Broken Links
Hyperlinks that lead to pages returning an error (typically 404 Not Found), whether internal links between your own pages or external links pointing to pages that no longer exist.
Simple Explanation
A broken link is a hyperlink that goes nowhere — clicking it takes you to a '404 Not Found' error page instead of the destination. Broken links happen when a page is deleted, moved without a redirect, or the URL is typed incorrectly. For users, broken links are frustrating dead ends. For SEO, they're a problem because: they tell Google your site isn't well-maintained, they waste the 'link juice' that was flowing through the link, and they create crawl errors that Googlebot has to report. Every 404 from an internal link is a broken pathway in your site's structure.
Advanced SEO Explanation
Broken links fall into two types: internal broken links (your own pages linking to other pages on your site that return 404) and external broken links (pages on your site linking to other websites that have since removed or moved that content). From an SEO perspective, internal broken links are more critical because they directly waste link equity — the PageRank flowing through a link to a 404 page is lost. External broken links signal poor maintenance and create poor user experience. From a link building perspective, broken link building is a legitimate strategy: finding dead pages on other sites that had backlinks, recreating similar content on your domain, and requesting the linking sites update to your URL.
Why Broken Links Matters for Rankings
Wastes link equity
Any internal link pointing to a 404 page is leaking authority. That PageRank could have been passed to a live page.
Creates crawl errors and wastes crawl budget
Every 404 that Googlebot encounters is logged as a crawl error and wastes part of your daily crawl budget.
Damages user experience and trust
Users hitting 404 pages leave (increasing bounce rate) and trust the site less. High bounce rates from 404s can indirectly harm rankings.
Link building opportunity (broken link building)
Finding competitor pages with broken backlinks and offering your content as a replacement is a proven link acquisition strategy.
Real-World SEO Examples
Finding and fixing internal broken links
Three-step process to identify and repair broken internal links.
Code Example
Step 1: Find broken links
→ Google Search Console → Pages → Not Found (404)
→ Lists all 404 URLs Googlebot encountered
Step 2: Identify which pages link to the 404
→ Search Console → URL Inspection on the 404 URL
→ OR use crawler (Screaming Frog) to find source pages
Step 3: Fix the link
Option A: Update the internal link to the new/correct URL
Option B: 301-redirect the 404 URL to the correct page
Option C: If content is gone, link to the most relevant live pageBroken external link
You link to a helpful resource that gets deleted. Fix it quickly.
<a href='https://oldsite.com/deleted-resource'>Helpful resource</a> → Returns 404
Option A: Find an equivalent resource on another site and update the link Option B: Remove the link entirely if no equivalent exists Option C: Use the Wayback Machine to find archived version and link to archive
Common Broken Links Mistakes
✗ Mistake
Deleting pages without setting up 301 redirects
✓ The Fix
Before deleting any page, check what links point to it (internal and external) and set up 301 redirects to the most relevant replacement page.
✗ Mistake
Not monitoring for broken links after site migrations
✓ The Fix
A site migration is the #1 cause of mass broken links. Run a full crawl before and after any migration and set up redirects for all moved URLs.
✗ Mistake
Linking to external pages without periodic checks
✓ The Fix
External links can break without warning. Audit external links quarterly using a crawler or broken link checker tool.
✗ Mistake
Ignoring 404s in Search Console
✓ The Fix
Review Google Search Console's Pages → Not Found report monthly. Not all 404s matter, but internal link 404s always do.
Free Tools for Broken Links
Related Articles
Broken Links FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
People Also Search For
Continue Learning: Next Terms
Internal Linking
Hyperlinks connecting one page on a website to another page on the same website, used to guide users, distribute link equity, and establish site hierarchy.
Beginner⚙️Redirects
Server-level instructions that automatically send users and search engine bots from one URL to another, preserving or transferring link equity depending on the redirect type.
Intermediate⚙️Crawlability
The ease with which search engine bots can discover, access, and crawl all the pages on your website.
Intermediate🏆Page Authority
A third-party score (developed by Moz) predicting how likely a specific page is to rank in search engine results, based on link data.
Intermediate