Broken backlinks. How to deal with them and not go crazy?

What are broken backlinks?

These are links on your website that lead to pages that no longer exist. This can happen when pages are moved or deleted, or when websites change their URL structure. Broken backlinks can hurt your website in two ways: first, they make for a bad user experience, and second, they can negatively impact your search engine optimization (SEO).

If you don’t know how many broken backlinks you have, it’s time to start looking into it. Check out this list of tools below that will help you find them with ease!

Finding broken links on your website

This may seem like a daunting task, but there are several tools that can help you spot broken links. You do not have to bother with them manually, which is always associated with the risk of error, and also takes a lot of time.

Google Search Console

One of the best SEO tools that support link building strategy is a completely free platform from Google. It has many useful tabs, so you can use it at different levels. On the left side of the panel there is a menu item called “Cover”. After clicking, further items such as “Details” appear. The “Redirect Errors” tab displays both 404 errors and server errors. Below the diagram is a list with more information on broken links found. They can be filtered and downloaded. When I click on one of these broken links, a window pops up displaying further details such as source URLs.

Broken Links Checker

It is a tool from Rytr, which consists of three modules: website success, content success and search success. In the Website Success module, under the Links tab, in the Status Codes section, you can find a tool for checking broken links. Broken cables will be marked in red, so you can easily tell them apart from other ones. In the case of a large number of results, you can use the filter.

This tool has a free version that allows you to search up to 100 URLs and 5 quick checks per month. The paid Basic Suite is suitable for up to three users, three projects, crawling up to 50,000 URLs, and costs just under € 90 per month billed annually.

Dead Link Checker

The tool is extremely easy to use, so it is recommended for novice administrators. In addition to the standard “Site Check” for checking the entire site or a single subpage, you have “Multi Check” for checking multiple sites and “Auto Check” for regular, automatically initiated checks. In the free versions, up to 2000 links are searched.

The paid version costs around € 99 a year, although you can pay on a monthly basis.

Screaming Frog

A tool beloved by SEO specialists. There is an input field at the top of the main window. Enter your website URL there and click on “Start”. Moments later, the central area fills up with addresses.

The free version of the program analyzes SEO-relevant website data and examines up to 500 URLs. The paid version costs around € 165. Plus, you get unlimited URL analytics, scheduling including auto-initialization, JavaScript rendering, structured data validation, integration with external services like Google Analytics and Search Console, and much more.

The most common causes of broken links

• Invalid URL (spelling mistake).
• Changed URL structure that has not been updated.
• Link moved or deleted.
• Interference from installed plugs.
• Firewall or geolocation restrictions.

Finding broken links on competitor’s websites

You can find broken links on your competitor’s websites by using a few different methods. One way is to use a tool like Screaming Frog, which will crawl the website and identify any broken links. Another way is to manually check the website yourself by clicking on each link and seeing if it takes you to a 404 error page. If you find a lot of broken links on a competitor’s website, that’s an opportunity for you to swoop in and get those links!

How to resolve these problems?

If you come across a broken backlink on your site, don’t panic. First, check to see if the page that the link is pointing to still exists. If it does, great! If not, you’ll need to find a new place to link to. Second, update your link to point to the new page. Finally, keep an eye on your backlinks and regularly check for broken links. By following these steps, you can keep your site running smoothly and avoid any SEO penalties. Keep in mind that broken backlinks are very common and should be expected over time. That is why it is so important to frequently consult the Google Search Console and Google Analytics panels.

Tips for ensuring this does not happen again

• First, check your website for any broken links regularly.
• Once you know which links are broken, reach out to the site owner and ask them to update the link.
• If the site owner doesn’t respond, try reaching out again a few weeks later. If there’s still no response, you can move on to other strategies.
• One option is to create a 301 redirect from the broken link to another page on your site. This way, visitors will still be able to find what they’re looking for, even if the original link is broken. Use an SEO plugin such as Yoast SEO or All in One SEO to automatically generate these redirects for you.
• You’ll also want to make sure that the destination page has all of the relevant keywords for that particular topic, so people don’t end up landing on a blank page when they click through from Google search results.

Conclusion

If you want your website to rank higher in search engine results pages, then you need to make sure your backlinks are in good shape. A broken backlink is a link on another website that points to your website, but the link is no longer working. This can hurt your website’s ranking and visibility. But don’t worry, there are ways to fix broken backlinks. You can reach out to the site owner and ask them to update the link, or you can create a new link yourself.