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
- Test the Links: Manually click on the links to confirm they are broken or working.
- Example: If
example.com/resourceshows a 404 error, it’s broken.
- Example: If
- 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.
- 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/resourceisn’t accessible to crawlers. Can you check your server settings?”
- Example: “Your link at
- 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.