Best Website Link Checker Tools to Fix Broken Links
Broken links are one of those problems that accumulate quietly. A page gets deleted, an external site restructures its URLs, a resource moves — and suddenly you have links across your site pointing to nothing. Left unchecked, they frustrate visitors, waste crawl budget, and send signals to Google that your site isn’t well maintained. A website link checker finds them systematically so you can fix them before they cause damage.
What Is a Website Link Checker?
A website link checker is a tool that crawls your website and tests every link — internal links between your own pages, and external links pointing to other sites — to verify they resolve correctly. When a link returns an error (most commonly a 404), the tool flags it so you can act on it. The best tools go further than simple 404 detection: they also identify redirect chains, server errors, links to non-secure HTTP pages, and other link health issues that affect both user experience and SEO.
What Is a Website Link Checker — and Why Does It Matter?
Why Broken Links Matter for SEO and User Experience
- Crawl budget: Googlebot follows links to discover and index your pages. When it repeatedly hits broken links, it wastes crawl budget on dead ends rather than indexing your actual content — a real issue on larger sites.
- PageRank leakage: Links that lead nowhere don’t pass authority anywhere. If internal links from high-authority pages on your site point to deleted pages, that link equity is lost rather than flowing to a useful destination.
- User experience: A visitor who clicks a link and lands on a 404 page is likely to leave. Broken links erode trust, particularly on pages where you’re citing sources or linking to supporting resources.
- E-E-A-T signals: A site full of broken outbound links looks unmaintained. For Google’s quality raters assessing Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, that’s a negative signal — particularly for content on topics where accuracy matters.
Types of Link Checking
Manual Link Checking
Manually clicking through your own links to verify they work. Viable only for very small sites — a handful of pages, checked occasionally. At any meaningful scale, it’s impractical and too slow to catch issues before they affect users.
Automated Crawling Tools
Desktop or server-based tools that crawl your entire site and test every link systematically. These are the most thorough option — they can check thousands of links in minutes, identify patterns across the site, and generate actionable reports. Screaming Frog is the industry standard here.
Online Link-Checking Tools
Web-based tools that you access through a browser. Useful for quick spot-checks or for users who don’t want to install software. Typically less thorough than a full crawl for larger sites, but more than adequate for sites under 500 pages.
Types of Link Checking — Choosing the Right Approach for Your Site
The Best Website Link Checker Tools
| Tool | Best For | Free? |
|---|---|---|
| Screaming Frog SEO Spider | Comprehensive technical audits — crawls your entire site, identifies broken internal and external links, redirect chains, missing alt text, and hundreds of other issues. The go-to tool for professionals. | Free (up to 500 URLs) / Paid |
| Google Search Console | Authoritative data on how Google sees your site — flags crawl errors, 404s, and server errors that Googlebot encounters. Essential and free. | ✓ Free |
| Ahrefs Site Audit | Cloud-based crawler with detailed broken link reporting, redirect chain analysis, and ongoing monitoring. Particularly strong for identifying broken backlinks pointing to your site. | Paid |
| Semrush Site Audit | Full site audit including broken links, redirect issues, and crawlability problems. Integrates link health data with keyword rankings and competitor data in one platform. | Paid (limited free) |
| Broken Link Checker (WordPress) | Monitors WordPress sites for broken links and missing images, with email alerts when new issues appear. Use the cloud-based version to avoid server load issues on larger sites. | ✓ Free |
| W3C Link Checker | Free online tool for quick checks on individual pages. Useful for accessibility compliance and spot-checking specific URLs without setting up a full crawl. | ✓ Free |
Features to Look For in a Link Checker
- Coverage: Does it check both internal and external links? Does it follow redirects and check the final destination URL?
- Response code reporting: The best tools distinguish between 404s, 410s (permanently gone), 5xx server errors, and timeout issues — each requires a different fix.
- Redirect chain detection: Multiple consecutive redirects slow your site and dilute link equity. A good tool surfaces these alongside outright broken links.
- Scheduling: For ongoing maintenance, automated scheduled crawls are more useful than one-off checks.
- CMS integration: WordPress users benefit from plugin-based solutions that flag issues directly in the dashboard.
- Reporting: Exportable reports in CSV or Excel allow you to triage and track fixes systematically.
How to Use a Website Link Checker
Step 1: Choose the Right Tool
For a full site audit, start with Screaming Frog (free for up to 500 URLs) or Google Search Console (always free, always authoritative). For ongoing monitoring, the WordPress Broken Link Checker plugin or a paid platform like Ahrefs or Semrush provides continuous coverage.
Step 2: Enter Your Website URL
In Screaming Frog, enter your domain and click Start. In Google Search Console, navigate to Coverage → Errors. For online tools, paste your URL into the tool’s search field. If you have an XML sitemap, upload it to help the tool prioritise the pages that matter most.
Step 3: Configure the Scan
Set crawl depth, decide whether to check external links (recommended), and exclude any URLs you know are intentionally restricted (login pages, admin areas). For Screaming Frog, enable “Check External Links” under Configuration → Spider → Limits.
Step 4: Run the Check
Start the crawl and let it complete. Scan time depends on site size — a 100-page site takes minutes; a 10,000-page site may take an hour or more.
