Links or hyperlinks are shortcuts to new locations. These locations could be on the same document and webpage (internal) or to a reference or more elaborate document on a different webpage (external). Most websites will use links in their HTML elements such as keywords (anchor text) and images to help with navigation. At some point, these links stop functioning. This typically happens when webpages are renamed, or restructuring takes place.
Experts consider fixing old broken links as one of the best methods to resolve an SEO issue. However, even after you have fixed all broken links, there is a possibility that nothing will change.
Why does this happen, and what can be done about it?
Here’s everything you need to know.
Why Do We Fix Broken Links?
Hyperlinks are building blocks of a webpage’s success as they provide visitors with access to valuable information. This interconnectivity between documents is crucial in the SEO world for two reasons. First, it helps search engine crawlers (and people) navigate and understand your page better, which means an automatic thumbs up. Second, when other pages link back to yours, it means search engine bots view your page as an authority.
If having working links are so crucial, then having broken links on your webpages is clearly disastrous to their ranking. Think of it this way—if users repeatedly come across 404 errors, they will get frustrated and never return to your website, affecting your revenue. Further, broken links disrupt your link equity, which in turn will impact your ranking.
Why Fixing Broken Links Might Not Work
It is baffling when all the ‘how to fix it’ tips don’t change status quo. If you’re feeling that way after trying to fix broken links, we’ll help you understand the ‘why.’
The Links Were Of Low Value
Not all links are created equally. Some Google considers as ‘low value.’ For instance, a broken link that leads back to a page that hasn’t seen fresh content in a decade. Since there’s no traffic, these pages are at the bottom of the search results. If a visitor won’t go beyond the top-ranked search results, why would Google? In such cases, there isn’t much use in fixing broken links.
Google Did Not Count Your Links
Google does not count many links which it considers to be spam or of no editorial value. So even if you fix such links, you won’t see the kind of corrective activity for which you hoped.
Google Might Not Rely On Live Links
If you have a redirect in place, Google advises you to keep that in place for a year. But what happens after a year? Does the live link still have value? This is something SEO experts don’t clearly understand. Nobody knows how exactly Google treats live links, but it’s safe to say that links do not have to be live all the time for them to pass value.
You Have Redirected To An Irrelevant Link
If Google thinks that your link is being directed to an irrelevant or broken page, there is no point in fixing that links. Many websites tend to remove a subdomain and redirect users to their homepage. When they do this, Google labels it as a 404 error.
How To Fix Broken Links The Right Way
The first step to fix broken links is to find them. You may do this with the help of Google Webmasters Tool or Google Analytics. Depending on what you find, here’s what you can do:
- If it is an external link, you can either remove it, or you can replace the broken link with a valid one.
- If you need to fix an internal link, the following are the ways you can do it.
Check If There Is A Typo
Google will display a 404 error if there’s a spelling error in your link. Check for misspellings and fix them.
Fix Your Redirects
If your links are redirecting to pages where subdomains were removed, your visitors will end up elsewhere, like a homepage. Google will acknowledge the redirect but consider it irrelevant. To avoid this use 301 redirects.
Make Sure Your Page Exists Again
Do not redirect to a page that does not exist anymore. If you have a product or service that you no longer offer, replace the page with a valid one.
Delete The Broken Link
Deleting broken links should be your last option as you might lose traffic, time spent on the website, and pass link juice.
