Broken Link Checker
Scan any webpage for broken links, 404 errors, and redirects — find dead links hurting your SEO and user experience.
Enter a public URL to scan all links on the page. The tool checks up to 80 links via HTTP HEAD requests and reports broken (4xx/5xx), redirected (3xx), and working links.
What is Broken Link Checker?
Broken Link Checker fetches the target page, extracts all hyperlinks, and tests each one via HTTP HEAD requests to determine its status. It categorises every link as working (2xx), redirected (3xx), or broken (4xx/5xx), and clearly flags internal vs external links.
Broken links are a direct SEO problem: they bleed link equity, confuse crawlers, and create a poor user experience. Google's quality guidelines explicitly mention broken links as a signal of low-quality content. Regular broken link audits are part of every technical SEO workflow, and finding broken links on competitor pages is a classic link-building opportunity (broken link building).
Common Use Cases
- Finding 404 broken links on your own website before Google crawls them
- Auditing competitor pages for broken links as part of a link-building strategy
- Verifying all links work after a site migration or URL restructure
- Checking outbound external links still resolve before publishing content
- Identifying redirect chains that need to be consolidated
How to Use Broken Link Checker
- Enter the URL of the page you want to audit (e.g. https://example.com/blog/post).
- Click 'Scan Links' — the tool fetches the page and tests each link via HEAD request.
- Use the filter tabs to view All, Broken, Redirect, or Working links and fix issues.
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FAQ
How do broken links hurt SEO?
Broken links (404 errors) stop the flow of PageRank and link equity through your site. When internal links point to missing pages, those pages lose ranking signals. When external links point to your now-missing content, you lose backlink value. Crawl budget is also wasted on dead URLs. Regular audits and redirecting broken links is a key part of technical SEO maintenance.
What is broken link building?
Broken link building is a link acquisition strategy where you find broken outbound links on high-authority websites (links pointing to pages that no longer exist), create equivalent content on your own site, and reach out to the website owner suggesting they replace the dead link with a link to your working content. It works because you're offering a genuine fix to an existing problem.
What is the difference between a 404 and a 410 status code?
A 404 (Not Found) means the server cannot find the requested resource but does not confirm it is permanently gone — it may return in the future. A 410 (Gone) explicitly tells search engines the resource has been permanently removed. Use 410 for intentionally deleted content so Google stops crawling it faster.
Why does the tool only check up to 80 links?
To provide results within a reasonable timeframe, the checker tests up to 80 unique links per page. Each link requires a separate HTTP request, and testing hundreds simultaneously could take minutes. For larger sites, run the tool on individual sections or use a dedicated crawl tool like Screaming Frog for full-site audits.
Some working links are showing as broken — why?
Some servers block HEAD requests (used by the checker to test links efficiently) and return a 405 Method Not Allowed response. The link may be working in a browser but appear broken in automated checks. Additionally, some servers block non-browser User-Agent strings. These are false positives — verify flagged links manually before making changes.