Internal vs external broken links#
- Broken internal links — your own links to deleted or moved pages. Fully in your control and most important to fix.
- Broken outbound links — links to other sites that have disappeared. They hurt user trust and make content look neglected.
- Broken backlinks — other sites linking to URLs on your site that now 404. Redirecting them recovers lost link value.
How to find them#
- Crawl the site with Screaming Frog, Sitebulb or Ahrefs Site Audit and filter for 4xx/5xx responses with their source pages.
- Check Search Console → Pages → “Not found (404)” for URLs Google has seen.
- Use a backlink tool’s “broken backlinks” or “best by links → 404” report.
- In WordPress, a redirect plugin with 404 logging shows URLs visitors actually request.
How to fix them#
| Type | Fix |
|---|---|
| Internal link to a moved page | Update the link to the new URL |
| Internal link to a deleted page | Link to a relevant alternative or remove the link |
| External link that died | Replace with a current source or an archived copy |
| Backlink to a missing URL | 301 redirect to the most relevant live page |
Run a check monthly on active sites. Related: 404 error, redirect chain, website maintenance checklist.