A broken link refers to a hyperlink that is not able to go to the intended destination. Broken links return a 404 Not Found or 410 Gone error. This error occurs when the linked page is deleted. Along with the web page is moved without any redirection information, so it displays the URL is incorrect.
Broken links fall into two categories:
- Outgoing Broken links – Links present on your website pointing to non-existent pages.Â
- Backlinks that are Broken– External websites linked to web pages on your site that no longer exist.
Do Broken Links Affect SEO?
Broken links are common, too many can harm user experience and waste crawl budget. As search engines struggle to navigate dead-end pages. For backlinks, broken links result in lost link equity, and reduce potential ranking benefits.
How to Fix Broken Links
- For outgoing links: Update, remove, or replace them with relevant live links.
- For internal broken links: Implement redirects or restore missing pages with proper directions.
- For broken backlinks,: Request link updates from referring sites, recreate missing content, or redirect old URLs to relevant pages.
