In this article · 6 sections
- What counts as a broken link
- What's a redirect chain?
- How to find problems
- Google Search Console
- Crawling tools
- Analytics
- How to fix them
- Broken internal links
- Deleted pages that had traffic or backlinks
- Pages that are gone for good with no replacement
- External broken links
- Redirect chains
- Make your 404 page useful
- Prevent future problems
Over time, every website collects broken links: pages get renamed, products are removed, external sites disappear. Each broken link is a dead end for a visitor and a small signal to Google that the site isn't well maintained. Redirect chains, where one redirect leads to another and another, waste time and can weaken SEO value.
What counts as a broken link
- Internal broken links: links to pages on your own site that return 404 (not found)
- External broken links: links to other websites that no longer exist
- Broken images and files: images, PDFs or downloads that fail to load
What's a redirect chain?
/old-page → /new-page → /new-page/ → https://www.site.com/new-page/
Each hop adds delay. Common causes: - Changing URLs multiple times over the years - HTTP → HTTPS and non-www → www redirects stacked on top of page redirects - Trailing slash inconsistencies
Ideally, every redirect should go directly to the final URL in one step.
How to find problems
Google Search Console
- Pages → Not found (404): URLs Google tried and couldn't find
- Click each to see where it was discovered (sometimes from your own internal links)
Crawling tools
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider: free version crawls up to 500 URLs; shows broken links, redirects and chains
- Browser extensions like Check My Links for single pages
- Many SEO plugins and site audit tools also report broken links
Analytics
Check visits to your 404 page in GA4 to see which broken URLs real visitors hit.
How to fix them
Broken internal links
Update the link to point to the correct live page. Don't rely on a redirect if you can fix the link at the source.
Deleted pages that had traffic or backlinks
Add a 301 redirect to the most relevant existing page. Don't redirect everything to the homepage; it's treated like a soft 404. See 404 vs 301 redirects.
Pages that are gone for good with no replacement
Let them return 404 (or 410). That's fine. Just remove internal links to them.
External broken links
Replace with an updated source or remove the link.
Redirect chains
Update each old redirect to point straight to the final URL. Also update internal links to use the final URL directly. Make sure your HTTPS and www rules are combined efficiently in .htaccess.
Make your 404 page useful
A good 404 page includes a search box, links to main services and a contact option, so lost visitors stay on your site.
Prevent future problems
- Plan URL structures before launching. See URL design for SEO
- When renaming or deleting a page, add the redirect at the same time
- Keep a redirect log (old URL → new URL → date)
- Check for broken links monthly. See monthly SEO checklist
- Be careful during redesigns. See redesign without losing rankings
Broken link and redirect checks are part of our monthly maintenance. Ask for a health check.