. This leads to broken or unwanted link destinations.
Lack of maintenance of internal linking
Broken links are often created in footers, navigation, sidebar, old blog articles or inherited content building blocks. Especially large websites quickly lose the overview here.
Correctly classify internal and external broken links
Not every broken link is equally critical. Particularly important is the distinction between Internal Broken Links and External Broken Links.
Internal defective links
Internal broken links are usually more critical. They deteriorate user guidance, can interrupt crawling paths, and are often a sign of structural problems after relaunches, migrations, or content changes.
External broken links
External broken links seem untidy and worsen the user experience. On the SEO side, they are usually less critical than internal broken links, but should still be regularly cleaned up or replaced.
What to Look For First
- internal links with 404, 410 or 5xx First prioritize
- Clean up links with unnecessary redirects or redirect chains
- Check important navigation, footer and content links first
- Update, replace or remove external broken links
Why Are Defective Links Problematic for SEO?
Defective links worsen the User experience, waste crawl budget and can cause strong pages to be poorly supported for important internal links.
Users end up on 404 pages or incorrect targets. This costs trust and can increase breakdowns.
When important internal links become void, internal linking power is lost.
Internal links should ideally point directly to the final destination instead of redirect chains.
FAQ: Broken Link Checker
Frequent questions about broken links, 404 errors, redirects, internal linking and typical technical SEO problems.
What is a Broken Link?
A broken link is a link whose landing page can no longer be reached correctly. Typical cases are: 404 errors, 410 status codes, server errors or faulty forwardings. Such broken links worsen the user experience and may indicate outdated or incompletely maintained links.
Why are broken links problematic?
Broken links lead users to unreachable or faulty pages. This seems untidy, can interrupt important click paths and also worsen crawling and technical SEO signals in the case of internal links. Defective links in navigation, footers or important content areas are particularly critical.
Are internal broken links worse than external ones?
Usually yes. Internal broken links are often more critical because they directly affect the own website structure, user guidance and internal linking. External broken links are also unpleasant, but usually have a lesser impact than broken internal landing pages.
What is the difference between a broken link and a redirect?
A broken link points to a target that is not reachable correctly, such as 404 or 5xx. A redirect redirects to another URL. Redirects are not automatically wrong, but should be used sensibly. They become problematic when unnecessary detours, redirect chains or wrong landing pages arise.
Are 404 Mistakes Always Bad?
Not every 404 error is automatically problematic. If content has been deliberately removed, a 404 or 410 may technically make sense. Critically, if such URLs are still linked internally, they will appear in navigations or continue to affect important user paths and SEO-relevant areas.
Why are broken links often created after relaunch or migration?
After relaunches, CMS changes, domain changes or changed URL structures, old links often remain behind. If redirects are missing or internal links have not been cleanly updated, broken landing pages, redirect chains or inconsistent link paths are quickly created.
Should I remove or replace external broken links?
In many cases, yes. If external links go blank or only deliver erroneous targets, they should be updated, replaced or removed. This improves the user experience and has a better overall effect, especially in editorial content and advisory pages.
How often should I check broken links?
This depends on the size and frequency of change of the website. At the latest after relaunches, deployments, migrations or major content changes, a check should be made. For active websites, a regular technical check is also worthwhile in order to detect new broken links early on.
Does the tool check an entire website?
A broken link checker is particularly suitable for quick checks of individual pages or clearly defined areas. For a complete website analysis with internal linking, redirects, status codes, sitemaps, canonicals and other technical SEO signals, a comprehensive website check makes more sense.
When is a Broken Link Checker no longer enough?
If there are many broken links, redirects, 404 errors, faulty landing pages or structural problems in internal linking, a single tool is often no longer enough. Then a complete website check is useful to systematically identify and prioritize technical causes and connections.
Appropriate Next Checks
Differentiate 404 hits and temporary call errors
Practical example · for illustration
Starting position
Check the page where there is a suspected broken link.
Classify the findings
A repeated 404 is to be treated differently than a timeout, 429 or 403 by a protective function.
Specific amendment
If the 404 is confirmed, link to a suitable replacement or remove the link. At 429/Timeout, try again later before deleting a valid link.
Control and border
Check the source side and target again. The result applies to the retrieved links in the scope of the check, not automatically for the entire website.