Broken Links: Understanding & Fixing for a Smooth User Experience
2 Dec 2023 | 8 Mins Read
What are Broken Links?
Broken links are hyperlinks that don’t work. When a user clicks on a broken link, they are met with an error message, a frustrating experience that can lead to lost traffic, decreased credibility, and a tarnished brand image.
Why are Broken Links a problem?
Broken links can wreak havoc on your website's performance and user experience. Here's how they can damage your online presence:
Frustrated Users and High Bounce Rates:Broken links lead to frustration among users, who abandon your website in search of better, more functional sites. This results in high bounce rates, a signal to search engines that your website is not providing value.
SEO Nightmares:Search engines like Google crawl your website to index its content and rank it in search results. When they encounter broken links, they perceive your website as poorly maintained and may lower its ranking, making it harder for potential visitors to find you.
Damage to Brand Reputation:Broken links create a perception of neglect and unprofessionalism, tarnishing your brand's reputation and deterring potential customers.
How to check for Broken Links?
Regularly checking for broken links is crucial for maintaining a healthy and user-friendly website. Here are some effective tools to identify broken links:
This free tool by Google provides insights into your website's health, including a list of broken links.
A popular tool for crawling and analyzing your website's structure, including identifying broken links.
This online tool allows you to check individual URLs or entire websites for broken links.
How to Fix Broken Links?
Once you've identified broken links, it's time to fix them. Here's how:
If the original content is still available at a different URL, redirect the broken link to the new location.
If the original content is no longer available, remove the broken link altogether to avoid error messages and user frustration.
Review your website's internal links to ensure they point to existing and relevant pages.
Regularly check external links to ensure they remain active and relevant.
How to Avoid Broken Links?
Prevention is better than cure. Here are tips to prevent broken links from occurring in the first place:
Create a clear and consistent URL structure to avoid misspellings and broken links.
Avoid using temporary URLs that may expire or change over time.
Before publishing new content, thoroughly check all links to ensure they are correct and functional.
Set up alerts to notify you of changes in external links you've used.
Maintain Your Website Check for and remove broken links periodically to ensure your website's health. Utilize Free Online ToolsUtilize free online tools like Ahrefs' Broken Link Checker to uncover broken links on your website.
Scan your website for dead links.
Use Relative URLs
Use relative URLs instead of absolute URLs when linking to other pages on your website. This will ensure that your links continue to work even if you change your domain name or move your website to a new server.
Use Permanent RedirectsIf you must change the URL of a page on your website, use a permanent redirect (301) instead of a temporary redirect (302). This will ensure that search engines and users are redirected to the new URL, and that any link juice from the old URL is passed on to the new URL.
Update Your LinksUpdate your links if you link to external websites, especially if the destination website changes its URL structure or removes the linked web page.
Use a SitemapCreate a sitemap for your website and submit it to search engines like Google, Bing, etc. This will help search engines crawl your website more efficiently and reduce the likelihood of broken links.
Conclusion
You can keep your website free of broken links, ensuring a seamless and positive user experience, boosting your SEO efforts, and protecting your brand's reputation. Remember, a well-maintained website is a happy website, and a happy website is a successful website.
