Fixing Broken Backlinks: A Guide to Improved SEO and Website Performance

To improve your website performance and SEO, fixing broken backlinks is necessary. Backlinks are an important part of any successful website, as they provide an additional traffic source and help establish credibility. Unfortunately, many websites suffer from broken backlinks due to outdated or deleted content. Fortunately, you can take a few easy steps to identify and fix these broken links – and in turn, improve your website performance and SEO. In this article, we will discuss fixing broken backlinks and how to improve the website’s seo with it.

What is a broken backlink?

A broken backlink, also known as a dead or broken link, is a hyperlink that no longer leads to a valid or existing web page. For example, it can occur when the linked page has been deleted or moved or changes its URL without a proper redirect. Broken backlinks can negatively affect user experience and search engine optimization (SEO) by preventing search engines from crawling and indexing pages and reducing the credibility and authority of the linking website. As a result, it’s important for website owners to monitor their backlink profiles for broken links regularly and to take action to repair or replace them.

Reasons for broken backlinks

There are several reasons why a backlink may become broken:

Website restructuring: Changes to the structure of a website, such as moving or renaming pages, can result in broken links due to a lack of implementation of proper redirects.
Deleted pages: If a page linked to another website is deleted, the backlink will become broken.
Incorrect links: Typographical errors, incorrect copy-pasting, or other mistakes in linking can lead to broken links.
Expired domains: If a website linking to yours goes offline or its domain name expires, the backlink will become broken.
Updates to linking website: Updating a website’s content management system or platform can result in broken links if the changes affect the linked page’s URL.
Domain name changes: Changing the domain name of a website can result in broken links from sites that were linking to the original domain.
Spam or low-quality links: Disavowing spammy or low-quality backlinks is a best practice to maintain a healthy backlink profile and avoid broken links.

How to identify a broken backlink?

There are several methods for identifying broken backlinks on your website:

Google Search Console: It provides a list of broken links, also known as 404 errors, in the “Coverage” report. You can find the report under the “Crawl” section of the Search Console.
SEMrush: SEMrush is a marketing and SEO tool that provides a comprehensive backlink analysis. The tool can identify broken links and monitor changes to your backlink profile.
Online broken link checker tools: Several online tools, such as Dead Link Checker and W3C Link Checker, can be used to scan your website for broken links. These tools provide a list of broken links and information about the source of the problem.
Manually checking your website: You can also manually check your website for broken links by clicking on all the links on your pages and checking if they lead to valid pages.

These tools will provide you with a comprehensive list of all the links pointing back to your website so that you can easily identify the broken ones. Once you have identified the broken links, it’s time to start fixing them.

It’s important to monitor your backlink profile for broken links regularly and to repair or replace them to maintain a healthy backlink profile and avoid negative impacts on user experience and SEO.

Repairing Broken Backlinks

The most common way of fixing a broken link is by replacing it with an updated version of the same page or content. It ensures visitors won’t be taken to an error page when clicking on the link. If the old page no longer exists, you may want to consider redirecting the link instead – this will direct visitors from one page to another without changing their destination URL.

Another way of dealing with broken links is removing them from your website – manually by editing your HTML code or using a plugin such as Broken Link Checker for WordPress. Removing dead links can help reduce clutter on your site and also help improve user experience as well as search engine rankings.

Pointwise methods for fixing broken backlinks:

Updating or correcting the broken link on the referring website: This method involves reaching out to the website owner or editor of the page with the broken link and requesting that they update or correct the link to point to a valid page on your website.
Redirecting the broken link: This method involves using a server-side redirect, such as a 301 redirect, to send visitors who click on the broken link to a relevant page on your website. It helps maintain the user experience and prevent the loss of referral traffic from the referring website.
Creating replacement content for deleted pages: If the linked page does not exist, creating a new page with similar or updated content can help repair the broken link and maintain the flow of referral traffic.
Disavowing spammy or low-quality links: Disavowing spammy or low-quality links is a best practice to maintain a healthy backlink profile and avoid negative impacts on your website’s SEO. Spammy or low-quality backlinks can be disavowed using the Disavow Links tool in Google Search Console.

Maintaining Backlink Health

To maintain the health of your backlink profile, you can follow these best practices:

Regularly monitor your backlink profile: Using tools such as Google Search Console or SEMrush can help identify and fix broken links promptly.
Implement proper redirects: When making changes to your website, such as moving or renaming pages, be sure to implement proper redirects to maintain your backlinks’ integrity and prevent broken links.
Avoid shady link-building tactics: Shady link-building tactics(such as purchasing links or participating in link schemes) can result in penalization from search engines and harm your backlink profile’s health.
Provide valuable, high-quality content: Creating valuable, high-quality content relevant to your audience can help you attract natural, authoritative backlinks.
Disavow spammy or low-quality links: Disavowing spammy or low-quality links is a best practice to maintain a healthy backlink profile and avoid negative impacts on your website’s SEO.

By following these best practices, you can maintain a healthy backlink profile and avoid negative user experience and SEO impacts.

Conclusion

Fixing broken backlinks may seem daunting, but following these steps can make it much easier! In addition, it will improve SEO and website performance and overall user experience – something everyone should aim for when creating websites!

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Richa Soni

Richa is an author and SEO expert who loves to write about digital marketing, SEO, and social media. She has been working in the online space for over a decade and has helped businesses of all sizes achieve success online.