Broken links can create a poor user experience and make it harder for search engines to crawl your website efficiently. Regularly checking your site for broken URLs helps you find 404 errors, outdated links, and redirect problems before they become bigger SEO issues.
Why Broken Links Matter for SEO
Broken internal links can prevent users and search engines from reaching important pages. They can also disrupt your internal linking structure.
Broken external links may lead visitors to missing pages and reduce trust in your content.
A few broken links won't normally destroy your rankings, but regularly ignoring them can create unnecessary usability and technical SEO problems.
Free Site-Wide Broken Link Checker Tools
These tools can crawl websites and identify broken internal and external links:
- Ahrefs Broken Link Checker — Find broken backlinks and broken links with Ahrefs' free SEO tools.
- Dead Link Checker — Scan websites for broken links and identify URLs that need attention.
- Dr. Link Check — Check websites for broken links, redirects, and other link problems.
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider — Crawl websites and identify broken links, response codes, redirects, and other technical SEO issues. The free version has a crawl limit.
Free Browser Extensions for Quick Checks
For individual pages, browser extensions are faster than running a complete website crawl.
SEO Minion can help with broken-link checking and other SEO tasks directly from Chrome.
Use browser checks when reviewing a new blog post, updating an old article, or checking an important landing page.
Use Google Search Console
Google Search Console can help identify pages that Google has encountered with indexing and crawling problems. Check the Page Indexing report for 404 and other URL issues.
Remember that Search Console isn't a complete broken-link crawler, so combine it with a dedicated link checker for a broader audit.
Which Broken Links Should You Fix First?
Prioritize broken links that:
- Appear on high-traffic pages
- Point to important internal pages
- Have many internal links pointing toward them
- Come from valuable external websites
- Affect important conversion or landing pages
When Should You Use a Redirect?
If a deleted page has a relevant replacement, consider implementing a 301 redirect to the most appropriate page.
Don't redirect every broken URL to the homepage. If there is no useful replacement, removing or correcting the link may be the better solution.
How to Find Broken Links with Screaming Frog (Free Version)
- Download Screaming Frog SEO Spider. The free version crawls up to 500 URLs, which is enough for most small sites.
- Enter your homepage URL and click Start.
- Open the Response Codes tab and filter by Client Error (4xx).
- Click a broken URL and open the Inlinks tab at the bottom to see every page that links to it.
- Export the list via Bulk Export → Response Codes → Client Error (4xx) Inlinks and fix the links page by page.
Broken Link Fix Options Compared
| Situation | Best fix |
|---|---|
| Internal link has a typo or old URL | Update the link to the correct live URL |
| Page was moved or merged | Add a 301 redirect to the closest relevant page and update internal links |
| Page was deleted with no replacement | Remove the link; let the URL return 404 or 410 |
| External site no longer exists | Replace with a current source or remove the link |
| Other sites link to a dead page on your site | 301 redirect it to recover that link value |
Not sure whether to use a permanent or temporary redirect? Read 301 vs 302 redirects. For dead URLs that Google already reports, follow our guide to finding and fixing 404 errors. Broken backlinks pointing at your site can be found with free backlink checker tools, and a broader crawl with free SEO audit tools will catch related problems such as redirect chains and orphan pages.
How Often Should You Check?
For an active website, checking broken links every few months is a practical starting point. Larger websites or frequently updated sites may benefit from more regular automated crawling.
Conclusion
Free broken link checker tools can quickly uncover 404s, broken external links, and redirect issues. Use Dead Link Checker, Dr. Link Check, Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, SEO Minion, and Google Search Console to keep your website's links healthy and your user experience strong.
