How to Find and Fix Broken Links
Broken links frustrate visitors and waste crawling. The fix depends on why each link broke, so it’s worth deciding one by one instead of redirecting everything to the home page.
Find them
Scan a page with the Broken Link Checker, or use the Website Crawler for the whole site. Google Search Console also lists addresses that return 404 under Pages → Not found (404), including ones linked from other sites.
Decide what each link needs
| Situation | Fix |
|---|---|
| A typo in your own link | Correct the link |
| The page moved | Add a 301 redirect to the new address, and update your links |
| The page was deleted, and a close replacement exists | 301 redirect to that replacement |
| The page was deleted, with no replacement | Remove the link, and let the page return 404 or 410 |
| An external site is gone | Replace the link or remove it |
Add redirects correctly
# Nginx
location = /old-page { return 301 /new-page; }
# Apache (.htaccess)
Redirect 301 /old-page /new-pagePoint each old address directly at the final page, and check it with the Redirect Checker. Then update your internal links, so visitors don’t pass through the redirect at all.
Don’t redirect everything to the home page. Google usually treats that as a soft 404, and visitors land somewhere they didn’t expect.
Watch for false alarms
Some sites block automated checks and return 403 or 429, even though the link works in a browser. Open these by hand before you change them. LinkedIn and other social sites often do this.
Make your 404 page useful
Some broken links will always exist, especially on other people’s sites. A good 404 page keeps the visitor with you:
- Say clearly that the page wasn’t found.
- Offer search and links to your main sections.
- Return a real 404 status. A friendly page that returns 200 is a soft 404.
Keep it clean
Check again after a redesign or a URL change, and every few months in general. Add redirects before you move pages, not after.
