Check the links on any page for 404s and unreachable destinations. Broken links waste crawl budget, leak link equity and send visitors to dead ends.
How it works
Enter your page URL
Paste any public URL and run the check. We fetch the page, parse out the links it points to, and follow each one to see what it actually returns — skipping anchors, mailto, tel and javascript links that aren't real destinations.
Review the results
You get the number of links checked and how many came back broken, with the failing URL and its status code (like 404 or 500) or an unreachable flag for links that wouldn't respond at all. Working links are confirmed so you know the rest are healthy.
Fix or remove the dead links and re-run
Repoint each broken link to the correct destination, redirect it, or remove it. Re-run the check to confirm the page is clean before search engines re-crawl it and before more visitors hit a dead end.
What we check
4xx client errors — Catches links returning 4xx codes — most commonly 404 Not Found, but also 403 Forbidden and 410 Gone. These mean the destination doesn't exist or won't serve, sending visitors to a dead page and wasting any link equity that pointed there.
5xx server errors — Flags links returning 5xx codes like 500 or 503, which mean the destination server failed or was unavailable when checked. These can be intermittent, but a consistently failing 5xx link is as broken to a visitor as a 404.
Unreachable destinations — Marks links that wouldn't respond at all — connection failures, timeouts, dead domains or DNS that no longer resolves. To a visitor these are just as broken as an error code, even though no HTTP status comes back.
Real links only — Checks genuine outbound destinations and skips on-page anchors (#section), mailto:, tel: and javascript: links, which aren't pages and can't 404. This keeps the results focused on links that actually point somewhere.
Internal and external links together — Follows both links to your own pages and links out to other sites. Internal breaks fragment your own site and waste crawl budget; external breaks point at someone else's content that may have moved or vanished — and both frustrate visitors.
Redirect-aware status — Follows redirects to the final destination before judging a link, so a link that quietly redirects to a working page is counted as healthy and one that redirects into an error is correctly flagged as broken.
Common issues we catch
404s from moved or deleted pages — The classic broken link: a page you linked to was renamed, restructured or removed, and the old URL now returns 404. Common after a site redesign or content cleanup, where old internal links still point at the previous URLs.
External links to sites that changed or vanished — You don't control the pages you link out to. Other sites reorganise, retire content or shut down entirely, quietly turning your once-good outbound links into dead ends without any warning to you.
Links broken only by a trailing slash or typo — A stray character, a missing or extra trailing slash, or a copied URL with a fragment of surrounding text can break a link that looks correct at a glance. These are easy to miss by eye but return a clear error when actually followed.
http:// links that now 404 on https-only sites — A destination that moved to HTTPS-only and doesn't redirect its old http:// URLs can fail when linked the old way. The page may exist, but the exact URL you linked no longer resolves.
Links that work in a browser but fail to a checker — Some destinations block automated requests, rate-limit them, or behave differently for non-browser clients, so a link can return an error code to a checker while loading fine for you. It's worth opening flagged links yourself to confirm a genuine break versus a bot block.
Soft 404s that report success — Some sites serve a friendly "page not found" message but return a 200 OK status instead of a real 404. The link technically responds successfully, so a status check passes even though the destination is effectively a dead end — these need a human eye to catch.
Broken links buried deep in old content — Links rot silently over time, especially in older posts no one revisits. A page can accumulate dead links for years without anyone noticing, steadily eroding the experience and the value those links once passed.
Where this matters
Google & Bing crawl efficiency — Search engines follow your links to discover pages. Internal links that 404 waste crawl budget chasing dead URLs and break the path crawlers use to reach real content, which can slow how thoroughly your site gets indexed.
Link equity & ranking signals — Links pass authority between pages. A broken internal link leaks the value it should have carried to a real page, and broken outbound links to dead resources weaken the quality signals your content sends.
User experience & trust — A dead link is a visible failure. Visitors who hit a 404 lose confidence and often leave, and a page riddled with broken links reads as neglected — a direct hit to credibility and conversions.
WordPress, Shopify & CMS migrations — Restructuring URLs, changing permalinks or migrating platforms is the single biggest source of broken internal links. Running this check after any structural change catches the old links that didn't get redirected.
Blogs & resource pages — Content-heavy pages with lots of outbound links rot fastest, because every external destination is outside your control. Periodic checks keep reference and resource pages from quietly filling with dead ends.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a broken link?
Any link whose destination returns an error or won't respond. That includes 4xx codes like 404 Not Found and 403 Forbidden, 5xx server errors like 500 and 503, and links that are simply unreachable — dead domains, timeouts or connection failures. All of them send a visitor to a dead end.
How many links does this tool check?
It checks the links found on the single page you submit, up to a capped number, following each to its final destination. It's a fast per-page check rather than a full-site crawl, so point it at your most important pages and run it after any change that might have broken links.
Does it follow redirects?
Yes. The check follows redirects to the final destination before judging a link, so a link that redirects to a working page counts as healthy, while one that redirects into an error or dead page is correctly flagged as broken.
Why does a link work in my browser but show as broken here?
Some destinations block or rate-limit automated requests, or behave differently for non-browser clients, and can return an error to a checker while loading fine for you. When a link is flagged, it's worth opening it yourself to confirm whether it's a genuine break or the destination blocking automated checks.
How do broken links hurt SEO?
Internal broken links waste the crawl budget search engines spend on your site and leak the link equity that should flow to real pages. Broken outbound links weaken the quality signals your content sends. None of it helps rankings, and all of it hurts the experience that keeps visitors on the page.
What's the difference between internal and external broken links?
Internal links point to your own pages — a break here fragments your own site and is fully within your control to fix. External links point to other sites you don't control, which move or disappear on their own schedule. The tool checks both, since visitors hit a dead end either way.
What is a soft 404?
A page that shows a "not found" message to visitors but returns a 200 OK status instead of a real 404. Because it technically responds successfully, an automated status check passes even though the destination is effectively dead — these need a human eye, as the status code alone won't reveal them.
How often should I check for broken links?
Run a check after any URL change, redesign or migration, since those break the most links at once. Beyond that, periodic checks on key pages and link-heavy content catch the slow rot of external destinations changing or disappearing over time.
This is one of several free SEO tools from Custom Web Audits.
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