What Is a Broken Link Check?
A broken link check is a review of the links on, and pointing to, a website to find those that lead to an error, usually a 404 Not Found, a 410 Gone, a server error or a redirect that fails, and then to fix each one at its source.
It covers three different problems. Internal broken links are links between your own pages. Outbound broken links point from your pages to other sites that have moved or closed. Inbound broken links are links from other sites, including press coverage, to URLs on your site that no longer work. The first two you fix by editing your pages; the third you fix with redirects, because you cannot edit someone else's article. Broken links are common: Pew Research Center found that “23% of news webpages contain at least one broken link, as do 21% of webpages from government sites” (Pew Research Center).
Percent of pages sampled, as of late 2023
Source: Pew Research Center, When Online Content Disappears, May 17, 2024, read October 10, 2026.
Pew counted a link as broken only if it returned one of nine error codes that definitively indicate the page or host no longer exists, which it calls the most conservative estimate possible. Wikipedia figure covers links in the References section of a random sample of 50,000 pages.
How to Check Your Site for Broken Links at a Glance
| Step | Action | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Decide which of the three link types you are checking | A scope: internal, outbound, inbound or all |
| 2 | Review Search Console for 404 and soft 404 URLs | A list of dead URLs Google has found |
| 3 | Crawl the site with a link checker | Every internal and outbound link with its status code |
| 4 | Find the page that contains each broken link | A fix list: source page, broken URL, status |
| 5 | Check inbound links to dead URLs | A list of external links worth redirecting |
| 6 | Fix each link: update, redirect or remove | Links that resolve in one step |
| 7 | Recrawl and schedule the next check | A clean crawl and a date for the next one |
Time: about an hour for a site of a few hundred pages, longer for large sites (our estimate). Tools: Google Search Console, a crawler, a spreadsheet. Cost: free for small sites; Screaming Frog lists $279 per licence per year in US dollars to remove its 500 URL limit (pricing checked October 10, 2026). Skill level: beginner to intermediate.
What You Need Before Starting
- A verified Search Console property; see how to verify your site in Google Search Console.
- A crawler. Free options with published limits are compared in Step 3.
- Access to your CMS or server configuration so you can edit links and add redirects.
- A spreadsheet with columns for source page, broken URL, status code, fix and date fixed.
- A list of your important inbound links, such as press coverage, if you have one.
Step 1: Decide What You Are Checking
Pick the scope first, because each type uses a different tool and fix. Internal links are the priority: they are entirely in your control and they affect every visitor. Outbound links matter for readers and credibility; Pew found that 5% of all links on news site pages were no longer accessible. Inbound links matter most for anyone with earned coverage, because a dead URL wastes the link. Expected result: a written scope. Common mistake: trying to fix every 404 in one pass rather than starting with pages people actually reach.
Step 2: Review Search Console for 404s and Soft 404s
Open the Page indexing report and look at the Not found (404) and Soft 404 reasons. Google's help page says of a 404 listed there: “Google discovered this URL without any explicit request or sitemap. Google might have discovered the URL as a link from another page, or possibly the page existed before and was deleted.” It also says “404 responses are not necessarily a problem, if the page has been removed without any replacement. If your page has moved, use a 301 redirect to the new location.”
A soft 404 is a page that says “not found” but returns a 200 status. Google says it recommends “returning a 404 response code for truly ‘not found’ pages.” Note one limit: the report “shows only URLs that have shown 404 errors in the past month.” Expected result: an export of dead URLs Google knows about. Verify: open three of them in a browser. Common mistake: treating every listed 404 as an emergency; Google's Crawl Stats help says “It's not possible, worthwhile, or even desirable to fix all 404 errors on your site.”
