Broken links, whether on your website or your competitors’ sites, can harm your SEO rankings, user experience, and overall site performance. As search engines like Google continue to prioritize user experience and quality content, ensuring that your website is free of broken links has never been more important. Fortunately, tools like Ahrefs make identifying and fixing broken links a streamlined process.
In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through how to identify and fix broken links using Ahrefs, with detailed, easy-to-follow instructions. Whether you're an experienced SEO professional or a beginner, this guide will help you understand the significance of broken links and how to leverage Ahrefs for efficient link management.
Why Broken Links Matter for SEO and User Experience
Before diving into the process of identifying and fixing broken links, it’s important to understand why addressing them is crucial for SEO and user experience:
- SEO Implications: Broken links negatively impact your website’s SEO performance. Search engines crawl and index your site by following links, and broken links can hinder this process. A site full of 404 errors signals to search engines that the website is poorly maintained, which can result in lower rankings.
- User Experience: Visitors expect a seamless browsing experience. When they click on a link that leads to a dead page, it results in frustration, and they may leave your site. High bounce rates from broken links can also signal to search engines that your site isn’t user-friendly.
- Link Equity Loss: Links from other websites to your pages are valuable because they pass on link equity. If those links are broken or lead to non-existent pages, you're missing out on potential link juice, which can hurt your site's authority.
To ensure that broken links don't damage your site’s SEO performance or user experience, it’s crucial to regularly audit your website and fix any issues you find.
Step 1: Set Up Ahrefs and Prepare for Link Audit
Ahrefs is a powerful SEO tool that provides in-depth information about backlinks, site health, and more. To start identifying broken links on your website, you’ll need an active Ahrefs account. Once you’ve logged in, follow these steps:
Enter Your Website URL in Ahrefs’ Site Explorer:
- Navigate to the Site Explorer tool on the Ahrefs dashboard.
- Enter your website URL and click “Search.” Ahrefs will crawl your website and give you a detailed overview of your domain’s performance.
Go to the "Pages" Section:
- In the left-hand menu, select Pages under the Site Explorer tab.
- Choose the Best by Links option. This will display your most linked-to pages, along with the number of referring domains.
Select the “Broken Links” Report:
- On the Site Explorer page, look for the "Broken Links" section under Incoming Links. This report will show you all the pages that are linking to non-existent URLs or result in a 404 error.
Now that you’ve set up your Ahrefs account and selected the correct tools for the job, you can begin identifying broken links across your site.
Step 2: Identifying Broken Links with Ahrefs
Ahrefs provides several methods for identifying broken links. Let’s go over the two most effective ones:
1. Use the "Broken Links" Report for Internal and External Links
- Internal Broken Links: These are links within your own website that point to pages that no longer exist (i.e., 404 pages). To identify these, go to the Site Explorer and navigate to the Internal Pages report.
- Filter the list by 404 errors. This will show you all the internal links that are pointing to pages that no longer exist.
- External Broken Links: These are external websites that link to your pages but point to non-existent URLs. To find these, go to the Backlink Profile section and click on the Broken Links tab.
- This will show you the external domains linking to dead pages on your website.
2. Use Ahrefs’ “Lost Backlinks” Report
In addition to the broken links report, Ahrefs provides a Lost Backlinks report that helps identify when external websites stop linking to your pages. This is helpful for understanding when backlinks go dead and can be part of your overall link-building strategy.
Step 3: Analyzing the Impact of Broken Links
Once you’ve identified the broken links, you need to assess their impact on your website:
- High-Impact Pages: Focus on broken links on your most important pages. Pages with high traffic, significant backlinks, or high conversion potential need to be prioritized for fixing.
- Low-Impact Pages: Broken links on less important pages can be fixed later. However, make sure to address all errors in your site’s internal linking structure.
In Ahrefs, you can analyze the value of a broken link by examining the referring domains and traffic estimates. The more referring domains pointing to a broken page, the more valuable it is to fix the issue.
Step 4: Fixing Broken Links
Once you've identified broken links, the next step is to fix them. Depending on the type of broken link (internal or external), there are different strategies you can employ.
1. Fixing Internal Broken Links
Internal broken links are links within your website that point to non-existent pages. Here’s how to fix them:
Redirect to a Relevant Page: If the page that the broken link points to has been removed or renamed, set up a 301 redirect to another relevant page on your website. This will preserve link equity and guide users to useful content.
- To set up a 301 redirect, go to your website’s content management system (CMS) or use a plugin (e.g., Redirection for WordPress).
Restore the Missing Page: If the missing page was removed by mistake and you still have the content available, consider restoring it and ensuring the URL structure remains intact.
Update the Link: If the content was moved to a new page or the URL changed, update the internal link to point to the new destination.
2. Fixing External Broken Links
External broken links are links from other websites that lead to pages that no longer exist. Here’s how to fix these links:
Contact the Referring Website: Reach out to the webmasters of sites linking to your broken page and ask them to update the link to a relevant, live page on your website. Be polite and provide the updated URL.
Create a New Landing Page: If a page that previously had external backlinks was deleted, consider creating a similar page to maintain the backlinks. This is particularly important for pages with valuable inbound links.
Set Up 301 Redirects: If a page with backlinks was permanently deleted, setting up a 301 redirect from the old URL to a relevant, active page is an effective way to preserve link equity.
Step 5: Monitoring Your Links Regularly
Fixing broken links is not a one-time task. To maintain a healthy website, you need to regularly monitor your links and perform link audits. Here’s how:
- Use Ahrefs’ Alerts: Ahrefs allows you to set up alerts that notify you whenever a new broken link is found. This helps you stay on top of any new issues as they arise.
- Re-crawl Your Website Periodically: Ahrefs also allows you to re-crawl your website periodically to identify any new broken links that might appear over time.
By incorporating regular link audits into your routine, you ensure that your website remains healthy and free of broken links.
Step 6: Preventing Broken Links in the Future
The best way to deal with broken links is to prevent them from appearing in the first place. Here are some best practices to follow:
- Update Content Regularly: Keep your content up-to-date and ensure that all links remain functional.
- Avoid Removing Important Pages: When removing pages, always set up redirects to ensure that any incoming links are properly redirected to a relevant page.
- Monitor Backlinks: Use Ahrefs to keep track of external backlinks to your website, ensuring that any lost links are identified and recovered quickly.
Conclusion
Broken links are a common issue that can harm your website’s SEO and user experience. However, with tools like Ahrefs, you can easily identify and fix these links, ensuring that your website remains in top shape. Regular audits and maintenance are essential to ensuring that broken links don't negatively impact your site's performance.
By using Ahrefs' broken link reports, analyzing the impact of each broken link, and employing effective strategies to fix them, you can keep your website optimized for both search engines and users. Make fixing broken links a regular part of your SEO routine, and you’ll ensure long-term success for your website’s health and performance.
Now that you know how to identify and fix broken links using Ahrefs, make sure to implement these best practices regularly for the best results. Happy linking!
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