Fix dead links on your website? Wondering how?
Maintaining a healthy and user-friendly website is essential for providing a seamless browsing experience.
One crucial aspect of website maintenance is regularly checking for dead links. Dead links, also known as broken links, can negatively impact user experience, harm your website’s credibility, and even affect your search engine rankings.
Let us explore various methods to effectively check for dead links and keep your website in top shape.
- Manual Inspection: One straightforward approach is to manually inspect your website for dead links. Start by navigating through each page, clicking on every link, and checking if they lead to the intended destination. This method is suitable for small websites with a limited number of pages, but it can be time-consuming and impractical for larger sites.
- Online Link Checking Tools: Utilizing online link checking tools is a more efficient way to scan your website for dead links. These tools crawl through your website, examining each link for validity. Some popular link checking tools include Xenu’s Link Sleuth, W3C Link Checker, and Dead Link Checker. These tools generate detailed reports highlighting broken links, enabling you to take prompt action.
Case Study: Fix Dead Links on Your Website
We need to detect if there are broken links (if any) on our website www.skeltron.com
Here, we have 2 options
- Either to explore the entire website
- Or, to explore a specific page
For the purpose of our case study, let us consider the following
- Skeltron.com – Portfolio | www.skeltron.com/portfolio/
- Dead Link Checker | deadlinkchecker.com
We will conduct a comprehensive check for dead links on the Skeltron Portfolio page using the Dead Link Checker, a reliable online tool that assists in identifying and decoding broken links.
To assess the presence of dead links on the Skeltron Portfolio website, we visited www.deadlinkchecker.com. We specifically entered the URL https://www.skeltron.com/portfolio/ and opted to examine a single webpage rather than the entire website.
This approach allows us to focus on the designated page and identify any broken links it may contain.
Once the necessary information is entered, simply click on the “Check” button to initiate the process.
After initiating the tool, please allow it a few seconds to analyze the provided link. It will then display the specific broken links detected.
It’s important to note that certain websites may have restrictions that prevent the tool from fully crawling them. However, one should focus on the Status remark of “-1: The server name or address cannot be resolved” (highlighted in red) when reviewing the results.
Screenshot enclosed for reference
After successfully removing the dead links or broken links, if desired, you can choose to rescan by following the same steps. The results will be displayed in a similar format as shown below.
One can ignore the errors with status codes that are different than -1
Other alternative ways of inspection
- Google Search Console: If your website is registered with Google Search Console, you have access to valuable tools that help identify dead links. The “Crawl Errors” report provides an overview of any broken links encountered by Google while crawling your site. By addressing these issues promptly, you can improve your website’s search engine visibility and enhance user experience.
- Web Analytics: Leverage web analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, to gain insights into user behavior and identify potential dead links. Monitor the “404 Error” pages report, which reveals the URLs users accessed but couldn’t find. Analyzing this data allows you to pinpoint broken links and take corrective measures.
- Regular Content Audits: Performing regular content audits is crucial for identifying and rectifying dead links. As you update and modify your website’s content, links may become outdated or broken. By periodically reviewing your content and verifying the integrity of embedded links, you can ensure a seamless browsing experience for your visitors.
Regularly checking for dead links is an integral part of website maintenance. By employing a combination of manual inspection, online tools, utilizing Google Search Console, leveraging web analytics, conducting content audits, and checking external links, you can effectively identify and rectify broken links.
Ensuring a seamless browsing experience for your visitors not only improves user satisfaction but also contributes to your website’s overall success.
Take the necessary steps and Fix Dead Links on Your Website today and keep your healthy whilst maintaining its optimal performance