Step 3: Crawl the Site With a Link Checker
Search Console tells you which dead URLs Google found, not which of your pages link to them. A crawler follows every link on your site and records the status code of each. Two widely used tools publish their free limits:
| Tool | Free limit (published) | Paid option | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screaming Frog SEO Spider | 500 URLs per crawl | $279 per licence per year (US pricing page); the UK homepage shows £199 | Desktop app; finds “broken links (404s) and server errors” with bulk export |
| Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (now Ahrefs Free) | 5,000 crawl credits per verified project per month | Ahrefs paid plans | Credits are used only for HTML pages returning 200; broken URLs and redirects are not counted |
| Your CMS or host | Varies | Varies | Some platforms include link reports; check your documentation |
Screaming Frog's pricing page says the tool “is free, however you can purchase a licence to crawl more than 500 URLs”, and that licences “last 1 year.” Ahrefs says its free tier works “on an unlimited number of verified websites.” Prices and limits change, so check both pages before relying on them. Expected result: a crawl showing 4xx, 5xx and redirect responses. Common mistake: crawling only internal links; enable checking of external links if you want outbound results.
Step 4: Find the Page That Contains Each Broken Link
For each broken URL, export the pages that link to it (crawlers usually call these inlinks or referring pages). A broken link is fixed on the page that contains it, so the source page is the column that matters. Process: filter the crawl to client errors (4xx) and server errors (5xx), export with source pages, and sort by the number of source pages so sitewide links in menus and footers come first. Expected result: a fix list. Common mistake: fixing a broken link in one article when the same link sits in a template used on hundreds of pages.
Also check redirect chains in the same crawl. Google's status code reference says its crawlers “follow up to 10 redirect hops”, and its site move guide advises keeping chains “ideally no more than 3 and fewer than 5.” Update internal links to point straight at the final URL.
Step 5: Check Inbound Links to Dead URLs
Links from other sites to your dead pages do not show up in a crawl of your own site. Use Search Console's Links report to see which of your pages have external links, then compare that list against your 404s; our guide to seeing which sites link to you in Search Console shows how to export it. Prioritize URLs that press coverage points to. Expected result: a short list of dead URLs with valuable inbound links. Common mistake: asking publishers to edit old articles first; a redirect on your side is faster and fully in your control.
The reverse problem is common too: coverage of you can disappear when a publication restructures or closes. Pew found 38% of pages from 2013 were gone by 2023. See how long a placement stays findable and what happens to coverage when a publication shuts down.
Percent of sampled pages no longer accessible in October 2023, by year collected
Source: Pew Research Center, When Online Content Disappears, May 17, 2024, read October 10, 2026.
Pages were drawn from Common Crawl snapshots. Of the 25% overall, Pew says 16% were individual pages on still-working domains and 9% sat on root domains that no longer functioned.
Step 6: Fix Each Link
Choose one of three fixes for each item; the choice table below sums them up.
- Update the link on the source page when you know the correct URL. This is the best fix for internal and outbound links.
- Add a permanent redirect when a page on your site has moved and others link to it. Use a 301 or 308; see 301 vs 302 redirects.
- Remove the link, or let the URL return 404 or 410 when the content is gone with no replacement. RFC 9110 says 410 Gone is “primarily intended to assist the task of web maintenance by notifying the recipient that the resource is intentionally unavailable.” Google says that “All 4xx errors, except 429, are treated the same” for search.
Expected result: every row in the fix list has an action and a date. Common mistake: redirecting every dead URL to the homepage. Google's site move guide says: “Don't redirect many old URLs to one irrelevant single URL destination, such as the home page.”
Step 7: Recrawl and Schedule the Next Check
Run the crawler again on the fixed pages and confirm each former broken link now returns 200, or a single redirect to a 200. Then set a schedule; we suggest monthly for active sites and after every redesign or URL change. If you changed many URLs at once, use the domain move guide as a checklist. Expected result: a clean crawl and a calendar entry. Common mistake: checking once; outbound links decay continuously.
How to Verify It Worked
- Crawl: a fresh crawl shows no 4xx or 5xx internal links, and no chains longer than one hop.
- Search Console: the Not found (404) count falls over the following weeks, bearing in mind it shows only the past month.
- Redirects: the URL Inspection tool reports the redirect for old URLs; it does not follow redirects, so inspect the target separately. See how to check if a page is indexed.
