Broken links are one of the most common problems that webmasters and SEOs face. They can be caused by a number of reasons like server issues, outdated software, or broken links in the content itself.
To fix broken links, you need to find them first. There are many tools available online that can help you with this task. You can use a tool like a WebSite Auditor to find broken links on your website or use a tool like Broken Link Checker to find broken links across all your websites.
You can also use these tools to create a list of all the URLs that have been found as broken and then manually fix them with an editor or contact the webmaster for assistance.
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Fix Broken Links In WordPress
WordPress is the most popular CMS platform in the world. It is used by more than 25% of all websites on the internet. WordPress has some of the best features that any CMS can offer, such as easy content management, a robust plugin ecosystem, and an intuitive interface.
Despite these advantages, some website owners might experience broken links on their WordPress site without knowing how to fix them. In this article, we will show you how you can find and fix broken links on your WordPress site using a few simple steps or plugins.
Five Ways How to Fix Broken Links
Ok, so broken links are bad for your site. Now it’s time to answer the important question – how can you fix broken links?
Over the next sections, we’ll cover five ways how to fix broken links. You can click below to jump straight to a specific section or read through all five methods:
1. Web-Based SEO Audit Tool
The first method we recommend to find and fix broken links is to use a web-based SEO audit tool. Two of the most popular ones are Ahrefs and SEMrush. Both of them include very powerful site audit tools in which you can automatically scan your site for errors.
Ahrefs actually a couple of different places you can find broken links.
2. Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a helpful tool from Google that helps you “monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site’s presence in Google Search results”. In order to get started, you’ll need to verify your site with Google Search Console. Then, you can start benefiting from its features, including broken link detection.
3. Desktop Software
Beyond the web-based SEO audit tools, you can also find broken links using desktop software as well.
The most popular option here is Screaming Frog, which is a well-known SEO tool that’s free to use to find broken links.
Screaming Frog works on Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu.
Once you download and install the program, here’s how to use it to find broken links.
4. Online Broken Link Checker Tool
If your site isn’t very large, you might be able to use a free online broken link checker tool to find broken links.
A good option here is the creatively named BrokenLinkCheck.com, which lets you check up to 3,000 pages for free.
5. Broken Link Checker WordPress Plugin
If you have a WordPress site, we do not recommend using a plugin to check broken links because they can be a big drag on your site’s performance. From a performance perspective, it’s much better to off-load these duties to a separate tool via any one of the methods above.
If you absolutely must use a plugin to check broken links, don’t leave it active and running all the time. Instead, run the plugin once and then delete it from your site after you’ve fixed the broken links. But again – our recommendation is to just use one of the other tools and skip the plugins.
When it comes to broken link checker plugins, the most popular option is the free Broken Link Checker plugin at WordPress.org. Note: This plugin hasn’t been updated for time, and it appears developers are trying to request a transfer of ownership.
Once you install and activate the plugin, go to Tools → Broken Links to view the report with all of your broken internal and external links.