Broken Links

A broken link is a link to a webpage that doesn’t work. If a user types in or clicks on the broken link will send them to a 404 page or error message. Links may break for various reasons, including a mistyped URL, the webpage is no longer online, the URL has changed, or the linked page has restricted access.

Broken links disadvantage your site in two ways. First, it ruins the user experience when links are unavailable, and disenchanted users may choose to exit your site without engaging fully or completing transactions. Secondly, Google and other search engines don’t like broken links – so the more you have, the more they will push down your site the search rankings.

 

Broken links create a bad user experience – When users click on links and reach dead-end 404 errors, they get frustrated and may never return. In addition, they devalue your SEO efforts, as broken links restrict the flow of link equity throughout your site, negatively impacting rankings.