## How to Fix Broken Links in WordPress with Broken Link Checker: A Comprehensive Guide
**By Naveed Ahmed**
As a seasoned WordPress developer with 15 years of experience, I’ve witnessed the detrimental effects of broken links firsthand. Broken links not only frustrate your visitors, leading them to “Page Not Found” errors, but they also hurt your website’s SEO, signaling to search engines that your site is outdated and poorly maintained.
Thankfully, fixing broken links in WordPress is a straightforward process, especially with the help of the right tools. In this comprehensive guide, I’ll delve into how to use the Broken Link Checker plugin to identify and rectify broken links on your WordPress website, ensuring a seamless user experience and improved SEO.
**Why Fix Broken Links?**
Before we dive into the technicalities, let’s understand why broken links are a concern:
* **Negative User Experience:** Broken links disrupt the flow of your website, leading to frustration and ultimately, a higher bounce rate. Visitors who encounter broken links are more likely to abandon your site, negatively impacting your engagement metrics.
* **SEO Ranking Penalty:** Search engines prioritize websites that offer a quality user experience. Broken links signal to search engines that your site is outdated and poorly maintained, leading to a lower ranking in search results.
* **Lost Traffic:** Broken links can redirect users to irrelevant pages or even competitors, resulting in a loss of potential traffic to your website.
**Understanding Broken Links**
A broken link, also known as a dead link, is a hyperlink that no longer leads to a valid web page. It typically results in a “404 Not Found” error message.
Common reasons for broken links include:
* **Deleted Content:** If you delete a post or page without properly redirecting it, the links pointing to that content will become broken.
* **URL Changes:** Moving content to a new URL without setting up a proper redirect will result in broken links.
* **Domain Name Changes:** Migrating your website to a new domain name without redirecting old URLs can cause broken links.
* **External Link Errors:** Links to external websites that are no longer available or have changed URLs will also become broken.
**The Power of Broken Link Checker**
Broken Link Checker is a popular and efficient WordPress plugin designed to help you find and fix broken links on your website. It stands out from other broken link checkers by being a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution, which means it doesn’t put extra strain on your website’s server resources.
**Steps to Find and Fix Broken Links Using Broken Link Checker**
Here’s a step-by-step guide to using Broken Link Checker effectively:
1. **Install and Activate the Plugin:** Begin by installing and activating the Broken Link Checker plugin from the WordPress plugin directory. You can find it by searching for “Broken Link Checker” in the “Plugins” section of your WordPress dashboard.
2. **Create a Free Account:** Upon activation, the Broken Link Checker Setup Wizard will guide you to create a free account. You’ll need to provide your name, email address, and phone number. The free plan allows you to scan up to 200 internal links.
3. **Start the Scan:** The plugin will automatically scan your website in the background to find broken links in your posts, pages, and custom post types.
4. **Review the Report:** You can access the full report by going to the “Broken” tab. The links are categorized into “broken,” “redirects,” and “dismissed.”
5. **Fix Broken Links:** The plugin provides options to fix broken links directly:
* **Edit URL:** Edit the link to point to a new valid URL.
* **Unlink:** Remove the broken link entirely.
6. **Dismiss Links:** You can choose to dismiss links that you don’t want to fix. This is helpful if you’re dealing with external links that are beyond your control.
7. **Status Details:** For each broken link, Broken Link Checker provides detailed information like the HTTP status code, response headers, and the duration for which the link has been broken.
8. **Manage Settings:** The plugin’s Settings tab allows you to control which post types and statuses you want to monitor for broken links.
**Additional Tips for Using Broken Link Checker**
* **Regular Scanning:** Broken Link Checker automatically scans your site every three days, ensuring continuous monitoring and identifying new broken links as they arise.
* **Strategic Scanning:** While the free plan has a 200-link limit, you can scan unlimited links by scanning 200 links, fixing them, and then scanning another 200, repeating the process until all your links are checked.
* **Pro Version:** For larger websites with more complex link structures, consider upgrading to the Pro version. It allows you to scan more internal and external links, providing comprehensive coverage.
**Alternatives to Broken Link Checker**
While Broken Link Checker is a popular and effective solution, there are other tools you can use to find and fix broken links:
* **Google Search Console:** Google Search Console, a free tool offered by Google, provides insights into your website’s performance on Google Search. It can identify broken links that lead to “404 Not Found” errors.
* **Semrush:** Semrush is a powerful SEO tool that includes a site audit feature that can crawl your website and identify broken links.