How to Choose the Right Fix
| Situation | Recommended fix | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Internal link to a page that moved | Update the link and add a 301 | Fixes your page and catches other links |
| Internal link with a typo | Update the link | The target exists |
| Outbound link to a dead page | Link to a live equivalent, or remove the link | You cannot fix someone else's site |
| Press coverage linking to a dead URL | 301 to the closest current page | Keeps the link working without asking the publisher |
| Page deleted with no replacement | Return 404 or 410 | Google and RFC 9110 both treat this as correct |
| Soft 404 (error page returning 200) | Return a real 404 status | Google recommends a 404 code for truly missing pages |
Common Problems and Fixes
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Crawler reports 403 or 429 on external links | The other site blocks automated requests | Check those links in a browser before removing them |
| Crawl stops at 500 URLs | Free Screaming Frog limit | Crawl one section at a time, or use a tool with a higher limit |
| Fixed 404s still in Search Console | Report lags recrawling | Wait; the report covers the past month |
| Redirect loop | Two rules redirect to each other | Test with the crawler; Search Console lists loops as a redirect error |
| Many broken links from one template | A menu or footer link | Fix the template once |
What Not to Do
- Do not redirect everything to the homepage. Consequence: Google's guide warns against irrelevant redirects. Correction: redirect to the closest page or return 404.
- Do not return 200 on error pages. Consequence: soft 404s, which Google's crawl guide says “will continue to be crawled.” Correction: send a real 404 status. See what a crawl budget is.
- Do not try to clear every 404. Consequence: wasted effort. Correction: fix links people and press use first.
- Do not remove outbound links without checking. Consequence: losing useful citations because a bot was blocked. Correction: confirm in a browser.
- Do not use the removal tool for dead pages. Consequence: unnecessary work. Correction: a 404 or 410 drops the URL in time; see removing outdated content from Google Search for urgent cases.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the easiest way to check a website for broken links?
Use Search Console's Page indexing report for 404s Google has found, then run a crawler such as Screaming Frog, free up to 500 URLs, to list every broken link and the page that contains it.
Are 404 errors bad for SEO?
Not in themselves. Google says 404s are not necessarily a problem if a page was removed with no replacement, and that it is not possible, worthwhile or even desirable to fix all of them. Fix links that people use.
Should I redirect broken links to my homepage?
No. Google's site move guide says not to redirect many old URLs to one irrelevant destination such as the home page. Redirect to the closest replacement or return a 404 or 410.
What is the difference between a 404 and a 410?
RFC 9110 says 404 does not indicate whether the absence is temporary or permanent, while 410 means it is likely permanent. Google says it treats all 4xx errors except 429 the same way for search.
How often should I check for broken links?
We suggest monthly for active sites and after every redesign, migration or URL change. Outbound links decay over time: Pew found 38% of pages from 2013 were no longer accessible in 2023.
What is a soft 404?
A page that tells visitors the content is not found but returns a 200 success status. Google recommends returning a real 404 code for truly missing pages, and soft 404s keep being crawled.
Can I find broken links pointing to my site from other websites?
Yes, indirectly. Export your linked pages from Search Console's Links report and compare them with your 404 list, then add 301 redirects for dead URLs that have valuable links.
Sources and Methodology
This guide is built from Pew Research Center's 2024 link rot study, RFC 9110, Google's HTTP status code, site move, Page indexing and Crawl Stats documentation, and the Screaming Frog and Ahrefs product pages, read on October 10, 2026. We did not test or benchmark either crawler, and tool limits and prices are as published on that date in US dollars unless stated. The time estimate and the monthly schedule are our suggestions, not published standards. Pew's figures describe the samples it studied, not any particular site.
- research When Online Content Disappears, Pew Research Center, May 17, 2024. Broken link and page loss figures. Read October 10, 2026.
- standards RFC 9110: HTTP Semantics, IETF, June 2022, sections 15.5.5 (404) and 15.5.11 (410). Read October 10, 2026.
- official HTTP status codes, Google crawling documentation (last updated February 4, 2026). Read October 10, 2026.
- official Page indexing report, Search Console Help. Not found (404) and Soft 404 reasons. Read October 10, 2026.
- official Crawl Stats report, Search Console Help. Read October 10, 2026.
- official Site moves with URL changes, Google Search Central (last updated August 20, 2026). Chains and irrelevant redirects. Read October 10, 2026.
- vendor SEO Spider pricing and SEO Spider, Screaming Frog. Free limit and licence price. Read October 10, 2026.
- vendor Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, Ahrefs. Free crawl credits. Read October 10, 2026.