Have you ever clicked a link and landed on a dead-end 404 page? It’s frustrating, right? Your visitors feel the same. One broken link might not seem like a big deal, but when they pile up, they chip away at your credibility, hurt your SEO, and disrupt the flow of your site.
Good news: You don’t need to chase down every link manually. With the right tools and a few smart habits, you can catch and fix broken links before they snowball into bigger problems.
Here’s how to find broken links—and why staying on top of them still matters.
Why Broken Links Deserve More Attention Than You Think
A broken link isn’t just a bad user experience; it also signals to search engines that your site may be outdated or poorly maintained.
While a single link won’t tank your rankings, the ripple effects over time can be real:
- Search engines waste time crawling dead ends instead of indexing important pages.
- Internal links that should pass authority don’t. That weakens your overall SEO structure.
- Visitors will bounce quickly if they keep hitting 404s, especially on high-traffic or cornerstone content.
Broken links quietly chip away at your site’s authority and can sabotage even the best on-page SEO. Think of it like a house with a creaky floor—everything might look good on the surface, but underneath, the structure’s suffering.
Need a refresher on what 404 errors actually mean? Here’s a quick explainer on 404 errors.
Common Causes of Broken Links
Links break for all sorts of reasons. Some are in your control, others aren’t:
- A page was deleted, or a URL changed
- External sites you linked to have moved or shut down
- There are typos in the link
- Improper redirects
- Temporary outages or changes during a site migration
No matter the cause, the result is the same: a broken experience for your users and a little ding to your SEO. Regular link checks can help you catch these issues early before they start costing you traffic and trust.
The Right Way to Find Broken Links
Depending on your site’s size and your tech stack, there are a few great ways to approach this.
🛠️ Tools That Make It Easy
You don’t have to manually click every link on your site (please don’t). Use these tools to do the heavy lifting:
Screaming Frog SEO Spider
This tool is the go-to crawler for a reason. Screaming Frog mimics how search engines crawl your site and flag issues in real time. Once the crawl is done, filter by “Client Error (4xx)” to spot all the internal and external broken links.
Great for:
- Sites with hundreds (or thousands) of pages
- Catching broken image links and redirect chains
- Exporting detailed reports for your dev or content team
➡️ Pro tip: The free version crawls up to 500 URLs—plenty for small business websites.
SEMrush Site Audit
Their Site Audit tool is a no-brainer if you’re already using SEMrush for content or keyword research. It checks your internal and external links, points out which ones are broken, and puts the issue in context within your broader site health.
Why it’s useful:
- Great visual dashboards for tracking site issues
- Combines link data with on-page SEO checks
- Helps prioritize fixes based on severity
Ahrefs Site Audit
Ahrefs breaks down broken links by type and shows how many pages are affected, which makes cleanup more strategic. After running a crawl, you’ll find this in the “Internal Pages” tab.
Bonus: Their Broken Links Report makes it easy to see which external pages have vanished—and which ones you should unlink or update.
Check My Links (Chrome Extension)
The Check My Links Chrome extension is a handy tool for quick spot checks, especially during content edits or updates. It scans all the links on a specific page, highlighting the ones working and those broken. Great for single-page audits or quick wins.
How to Fix Broken Links (Not Just Find Them)
Once you’ve identified broken links, here’s how to handle them:
- Update the link: Correct typos or point it to the right page.
- Remove the link: If it’s no longer relevant or useful, get rid of it.
- Redirect the link: Use a 301 redirect if the content has moved but is still valuable.
For external links, the same logic applies; if a resource is down, find a reputable alternative or remove the reference entirely.
Build a Habit of Regular Audits
Broken links are inevitable, especially as your site grows. What matters most is how often you catch them and how quickly you act.
Build broken link audits into your regular maintenance routine:
- Once every quarter (minimum)
- After publishing a large batch of new content
- Following any site migration or structural change
A regular audit rhythm keeps your SEO strong and your user experience seamless.
Don’t Let Broken Links Undermine Great Content
Even the best content can lose impact if users keep hitting 404s. Fixing broken links might not be glamorous—but it protects your credibility, supports your SEO efforts, and helps your content perform the way it should.
Once you’ve got a good tool (or two) in your stack, checking for broken links becomes routine site hygiene—not a chore.
Need a Hand with Technical SEO?
At Menerva Digital, we help small businesses and marketing teams clean up messy link structures, boost SEO performance, and build stronger site architecture.
Get in touch with us today to talk about how we can help you fix what’s broken (and build what’s next).
