Links
Broken links send visitors to error pages and waste search engines' time. They build up quietly as pages move and other sites disappear. Here's how to find them and what to do with each one.
A broken link is a link that leads to a page that no longer works: usually a 404 Not Found, sometimes a server error, a timeout or a domain that's expired. Every site gets them. Pages get renamed, products get discontinued, and sites you linked to years ago go offline.
Enter a page address in the checker on this page. It tests every link on the page (internal and external) and lists the ones that return errors, along with redirects you can tidy up.
Free tool
Paste a page address. Clarnic checks up to 40 of its links and shows which ones are broken or redirect.
A few broken links won't hurt your rankings directly. Hundreds on important pages are a signal of neglect.
| Type | Example | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Internal link to a deleted page | Old blog post linking to a removed product | Update the link or redirect the old page |
| Internal link with a typo | /pricng instead of /pricing | Correct the link |
| External link to a dead site | A source that's gone offline | Replace with a new source or remove |
| Backlink to a page you deleted | Another site links to your old URL | 301 redirect the old URL to the closest page |
| Broken image or file | Missing PDF or image | Re-upload or remove |
Links that redirect still work, but each hop slows things down. The checker flags them separately. Updating them to the final address is quick and removes one more thing that can break later.
Check your most important pages every month or two, and after any redesign, migration or URL change. For a full picture of a page's links, the link checker lists every internal and external link with its anchor text.
Run important pages through a broken link checker, and check the Not found (404) list in Google Search Console's Pages report.
A few won't hurt rankings directly, but many broken links waste crawl time, lose link value and frustrate visitors.
No. Google treats mass redirects to the homepage as soft 404s. Redirect only to a closely related replacement.
Every month or two for important pages, and after any redesign, migration or change to URLs.
Free plan, no credit card. Your first fixes in about a minute.