Step 5: Review and Export the Report
Filter results by response code. In Screaming Frog, go to Response Codes → Client Error (4xx) for broken links. Export to CSV for a prioritised fix list.
How to Run a Link Check — Step-by-Step
How to Interpret the Results
404 Not Found
The most common broken link type. The page the link points to doesn’t exist. Either the URL was typed incorrectly, the page was deleted without a redirect, or the external site has reorganised its content. Fix by updating the link to a valid URL, setting up a 301 redirect, or removing the link entirely.
301 / 302 Redirects
The link destination redirects to another URL. A single redirect is generally fine. A chain of two or more consecutive redirects (A → B → C) should be cleaned up — update the link to point directly to the final destination. Redirect chains slow page load and dilute link equity.
5xx Server Errors
The server encountered an error processing the request. These require investigation at the server or CMS level rather than a simple link update. If the error is on an external site, monitor it — if it persists, replace the link with an alternative source.
Valid Links (200 OK)
Links returning a 200 status are working correctly. These don’t require action but should be reviewed periodically — valid today doesn’t mean valid in six months.
Interpreting Link Checker Results — What Each Response Code Means
How to Fix Broken Links
Update the Link
The cleanest fix. If the broken internal link points to a page that still exists at a different URL, update the link source to the correct destination. For broken external links, find the current URL for the resource (check the site’s own search, or use the Wayback Machine if the resource has moved) and update accordingly.
Set Up a 301 Redirect
If the destination page has been permanently moved or deleted and cannot be easily replaced, set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the most relevant live page. In WordPress, the Redirection plugin handles this cleanly. Rank Math also includes redirect management in its Pro version. For internal links specifically, it’s better to update the source link directly than to rely on a redirect chain.
Remove the Link
If the broken link points to external content that no longer exists and has no suitable replacement, remove it. A missing link is better than one that leads to a 404 page.
Create a Custom 404 Page
A well-designed 404 page doesn’t fix broken links but softens the impact when users do encounter them. Include your navigation, a search bar, and links to key pages so that visitors who hit a dead end can quickly find what they were looking for. This directly helps reduce bounce rate on error pages.
Fixing Broken Links — Update, Redirect, or Remove
Best Practices for Ongoing Link Maintenance
Schedule Regular Checks
For most sites, a monthly crawl is sufficient to catch new broken links before they cause significant problems. Larger or more frequently updated sites benefit from weekly checks. After any major site change — a redesign, migration, or content restructure — run a full crawl immediately.
Prioritise High-Traffic and High-Authority Pages
Start with the pages that matter most: your homepage, key service or product pages, and your highest-traffic blog posts. Broken links on these pages have a disproportionate impact on both user experience and link equity distribution. Use Google Analytics 4 to identify your most visited pages before triaging your fix list.
Monitor External Links Separately
External links break for reasons outside your control — sites restructure, resources get deleted, domains expire. Tools like Ahrefs and Semrush can monitor your external links continuously and alert you when a destination changes status. Set this up as a background process rather than relying on periodic manual checks.
Clean Up Redirect Chains Proactively
Every time you set up a redirect, check whether the destination is itself a redirect. WordPress migration, plugin changes, and permalink updates are common sources of unintentional redirect chains. Audit your redirects quarterly using Screaming Frog and flatten any chains to a direct 301.
Link Maintenance Best Practices — Keeping Your Site Healthy Long-Term
Conclusion
Broken links are inevitable on any site that grows and changes over time. What matters is catching and fixing them systematically rather than letting them accumulate. A regular crawl with Screaming Frog or Google Search Console, combined with continuous monitoring for external links via Ahrefs or Semrush, keeps your link profile clean — protecting both your rankings and the experience of every visitor who lands on your site.
FAQs
Can broken links harm my site’s SEO?
Yes. Broken internal links waste crawl budget, prevent PageRank from flowing to live pages, and signal to Google that your site isn’t well maintained. Broken external links are less critical for SEO but harm user experience and E-E-A-T signals — particularly if they’re citing sources that no longer exist.
How often should I check for broken links?
Monthly for most sites. After any significant structural change — migration, redesign, or large-scale content update — run a full check immediately. High-traffic or large e-commerce sites benefit from weekly automated monitoring.
What is the difference between a 404 and a 410 error?
A 404 means “not found” — the server can’t locate the requested resource, but it may reappear. A 410 means “gone” — the resource has been permanently removed. For SEO purposes, Google deindexes 410 pages faster than 404s. If you’ve intentionally deleted a page with no replacement, returning a 410 is marginally preferable.
Do website link checkers find broken external links?
Most do, though this needs to be enabled explicitly in some tools. In Screaming Frog, enable “Check External Links” in the configuration settings. External link checking takes longer as the tool must request each third-party URL.
How do I fix broken links in WordPress?
The most efficient method depends on the type of broken link. For broken internal links, update the link source directly in the post or page editor. For deleted pages that had inbound links, set up a 301 redirect using the Redirection plugin or Rank Math’s redirect manager. The Broken Link Checker plugin can identify and flag issues directly in the WordPress dashboard.
