What Are Broken Links?
A broken link (also called a dead link) is a hyperlink that leads to a page that no longer exists or cannot be reached. When a visitor or search engine crawler follows a broken link, they see an error page — most commonly a 404 Not Found error.
Broken links happen constantly as the web evolves: pages get deleted, URLs get restructured, external sites go offline, or content gets moved without proper redirects. A site that isn't regularly audited for broken links accumulates them over time.
Scale of the Problem: Studies show that on average, 1 in every 200 links on the web is broken. For a site with 500 internal links, that's roughly 2–3 broken links at any given time — and external links break even faster.
How Broken Links Hurt Your SEO
- Crawl waste: Googlebot has a crawl budget per site. Every broken link wastes part of that budget on dead ends instead of valuable pages
- Lost link equity: If a page that receives backlinks becomes a 404, all that SEO value disappears
- Poor user experience: Visitors hitting dead ends immediately bounce back — increasing your bounce rate, a negative engagement signal
- Lower trust signals: Google treats well-maintained sites with fewer errors as more authoritative
- Broken internal navigation: Dead links in menus or related post sections fragment your site structure and reduce page depth
How to Find Broken Links with ToolMatrix
Enter Your Website URL
Type your domain. The crawler systematically visits every page and checks every link — both internal links to your own pages and external links pointing to other sites.
Wait for the Crawl
Crawl time depends on site size. A 100-page site typically completes in 30–60 seconds. Results appear in real time as pages are checked.
Review the Broken Links Report
Every broken link is listed with: the error code (404, 410, 500, timeout), the broken URL, and the page on your site where the broken link appears.
Export & Fix
Download the full report as CSV. Work through the list systematically — update links, set up redirects, or remove dead links entirely.
HTTP Error Codes — What Each One Means
| Error Code | Meaning | Action to Take |
|---|---|---|
| 404 | Page not found — URL doesn't exist | Update link or set up 301 redirect |
| 410 | Page permanently deleted | Remove link from your content |
| 500 | Server error on target site | Check again later — may be temporary |
| 301/302 | Redirect — not broken, but inefficient | Update link to final destination URL |
| Timeout | Target site is slow or unreachable | Check manually — may be a slow server |
How to Fix Broken Links — 4 Methods
- Update the URL: If the content moved, find the new URL and update your link to point to it
- Set up a 301 redirect: If it's your own page that moved, create a permanent redirect from the old URL to the new one
- Remove the link: If the content no longer exists anywhere, simply remove the link from your text
- Find an alternative source: Find a different high-quality source covering the same topic and link to that instead
Priority Fix: Broken links on your homepage, top navigation, or most-visited pages should be fixed first — they affect the most users and carry the most crawl weight.
Broken Link Building — Turn Others' Problems Into Your Wins
Broken link building is one of the most effective white-hat SEO link building strategies. The idea: find broken links on high-authority websites in your niche, then reach out to offer your own relevant content as a replacement.
The website owner benefits (they fix a broken link and improve their UX), and you get a quality backlink. Everyone wins — which is why webmasters respond to these outreach emails far more positively than cold link requests.
Find Broken Links — Free
Crawl your entire site, get a full broken link report with page locations and error codes.
Find Broken Links NowToolMatrix Broken Link Finder
Crawls your entire website, checks every internal and external link, categorizes errors by type, shows which page contains each broken link, and exports results as CSV. Free, no account needed. Run monthly for a consistently healthy link profile.