Good linking is one of the most important SEO factors. But what happens if your links go nowhere? This not only annoys your visitors, but also wastes the crawler quota of Google, Bing and Co. because instead of a 404 page, the crawler could have indexed a functioning page. We show you how Broken Link Checker can help you get these problems under control.

Why are broken links harmful?

If a user clicks on one of your links, they expect useful content. If instead they encounter a broken link and only see a 404 error, they will be annoyed - and may leave your site altogether. Search engines also penalize sites that provide a poor user experience. Broken links can therefore even lead to ranking losses.

There is another reason to take care of broken links. When Google and other search engines crawl your website, they do so within a predefined quota. As many URLs are crawled until the quota is used up. The crawl is then aborted. If your quota is used up, you have to wait again for the next crawler session. Let's assume that 100 URLs can be crawled within the quota. What a waste if 70 of them lead to a 404 error. 

On a website with many subpages, it is not easy to find every broken link. But with an automated Broken Links Checker, broken links can be identified very quickly - even without performance-hungry WordPress plugins. But more on that later.

The 8 most popular broken link checker tools

#1 Broken Links Checker from Ryte

The comprehensive website optimization tool called Ryte is divided into three modules: Website Success, Content Success and Search Success. In the Website Success module, you will find the Broken Link Checker under Links → Status Codes.

The link status is displayed immediately. Broken links are marked in red as 4xx and 5xx. 4xx errors stand for "not found", while 5xx errors mean a server error. Click on the red bar to view the broken links. 

If you have a lot of results, you can use a filter to display only internal links, for example. To activate a filter, click on "New filter" at the top of the screen and select "Domain (link target)". Then select "contains" and enter your domain name. Then click on "Save and close". Now you will only see internal broken links.

Scope and tariffs of the tool: The free version of Ryte offers an SEO crawl with up to 100 URLs and 5 quick checks per month. In addition to the Broken Link Checker, Ryte also gives you access to many other tools that support your website. 

The fee-based Basic Suite is suitable for up to three users, three projects, crawling of up to 50,000 URLs and costs just under 90 euros per month with annual billing. If you need more, you can request a quote for the Business Suite. A customized solution will then be put together.

Ryte: Pros & Features

• Ryte is an online tool - no installation required
• High-quality tools for complete SEO checks including WDF*IDF analyses
• Free account has no time limit

Cons

• In the free version, you can only have 100 pages crawled

#2 Google Search Console

The Google Search Console (GSC) is one of the best free SEO tools around. However, many website operators are unaware of how much valuable information is hidden in the Search Console data. This is because the GSC not only helps you to diagnose SEO problems, but above all helps you to analyze your content and improve your organic traffic. Marketing guru Neil Patel explains how to use Search Console data correctly to increase your traffic in his article.

According to Google's own description, you can use the Search Console for the following tasks:

• Confirm that Google can find and crawl your site.
• Fix indexing problems and request re-indexing of new or updated content.
• View Google Search traffic data for your site: how often your site appears in Google Search, which search queries show your site, how often searchers click through for those queries, and more. 
• Receive alerts when Google encounters indexing, spam, or other issues on your site.
• Show you which sites link to your website.
• Troubleshoot issues for AMP, mobile usability, and other Search features.

But back to the topic of broken links. To use Google Search Console to check your links (and all other GSC functions), all you have to do is register and verify your website. 

The menu item "Cover" is located on the left-hand side. Click on it to see further entries such as "Details". Under "Redirection errors", both 404 and server errors are displayed in tabs.

If broken links are found, a list with further information is displayed below the diagram. This can be filtered and downloaded. Clicking on one of these broken links opens a window where further details such as the source URLs are displayed.

Google Search Console: Pros & Features

• Comprehensive SEO tools that help to discover optimization potential.
• Can be integrated with many external tools, including Google Analytics.

#3 BrokenLinkCheck.com

If you don't feel like clicking through extensive SEO tools, there's an easier way. At BrokenLinkCheck.com, you enter the URL of your website, click a button and the service checks up to 3,000 pages free of charge. If you need more, you can request a quote from the operator using the contact form. The web tool creates a table with the faulty URLs. The source URLs can be viewed in the second column.

Scope of the tool: You can choose between the free version with up to 3,000 URLs and the paid version with higher limits.

BrokenLinkCheck.com: Pros & Features

• Creates clear reports and indicates the position of broken links in the code.
• Supports subdomains.
• Uncomplicated to operate.

Cons

• The free version only checks 3,000 pages.
• You must request the prices for the paid version using the contact form. 

#4 Dead Link Checker

The Dead Link Checker is as easy to use as BrokenLinkCheck.com. However, there are three modes to choose from here: In addition to the standard Site Check for checking the entire website or a single subpage, you have "Multi Check" for several websites and "Auto Check" for the regular automatically initiated check. Up to 2,000 links are found in the free versions.

To start the free site check, simply enter the URL of the website in the input field on the main page and click to confirm. This is followed by a list of the incorrect URLs.

The "Multi Check" is also free of charge, but requires an account. The regular "Auto Checker", on the other hand, is subject to a charge and can be booked from around 99 euros per year. Monthly billing periods are also available. 

