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Broken Link Checker

Scan a page for broken links (404, 410, 5xx) and redirect chains — up to 100 links per scan.

What is a broken link?

A broken link is a hyperlink that points to a page that no longer works — it returns an error such as 404 Not Found, 410 Gone or a 5xx server error, or the domain no longer exists. Broken links frustrate visitors and waste search-engine crawl budget.

Why broken links hurt

A visitor who clicks a dead link usually leaves. Search engines that follow it waste part of your crawl budget, and any authority your page would have passed through that link is lost. On large sites, link rot is constant: studies of the web regularly find that a large share of links older than a few years no longer resolve.

What the scan does

  1. Downloads the page you enter and collects every <a href> link (internal and external), resolving relative links.
  2. Checks up to 100 unique links in parallel with lightweight HEAD requests; servers that reject HEAD are retried with a small GET.
  3. Groups results into Broken (4xx, 5xx, DNS or connection errors), Redirecting (3xx) and Working (2xx).

How to fix what you find

  • Internal 404s — update the link to the correct URL, or add a 301 redirect from the old address if other sites link to it too.
  • External 404s — find the new location of the resource, replace it with a similar source, or remove the link. The Wayback Machine (see our Wayback Machine Checker) can show what the page used to contain.
  • Redirecting links — not broken, but update them to the final URL to save a hop for users and crawlers.
  • 403 / 429 results — often bot protection rather than a real problem; open the link in your browser to confirm.

Prevent link rot

Keep URLs stable when you redesign, redirect every removed page, and re-scan important pages (home, top articles, category pages) every few months. For a list of specific URLs, use the Bulk Status Code Checker; to see every link on a page with anchors and rel attributes, use the Website Link Extractor.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find broken links on my website?

Enter a page URL and click Scan links. The checker tests every link on that page and lists the ones returning 404, 410, 5xx or connection errors.

Do broken links affect SEO?

A few broken outbound links will not cause a penalty, but many broken internal links waste crawl budget, block link equity and hurt user experience.

Why is a working link reported as 403?

Some sites block automated requests with a firewall. Open the link in your browser — if it works, the 403 is bot protection rather than a broken link.

How many links are checked?

Up to 100 unique links per page scan. Very large pages are checked in order, starting from the top.

Should I fix redirecting links too?

Yes, when it is easy. Pointing links directly at the final URL removes an extra redirect hop for every visitor and crawler.