What is broken links and How to boost your website health

Friends, do you know what a Broken Link is? And do you know for what reasons these Broken Links are created? Have you ever encountered a 404 Page Not Found Error when opening a website? If yes, do you know what it means? Do you know that there are more than 100 crore websites available on the entire internet, and approximately 60% to 70% of these websites have 25% to 30% Broken Links? These Broken Links can cause a decline in the ranking of these websites in search engine results.

Even if these websites provide excellent content, their ranking remains down due to these Broken Links. Therefore, it is important to quickly identify and fix these Broken Links. If you want to correct the Broken Links in your website, this article will prove to be very helpful for you. In this article, I have mentioned some tools to check Broken Links and provided detailed information on fixing and redirecting those Broken Links. So, please read this article carefully to easily fix the Broken Links on your website. If your website is having a speed issue then read the article on how to fix slow websites..

What is Broken Link

A Broken Link is a link that, when opened, does not show any results but instead displays a 404 Not Found Error or Page Not Found Error. Links of this kind are referred to as Broken Links. They are also known by the names Dead Link and Link Rot. These Broken Links are crucial for SEO.

Broken Links are created when a website deletes one of its blog posts, but the link to that post still exists on another website. In such cases, that link becomes a Broken Link.

When visitors try to open such a link, it does not open, and instead, a 404 Not Found Error or 404 Bad Request is displayed. Broken Links hurt both visitors and search engines.

Now, you understand what a Broken Link is. Let me provide you with some examples of these Broken Links.

Broken Link Examples 

Here are some examples of Broken Links that you might encounter due to various reasons:

1. 404 Page Not Found: Displayed when the content is not available on the server.
2. 404 Bad Request: Shown when the server cannot understand the URL of your content.
3. Bad URL: This appears if there are issues with the URL, such as incorrect protocol, excessive slashes, or insufficient use of brackets.
4. Reset: The host server connection is dropped when it is busy or experiencing errors.
5. Empty: Host servers always provide an empty response when there is no content and no response code.
6. Bad Host: This is displayed when a server with the given name is not available.

Encountering these types of errors indicates the presence of Broken Links, and addressing them is crucial for maintaining a healthy and functional website.

Why do you get broken links?

You’ve learned what a Broken Link is. However, these Broken Links can be created for various reasons. There can be many causes for their creation, which are as follows:

• When the website owner enters an incorrect URL with a spelling mistake or an incorrect protocol.
• If the URL structure of a website is changed, and it is not properly redirected, it can result in a 404 error.
• When a website owner removes certain content from their website, and the link to that content still exists on another website, attempting to open the link will result in a 404 Page Not Found error.
• If the domain name registration expires and is not renewed, the website may be shut down, leading to a 404 error.
• When links to content are moved or deleted, they also start showing a 404 error.

How to fix broken links

Friends, you’ve understood what a Broken Link is (Broken Link in Hindi), but do you know that these Broken Links not only affect search engines but also impact visitors? Therefore, upon discovering such links, it’s important to fix them.

Now, you might be wondering how to fix Broken Links. Well, let me guide you on that.

How to fix broken links in WordPress

In WordPress, there are many plugins available for searching and fixing Broken Links. You can use the Broken Link Checker plugin to identify all Broken Links on your website.

To do this, you need to first install the Broken Link Checker plugin. After that, navigate to the menu option on the left side of WordPress, where you will find the Broken Link Checker plugin.

Once activated, this plugin provides you with a list of all Broken Links on your website. You can then choose to remove, update, or unlink these links. However, I recommend updating the Broken Links.

You can search for Broken Links and redirect them to a similar page using 301 redirections. For this, you need to install the Redirection plugin in your WordPress.

After installing, activate the Redirection plugin through the WordPress menu. Then, with the help of this plugin, you can set up redirects. In the Source URL option, enter the Broken URL, and in the Target URL, enter the new URL.

Afterward, click the “Add Redirect” button. By doing this, your Broken Link will be redirected to another similar page.

You can use our free broken link finder tool to find broken links.

How to fix broken link in Wix 

In Wix, there is neither a feature nor the option to use plugins to find Broken Links. However, Wix provides a useful feature that allows you to redirect your old page URL to a new page URL.

To use this feature, first, check for Broken Links on your website using any suitable tool. After that, go to your website’s dashboard and click on the “Manage Website” option on the left side.

Then, you’ll find the SEO option. Click on it, and you will see the page for managing 301 redirection. Click on “Get Started” at the bottom.

You’ll be directed to a page where you’ll find two options. The first is “Old URL,” where you need to enter the old URL, and the second is “Redirect To,” where you’ll enter the new URL. After that, click on Save.

Broken Link Checker Tool

Broken Link Checker Tools can help you easily identify and fix all the broken links on your website in a short amount of time. There are numerous Broken Link Checker Tools available on the internet that you can use. Here are some names of Broken Link Checker Tools:

1. Google Search Console: Google’s tool that allows you to check for broken links and other issues on your website. Check the full guide on the Google Search console
2. W3C Link Checker: A free online tool by the World Wide Web Consortium that helps you find broken links on your website.
3. Xenu’s Link Sleuth: A desktop application for Windows that checks websites for broken links.
4. Screaming Frog SEO Spider: A website crawler tool that can identify broken links among other SEO-related issues.
5. Online Broken Link Checker by Ahrefs: A web-based tool that scans your website for broken links.
6. Dead Link Checker: A free online tool that checks for broken links on your website.
7. Broken Link Check: Another online tool that helps you find and fix broken links on your website.

Remember to choose a tool that suits your needs and preferences. Regularly checking and fixing broken links is essential for maintaining a healthy and user-friendly website.

Conclusion

Friends, through this article, we have learned what a Broken Link is and what it means. We have also explored the reasons behind the creation of these Broken Links and how they can be checked and fixed in WordPress and Wix.

The article includes information on some Broken Link Checker Tools that can help you identify and manage Broken Links on your website. With these tools, you can unlink, update, and redirect Broken Links, contributing to the growth of your website.

Regularly using these tools is crucial because Broken Links hurt both visitors and search engines. Therefore, it is advisable to periodically identify and fix Broken Links on your website using these tools to ensure its optimal performance.