#Fix broken links after server migration how to
How to Find and Fix Broken Links on Your Website The impact of broken links on SEO ranking has only grown, and it’s clear that Google wants you to pay attention to user experience. It’s really more like other regular maintenance that you might do for your users.”
In 2014, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller noted that “if you find things like, I’d fix it primarily for your users, so that they’re able to use your site completely. The harder it is for Google to understand your site in its entirety, the longer it will take to see any positive moment in your ranking. Lastly, broken links restrict Google bots that are trying to crawl and index your site. For example, blog articles can boost other articles’ rankings if they’re related and linked. Internal links help with the flow of equity around your site. Backlinks from reputable sites boost your website’s page authority. If enough users do this, it could affect your bounce rate, which Google will note when determining your site’s ranking.īroken links also interrupt the flow of link equity. If a person clicks on a link and receives an error, they will likely click away to another page or website. Why are Broken Links bad for SEO?įirst and foremost, broken links hurt your site’s user experience. Your page loses out on page authority because of these links, so it’s important to address them to make sure they don’t impact your ranking. Broken Backlinksīroken backlinks happen when another website links to a part of your website with any of the aforementioned errors (poor URL structure, misspellings, removed content, hosting issues, etc.) Read more about external linking in our guide to best practices for external links. If you were counting on external links to share their page authority with you, the broken link defeats that. These broken external links are bad for the user’s experience and are bad for the flow of link equity. These links point to an external site that no longer exists, has moved locations, and has not implemented any redirects. It can also signal to Google that your website isn’t properly optimized, which may hurt your rankings. If a page has a broken link, Google can’t find the next page.
Your website’s URL structure may have changed: If you’ve completed a site migration or reordered your content tree, you’ll need to set up a redirect to avoid breaking any links.Incorrect URL Spelling: You may have misspelled the link when setting it up, or the webpage you’re linking to may include a misspelled word in its URL.Here are a few common causes of broken links: Understanding how links are broken can help you prevent them from happening in the future. Timeout: While trying to connect to the page, the server timed out.400 Bad Request: The host server doesn’t understand the URL on your page.Bad Code: The server violated the HTTP Spec.Bad Host: The server cannot be reached or doesn’t exist or the hostname is invalid.404 Page not Found: If you see this error, the page or content has been removed from the server.If you click on a link, you’ll know the link is broken if the page returns errors like: You might have typed the URL incorrectly.You may have linked to content (like a video or document) that has been removed from the server.Some pages were lost or renamed during a website migration.There are many common reasons why a page or resource might be missing: Links are “broken” when they point to a page that no longer exists or can’t be found.
#Fix broken links after server migration update
We’ll explain how broken links work, why it’s important to update them, and how to check for broken links with the Site Audit tool. Lower page authority can negatively decrease your ranking, especially when compared to your competitors. Whether a user’s browsing your site’s pages or exploring external links you’ve included, it can be jarring to be met with a 404 error page.īroken links can also impact page authority earned through internal and external links. A broken link can severely impact the user experience of your website.