Broken Link Checker

Broken internal links waste crawl budget — search engines spend time requesting URLs that return nothing instead of discovering your real content. They also strand link equity: any ranking signal that flowed through that link is lost. And a site full of 404s signals low quality and poor maintenance, which can drag down how search engines assess your domain overall.

A 404 returns the correct "Not Found" HTTP status code, so search engines know to drop the URL. A soft 404 is worse: the page says "not found" to humans but returns a 200 OK status, so search engines keep trying to index an empty page. This tool checks the actual HTTP status code, which is what search engines act on — not just what the page displays.

Check after any significant content change — migrations, redesigns, bulk deletions, or URL structure changes — since those are when links break in bulk. For an active site, a monthly scan catches the slow drip of links that break as referenced pages are renamed or retired. Fixing them promptly keeps crawl budget focused on pages that matter.

If the target page moved, update the link to the new URL (or 301-redirect the old URL to the new one). If the page is gone for good, either remove the link or point it at the most relevant remaining page. Avoid linking through redirect chains — link directly to the final destination so no crawl budget or link equity is wasted on the way.