How to use the Broken Link Checker
- Enter the URL where the crawl should start, usually your homepage, for example
https://example.com/. - Start the scan. The crawl runs for a few minutes, depending on the size of the site and how quickly it responds.
- Review the broken links. Each one shows the link URL, the error, the page it was found on and its anchor text.
- Review the redirected links separately; they work, but they can usually be updated.
- Fix the links on your site, then scan again once the 24-hour cache has expired.
Understanding your results
Broken links
Links are reported as broken when they return a 4xx or 5xx status code or when the connection fails:
- 404 Not Found and 410 Gone: the page does not exist. These are the most common broken links and the clearest to fix.
- 403 Forbidden: the server refused the request. This can be a real permission problem, but some sites block automated requests while working normally in a browser.
- 429 Too Many Requests: the target server is rate-limiting. This often means the link is fine and the server is protecting itself.
- 5xx server errors: the target server failed. The problem may be temporary, so check again later before removing the link.
- Connection failures: the domain does not resolve, the connection timed out, or the secure connection could not be established. These usually mean the target site is gone or misconfigured.
Where each link was found
For every broken link we show the page it appeared on and its anchor text, so you can find and fix it quickly. The same broken URL can appear on many pages, such as a link in a site-wide menu or footer; fixing the template fixes them all at once.
Internal and external links
Internal links point to your own site, and you control both ends, so fix those first. External links point to other sites; when one breaks, update it to the page's new address, link to a different source or remove it.
Redirected links
Links that work but pass through a redirect. They are not broken, but updating them to the final URL saves visitors a round trip. The Redirect Checker shows the full chain for any of them.
How this tool works
We start at the URL you enter and crawl up to 100 pages of the same site, following internal links to a maximum depth of 3 clicks from the starting page. On every page we collect the internal and external links and check each one with a HEAD request, falling back to a GET request when a server does not answer HEAD properly.
Our crawler identifies itself as NewBacklinkBot, obeys the site's robots.txt and limits how many requests it makes at once, so it does not put heavy load on your server. You can confirm what your robots.txt allows with the Robots.txt Checker. Results are cached for 24 hours.
There are limits to keep in mind:
- Large sites are only partially crawled. With a 100-page and depth-3 limit, deep sections of a large site may not be reached. Start a scan from a section's own page to cover it.
- Links added by JavaScript are not seen. We read the HTML the server sends; links that appear only after scripts run in the browser are not checked.
- Status codes only. A page that shows a "not found" message but returns 200 (a soft 404) is not flagged as broken.
Tips
- Fix internal broken links first; they are entirely under your control.
- Update the link itself rather than adding a redirect when the correct URL is known.
- If you deleted a page that other sites link to, restore it or redirect it to the closest matching page.
- Recheck 403, 429 and 5xx results in a browser before removing a link; the target may only be blocking automated requests or be briefly down.
- Scan again after redesigns, migrations and menu changes, when broken links are most likely.
- Our guide on how to fix broken links covers each case step by step.
Frequently asked questions
Do broken links hurt SEO?
Google drops URLs that return 4xx errors from its index, and broken internal links send crawlers and visitors to dead ends. Google's documentation on HTTP status codes explains how it treats each type. Fixing broken links keeps crawling efficient and visitors on your site.
Why is a link reported as broken when it works in my browser?
Some servers block or rate-limit automated requests, returning 403 or 429 to crawlers while serving browsers normally. Others handle HEAD requests badly. Open the link in a browser to confirm before changing it.
Why did the scan stop at 100 pages?
Each scan crawls up to 100 pages to a depth of 3 so results arrive within a few minutes. To cover more of a large site, run separate scans starting from different sections.
Does it check links in JavaScript menus?
No. The crawler reads the HTML returned by the server and does not run JavaScript, so links that only appear after scripts run are not checked.
Will the crawler slow down my site?
It limits the number of simultaneous requests and obeys your robots.txt, so the load is modest for most sites. The crawl ends after 100 pages.
Can I stop NewBacklinkBot from crawling my site?
Yes. Add a group for User-agent: NewBacklinkBot with Disallow: / to your robots.txt. The crawler obeys it.