It can be quite frustrating when you are experiencing broken links on your WordPress page. It’s not good for your site traffic nor is it good for an SEO site. The good news is that there are ways to fix this issue

Let’s further discuss why broken links are something that you should fix right when the problem occurs. Then we will take a look at some methods that you can use to find the broken links and fix the problem. Believe it or not, these broken link issues can be addressed without slowing your site down.

Bad News for your SEO/User Experience

There are many reasons why broken links are bad for your WordPress site, as well as the overall experience for those who visit your site.

First, your visitors are clicking on links that they are interested in seeing something on. So when a link is broken then the visit will most likely be quite frustrated at the fact that they are unable to view what was supposed to be there. That alone should be enough for you to want to correct the problem once and for all.

Just in case you didn’t know; broken links are bad for both humans and robots. To be specific, it’s the crawler bots that broken links are especially bad for.

Different Methods for Repairing Broken Links

So you get the fact that broken links are bad for WordPress. Now let’s take a look at the most important question – “How do you fix the broken links on your WordPress site?”

The next few sections we will be discussing some ways that you can fix the broken links in WordPress:

• Web Based SEO Audit Tool
• Google Search Console
• Desktop Software
• Online Broken Link Checker Tool

Web Based SEO Audit Tool

The first method that you might want to take into consideration when fixing your broken links, is a Web based SEP audit tool. Two popular ones that you might take into consideration are Ahrefs and SEMrush.  Both of these tools are quite powerful when it comes to fixing WordPress. These tools allow you to automatically scan your site for any errors.

With Ahrefs, you will find that there are a couple of different places that you are able to find broken links.

#1 – Finding Broken Links with the Ahrefs Audit Tool

So, one of the first methods that are able to use for finding and fixing your broken links is the Site Audit tool. With this tool you are able to set up a project by entering your WordPress site’s address. Then you will click the button to scan your site. This process can take up to about 20 minutes; it really all depends upon the size of your site.

Once this scan is complete, you can click on the reports and find a list of all of the 404 errors that are on your WordPress website. Next, you will need to update the broken links with the correct links.

#2 — Finding Broken Links with Ahrefs Site Explorer

Ahrefs Site Explorer is another method that you can use for finding broken links. All you need to do is copy/paste or type your WordPress link into the Ahrefs Site Explorer field. Go to where it says ‘Backlinks report’, and click n ‘Broken.’ Here you will be able to see all of your backlinks that are broken.

#3 – Searching for Broken Out-going Links with Ahrefs Site Explorer

Fixing the broken backlinks on your WordPress site is the most important thing needed to be done in order to have your site up and running like it should be. However, the outgoing links are just as important to be fixed as your priority links. It’s quite frustrating when you link to broken links that contain other peoples’ resources. Users are expecting to see what they clicked on the link to view.

All you need to do is add your WordPress site link to the Ahrefs Site Explorer, then go to the Outgoing Links report, then click on Broken Links. You should then be able to view the post or the page on your WordPress website. You’ll be able to see where the broken link is as well as the external broken link.

Google Search Console

With Google Search Console, you are enabled to monitor and maintain troubleshooting for your WordPress site. Getting started by using the Google Search Console tool, you will first need to verify your WordPress site through the software. Through the Google Search Console you will also have access to Crawl Errors. This feature will allow you to see all of the pages the return a 404 error.

With Google Search Console, you are enabled to monitor and maintain troubleshooting for your WordPress site. Getting started by using the Google Search Console tool, you will first need to verify your WordPress site through the software. Through the Google Search Console you will also have access to Crawl Errors. This feature will allow you to see all of the pages the return a 404 error.

When you click on the links shown in the results, a pop-up will display, and you will be able to see which pages contain the 404 errors. This will allow you to correct the links that are broken.

Desktop Software

The use of desktop software is another method that you can use when you are trying to locate and fix your broken links.

One of the most popular options of desktop software that is available to use with finding broken links is Screaming Frog. This tool is a very popular SEO tool that you can utilize for free.

After you have downloaded and installed this program you can use it by performing the following steps:

1.  Add your site’s URL to the box at the top and click ‘Start’.
2. The ‘Response Code’ option can also be used to filter 404 pages and then you can use the ‘InLinks’ feature at the bottom, to find the 404 pages.

Note (For Mac users): Integrity is a good SEO tool that you can use if you are operating with a Mac desktop or laptop computer.

Now if you ever experiencing any broken link issues you will know just what to do. Sometimes you can find out about more methods and tricks for fixing broken links by visiting various forums and discussion boards surrounding WordPress.