How to fix: Broken external links

Updated on December 9th, 2024 at 09:30 pm

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Issue: Broken external links direct users to non-existent webpages, hurting user experience and potentially lowering your search engine rankings by signaling poor site maintenance.

Fix: Check all reported broken links. Remove or replace links leading to error pages, and contact the website owner if the links appear functional in a browser.

How to Fix for Beginners

1. Test the Links: Manually click on the links to confirm they are broken or working.
   • Example: If example.com/resource shows a 404 error, it’s broken.
2. Replace or Remove Broken Links:
   • Replace the link with a working URL if an alternative resource exists.
   • Remove the link entirely if no replacement is available.
3. Contact the Target Website: If the link works in your browser but not in the crawler, reach out to the website owner to let them know about potential access issues.
   • Example: “Your link at example.com/resource isn’t accessible to crawlers. Can you check your server settings?”
4. Audit Regularly: Use SEO tools to periodically scan for new broken external links.

Tip: Keeping external links functional improves user trust and helps maintain good SEO practices.

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