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HTTP status codes

Broken link

Also known as: dead link, broken links

A broken link is a hyperlink whose target cannot be loaded, usually because the target page returns an error such as 404 or does not respond at all.

  • A page was deleted or its URL changed without a redirect.
  • The link contains a typo or an outdated URL.
  • An external website removed or moved the linked page.
  • The target server is down or returns a 5xx error.

Crawlers typically report 4xx and 5xx responses and requests without a response as broken (Screaming Frog). Links that point to URLs which redirect are a separate case, because the visitor still arrives.

Google does not use content from URLs that return a 4xx and does not index them. A link to such a URL leads crawlers and visitors to a dead end. Google can only follow a link that is an <a> element with a resolvable href, so malformed links break discovery too.

Internal broken links are usually treated as higher priority, because the site owner controls both ends. External broken links are lower priority but affect the user experience. No official source states that broken links reduce rankings directly.

Find the pages that contain the link, then update the URL, set up a redirect from the old URL to the closest match, or remove the link.

Example

HTML
<a href="/products/old-name">Our product</a>

If /products/old-name now returns 404, this is a broken link.

Common mistakes

  • A link without a valid href. Google follows only <a> elements with an href attribute. An <a onclick="..."> or a <span href=""> is not a crawlable link.
  • Leaving internal links to removed pages in place. Google does not use the content of URLs that return 4xx and removes previously indexed ones from the index over time. The link leads visitors and crawlers nowhere.
  • An error page with status 200. If a page serves error messages or empty content with status 200, Search Console reports a soft 404 error.

Sources

  1. How HTTP status codes affect Google's crawlers – Google Crawling Infrastructuredevelopers.google.com
  2. Make your links crawlable – Google Search Centraldevelopers.google.com
  3. Find broken links with the SEO Spider – Screaming Frog (secondary)screamingfrog.co.uk
  4. What Is a Broken Link? – Semrush (secondary)semrush.com

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