Broken Link CheckerSEO Tools
Fetches one page, checks up to 100 links, and reports broken, redirected, and slow links with status details.
How to find broken links on a web page and fix internal redirects
Links break when another site moves a page or your own URLs change. Check a page's links, clean up the internal ones that redirect, and trace any chain that ends in the wrong place.
What broken and redirecting links do to a page
A link that returns 404 sends the reader to a dead end. Links to other sites break without warning when a partner renames a page or a company closes its blog. Your own links break too, usually after a redesign or a change in URL structure, and the old menus and articles keep pointing at addresses that no longer exist.
Internal links that still work through a redirect are a smaller problem that adds up. Each one costs an extra request before the page loads, and a crawler spends part of its visit following hops your site could skip. Chains are worse: an old URL redirects to a second one that redirects again, and sometimes the last hop lands on a page that is gone.
Check the page, then the internal links, then the chains
Run the page through the Broken Link Checker first. It fetches one page, collects the normal links, skips mailto:, tel:, JavaScript links, and same-page fragments, and checks up to 100 unique links in batches of eight. Each link gets a HEAD request, with a GET fallback when the server answers 405 or 403. Anything that returns 4xx, 5xx, a timeout, or a DNS failure is listed as broken, and a redirected link shows both the original and the final URL. It checks that one page, not the whole site, and links added by JavaScript after the page loads are not seen.
Then run the same page through the Internal Link Checker. It keeps only links on your own host, up to 100, and flags the ones that redirect so you can point them at the final URL. The report also lists duplicate links to the same target and shows rel values, which is where a stray nofollow on an internal link turns up.
For a link that redirects somewhere unexpected, paste it into the Redirect Checker. It follows the chain one hop at a time and shows each status code, the next address, and the time, for up to 10 hops. If the chain comes back to a URL it has already seen, it stops and says the chain looped. The chain is what our server receives, so a redirect based on a cookie or a country can look different in your browser.
Find and fix the broken links on a page
- Enter the page URL in the Broken Link Checker and start the check.
- For each link listed as broken, update the URL, link to a replacement page, or remove the link.
- Run the same URL in the Internal Link Checker.
- Change every internal link that redirects so it points straight at the final URL.
- Paste any redirect that ends in the wrong place into the Redirect Checker and read the hops from top to bottom.
- Fix the redirect rule at the hop where the chain goes wrong, then check the page again.
What the three checkers leave to you
- Each checker works on one page at a time and tests up to 100 links per request. None of them crawls a whole site.
- Links added by JavaScript after the page loads are not included.
- A temporary timeout or rate limit on the other site can make a working link look broken for one check. Run it again before you remove the link.
- The Redirect Checker follows at most 10 hops, over http and https only.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check a page for broken links?
Enter its URL in the Broken Link Checker. Links that return 4xx or 5xx, time out, or fail DNS are listed as broken.
Can I scan my whole website for broken links?
Not with these tools. They check one page and up to 100 links per run, so start with your most visited pages.
Why fix internal links that still work through a redirect?
A direct link saves a request for visitors and is simpler for search engines. Point each one at the final URL.
What is a redirect chain?
A URL that redirects to another URL that redirects again. The Redirect Checker lists every hop and stops after 10.
Related tools
Tools used in this guide
Internal Link CheckerSEO Tools
Checks same-host links from one page and flags redirects, duplicates, status issues, and rel values.
Redirect CheckerNetwork Tools
Every redirect hop, with status, Location, and time, up to 10 hops.