* **Ahrefs:** Ahrefs, another popular SEO tool, provides a detailed backlink profile of your website, including broken links.
* **MonsterInsights:** MonsterInsights, a WordPress analytics plugin, integrates with Google Analytics to track broken links and 404 errors on your website.
**How to Fix Broken Links**
Once you’ve identified broken links using Broken Link Checker or any other tool, you need to fix them to prevent negative user experiences and SEO penalties. Here’s a guide to fixing broken links:
1. **Redirections:** The most common solution is to set up 301 redirects, which permanently redirect broken links to new, valid URLs. This ensures that visitors are smoothly redirected to the correct page.
2. **Remove Broken Links:** If a broken link points to content that no longer exists and you don’t want to redirect it, consider removing the link entirely.
3. **Use All in One SEO (AIOSEO) for Redirections:** All in One SEO (AIOSEO) is a popular WordPress SEO plugin that offers a powerful redirection manager. It allows you to track 404 error pages and create 301 redirects easily.
**Step-by-Step Guide to Fixing Broken Links Using AIOSEO**
1. **Install and Activate AIOSEO:** Install and activate the AIOSEO Pro plugin on your WordPress website.
2. **Enable Redirects:** Go to “All in One SEO » Redirects” and click the “Activate Redirects” button.
3. **Enable 404 Logs:** Under the “Settings” tab, enable 404 logs to start tracking broken links.
4. **Add Redirects:** Go to the “404 Logs” tab to view a list of broken links. Click the “Add Redirect” button for each broken link and specify the Target URL where you want to redirect visitors.
5. **Save Changes:** Save your changes to activate the redirects.
**Conclusion**
Broken links are a common issue that can negatively impact your website’s user experience and SEO. By utilizing the Broken Link Checker plugin, you can easily find and fix broken links, ensuring that your visitors have a smooth and positive experience on your website.
Remember to regularly scan for broken links, and don’t hesitate to use 301 redirects to guide visitors to the correct destination. By proactively managing broken links, you can improve your website’s SEO, increase user engagement, and create a more valuable experience for your visitors.
**FAQs**
**H2> FAQs**
**H3> What happens when a broken link is clicked on?**
When a broken link is clicked, users will usually see a “404 Not Found” error page. This means that the server couldn’t find the requested web page.
**H3> How do I find broken links in WordPress?**
You can use plugins like Broken Link Checker, or tools like Google Search Console, Semrush, and Ahrefs to find broken links on your WordPress website.
**H3> What are 301 redirects?**
301 redirects are a permanent redirection mechanism that tells search engines and browsers that a web page has permanently moved to a new URL. This helps ensure that visitors are redirected to the correct page and that search engine rankings are preserved.
**H3> How often should I check for broken links?**
It’s recommended to check for broken links regularly, ideally every few months. Some plugins like Broken Link Checker automatically scan your site for broken links on a schedule, but manual checks are still beneficial.
**H3> Is Broken Link Checker free?**
Yes, there is a free version of Broken Link Checker that allows you to scan up to 200 internal links. For larger websites, a paid Pro version is available.
**H3> Can I fix broken links manually?**
While plugins and tools make the process easier, you can manually fix broken links by editing the content that contains the broken link and updating the URL. However, this can be time-consuming, especially for large websites.
**H3> What if I can’t fix a broken link?**
If you can’t fix a broken link, consider removing it or adding a note explaining that the content is no longer available.
**H3> Can I use Broken Link Checker on a WordPress.com website?**
No, Broken Link Checker is designed for self-hosted WordPress.org websites. WordPress.com sites have limited functionality for installing plugins.
**H3> Will fixing broken links improve my SEO?**
Yes, fixing broken links can improve your website’s SEO by providing a better user experience, preventing users from leaving your site, and signaling to search engines that your website is well-maintained.
**H3> How do I know if Broken Link Checker is working correctly?**
You can test Broken Link Checker by deliberately creating a broken link on your website and then seeing if the plugin detects it. You can also check the “Broken” tab to see if the plugin is finding any broken links on your site.
**H3> What are the benefits of using a SaaS broken link checker like Broken Link Checker?**
SaaS broken link checkers like Broken Link Checker offer several benefits over traditional plugins:
- Resource Efficiency: They don’t consume your website’s server resources, ensuring optimal performance.
- Scalability: They can handle large websites with ease.
- Security: They are typically more secure, as they are hosted on external servers.
- User-Friendly: SaaS solutions often have user-friendly interfaces that simplify the process of finding and fixing broken links.
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