The tariffs at a glance: 

• Auto Checker Standard for 99 euros - up to 5 websites, 50,000 links per month
• Auto Checker Premium for 395 euros - up to 100 websites, 500,000 links per month
• Auto Checker Professional for 790 euros - up to 200 websites, 1,000,000 links per month

Dead Link Checker: Pros & Features

• Three different modes allow optimally customized use
• URL keyword filterable with wildcards
• The test process can be paused and resumed
• Thanks to the examination of several links at once, the process is accelerated

Cons

• The scan depth is limited to 10 links.
• Subdomains count as a separate website.

#5 Sitechecker

The Sitechecker is an uncomplicated choice to expose broken links. Simply enter the domain on the main page and an investigation will be carried out. This is followed by a detailed report and problems in the page structure and 404 errors are highlighted. The free version allows you to check 100 pages. If you need more or even expect a complete solution for search engine optimization, you can book the "All-in-One SEO Platform". 

The following tariffs are available:

• "Startup" for from 278 USD per year supports up to 5 websites, 5000 URLs per account as well as 500 keywords and 5000 backlinks per account
• "Growing" for from 662 USD per year supports up to 10 websites, 50000 URLs per account as well as 1000 keywords and 10000 backlinks per account 
• "Business" for from USD 1142 per year supports up to 20 websites, 400,000 URLs per account as well as 2,000 keywords and 20,000 backlinks per account 

Sitechecker: Pros & Features

• The site checker creates a detailed report with lots of useful SEO information.
• You can have a single page (free) or the entire website (subscription) checked.
• The internal and external links are displayed graphically.
• The paid version also includes backlink tracker, ranking check and website monitoring including notifications.

Cons

Checks only 100 pages in the free version.

#6 Screaming Frog SEO Spider

The desktop software Screaming Frog SEO Spider (usually just called "Screaming Frog" by users) can also be used to find broken links free of charge. Installation is possible on Windows, Ubuntu and macOS. Once the software is installed, you can get started right away.

At the top of the main window you will find an input field. Enter the URL of your website there and click on "Start". A short time later, the central area will be filled with addresses. The pie chart at the bottom right shows the respective percentages of correct and incorrect links. Above the diagram is an overview of the status codes. You can filter for broken links by clicking on "Client Error (4xx)" under "Response Codes". At the bottom left of the window you will find the "Inlinks" tab. Here you will see the links to the 404 pages and further information.

You can see what the search for broken links looks like in the tool itself in the following video:

Scope of the tool and tariffs: The free version of Screaming Frog analyzes SEO-relevant website data and examines up to 500 URLs. The paid version costs 149 pounds per year - around 164 euros. For this, you get unlimited URL analyses, planning including automatic launch, JavaScript rendering, structured data checks, integration with external services such as Google Analytics and Search Console and much more.

The free version of Screaming Frog offers a check of up to 500 pages and basic features. Significantly more SEO features and unlimited checks are included in the premium version.

Screaming Frog: Pros & Features

• Carries out comprehensive link and performance checks.
• Analysis and evaluation in real time
• Search for user-defined character strings possible.

Cons

• Is relatively slow for very large websites.
• Only 500 pages are checked in the free version.

#7 WordPress plugin "Rank Math" 

Rank Math has become the standard in the field of free WordPress SEO plugins alongside Yoast SEO. It comes with 15 modules, including structured data, local SEO, sitemaps, WooCommerce, integration with Google Search Console and the 404 Monitor, which acts as a broken link checker. 

In the menu under "Rank Math" and "404 Monitor", a simple mode and an extended mode can be set. In simple mode, only the URL, hits (the number of times an incorrect URL was accessed) and access time are recorded. The advanced mode offers more information such as referrer and user agent.

Rank Math automatically creates an error log with 404 errors. The referrer column (only in advanced mode) shows where the broken link is located, allowing you to correct it quickly. You can find out the best way to eliminate broken links with Rank Math in this tutorial.

Rank Math: Pros & Features

• Comprehensive plugin with numerous modules for fast WordPress SEO
• Convenient user interface
• Broken link checks are configurable.
• Faulty links are displayed directly in WordPress.
• Integration with many other tools.
• Yoast SEO data can be imported.

Cons

• No Flesch reading index
• If you want to monitor several websites centrally, a plugin is not the ideal solution.

#8 WordPress plugin "Broken Link Checker" 

While the Broken Link Checker WordPress plugin is free, popular, and easy to use, it can eat up a lot of system resources, slowing down your site. With the above options for finding broken links, there's no compelling reason to use this plugin. If you do want to use it, only enable it for the error scan and then disable it again.

After installing the plugin, you will find a new entry "Broken Links" in the WordPress menu under "Tools". Click on it to display the current list of broken links. In addition to the URL, you will see more detailed information on the status, link text and source. If you move the mouse over one of these entries, a menu will appear below the URL. There you can edit, update and check the link again.

Broken Link Checker Plugin: Pros & Features

• Convenient way to detect broken link errors directly in WordPress.
• Easy to set up

Cons

• Can severely impair the performance of the WordPress site.

Conclusion: Eliminate broken link errors

The tools mentioned above are useful for uncovering broken link errors. Instead of checking each subpage manually, use a broken links checker and let it do the tedious task automatically. The results will tell you where optimization is needed. Now all you need to do is correct your broken 4xx links or, in the case of 5xx errors, fix them on the server side. If you create a certain routine for this, correcting the broken links will have a positive effect on your overall ranking on Google and co. Good luck!