Have you ever clicked a link on a website and landed on a “404 Not Found” page? That’s a broken link. It happens to almost every website owner at some point. Pages get deleted, URLs change, and outside websites shut down without warning.
If your WordPress site has too many broken links, it can hurt your visitor’s trust. It can also hurt your search engine rankings. Google does not like sending people to dead pages. That is why checking for broken links regularly is a smart habit for anyone who runs a blog or business website.
In this guide, we will walk through what broken links are, why they matter, and how you can find and fix them on your WordPress site. This process is not hard once you know the steps.
What Is a Broken Link?
A broken link is any link on your website that no longer works. When someone clicks it, they get an error message instead of the page they expected.
Broken links usually happen for a few reasons:
- You deleted a page or post but forgot to update links pointing to it
- You changed a page’s URL (slug) without setting up a redirect
- An outside website you linked to shut down or moved its content
- You made a typo when adding the link
None of these reasons mean you did something wrong. Websites change all the time. The real issue is not fixing these links once they appear.
Why Broken Links Matter for Your Website
Broken links might seem like a small problem. But they can cause real damage over time.
| Problem | Effect on Your Site |
|---|---|
| Poor user experience | Visitors get frustrated and may leave your site |
| Lower search rankings | Search engines see broken links as a sign of low quality |
| Wasted crawl budget | Search engine bots spend time on dead pages instead of good ones |
| Lost trust | Visitors may think your site is outdated or not maintained |
Search engines like Google send out bots to crawl your website. When these bots run into many dead links, they may crawl your site less often. This can slow down how fast new content gets indexed. Websites such as Search Engine Journal have written about how technical issues like broken links can affect overall site health and visibility.
Fixing broken links is not just about looks. It plays a real part in keeping your site healthy for both readers and search engines.
How to Find Broken Links on WordPress
There are several ways to check your site for broken links. Some methods use plugins. Others use outside tools. Let’s go through the most useful options.
Method 1: Use a Broken Link Checker Plugin
The most common way is to install a plugin made for this exact job. This method is a simple way to scan your whole site without any technical skill.
Steps to follow:
- Go to your WordPress dashboard
- Click on Plugins, then Add New
- Search for a broken link checker plugin
- Install and activate the plugin
- Let it scan your site (this may take some time depending on site size)
- Review the list of broken links it finds
Most of these plugins will highlight broken links directly inside your post editor too. This makes them very handy for daily use.
One thing to keep in mind: some link checker plugins can slow down your site if left running constantly, especially on large websites. It is often better to run a scan every few weeks instead of keeping the plugin active all the time.
Method 2: Use an Online Broken Link Checker Tool
If you do not want to add another plugin to your site, you can use a free online tool instead. Tools like the ones offered by Ahrefs or dead link checking websites let you scan a site without installing anything.
Steps to follow:
- Open the online tool in your browser
- Enter your website’s homepage URL
- Start the scan
- Wait for the tool to check all your pages
- Download or view the report of broken links
This method is a good choice if you only want to check your site once in a while.
Method 3: Check Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool from Google. It shows you crawl errors, including pages that return a 404 error.
Steps to follow:
- Log in to Google Search Console
- Go to the Pages report under the Indexing section
- Look for pages marked as “Not Found (404)”
- Note down the URLs listed there
This method shows you links that Google itself has already found. It is a reliable way to see what search engines notice on your site.
Method 4: Manually Check Important Pages
For smaller websites, you can manually click through your main pages and menus. This takes more time. But it lets you personally check the links that matter most, like your homepage, top blog posts, and navigation menu.
This is not the fastest method. Still, it works well if your site only has a handful of important pages.
Comparing the Methods
| Method | Best For | Effort Needed |
|---|---|---|
| Broken link checker plugin | Regular scanning inside WordPress | Low |
| Online tool | One-time or occasional checks | Low |
| Google Search Console | Seeing what Google has found | Low |
| Manual checking | Small sites with few pages | Medium to High |
You do not need to use all four methods together. Pick one or two that fit your site’s size and your comfort level with tools.
How to Fix Broken Links Once You Find Them
Finding broken links is only half the job. Here is what you can do once you spot them:
- Update the link if the correct page still exists somewhere else
- Set up a redirect to send visitors from the old URL to a new one
- Remove the link if there is no matching page anymore
- Replace the link with a different source if it pointed to an outside site that no longer exists
Fixing links regularly, rather than all at once, keeps the job manageable. Many site owners set a reminder to check their site once a month.
Tips to Prevent Broken Links in the Future
A few small habits can save you a lot of cleanup work later:
- Always add a redirect when you change or delete a page URL
- Check outside links before adding them to a new post
- Avoid linking to pages that seem unstable or newly created
- Run a link check after any big site update or migration
Following these steps will not remove every broken link forever. Websites change too often for that. But it will cut down how many you need to fix down the road.
Final Thoughts
Broken links are a normal part of running a website. They are not something to panic about. The goal is to catch them early and fix them before they pile up.
Using a plugin, an online tool, or Google Search Console makes this task manageable, even for someone with no technical background. Set a regular schedule, check your site, and fix what you find. Your visitors and your search rankings will both benefit from the effort.
FAQs
1. How often should I check my WordPress site for broken links?
Once a month works well for most sites. Larger sites with frequent updates may want to check every two weeks.
2. Do broken links really affect SEO rankings?
Yes, they can. Search engines view too many broken links as a sign of a poorly maintained site, which may lower rankings over time.
3. Can I fix broken links without any coding knowledge?
Yes. Most plugins and online tools let you find and fix broken links through a simple dashboard, with no coding required.
4. What is the difference between a 404 error and a broken link?
A 404 error is the message a visitor sees. A broken link is the actual link on your site that leads to that error page.
2 Responses