To fix broken links without hurting your SEO, find them, then deal with each one in the right way: correct the link if the page still exists, add a permanent 301 redirect if it moved, and let it return a clean 404 if it’s gone for good. Google doesn’t punish a site for having 404s. What costs you is lost visitors, wasted links from other sites and a site that feels neglected.
Key takeaways
- A 404 on a page you deleted on purpose is normal. Google says to fix the ones you link to yourself.
- Moved pages need a 301 redirect to the closest matching page, not to your home page.
- Search Console and a free crawler find most broken links in an afternoon.
- WordPress redirects renamed posts automatically, but not renamed pages.
Do 404 errors hurt SEO?
Not directly. Google’s crawlers treat a 404 as “this content doesn’t exist” and drop the URL from the index (Google Search Central). That’s the system working as designed. Search Console’s own help says 404s “are not necessarily a problem” when a page was removed without a replacement, and recommends fixing only the ones you link to or list in your sitemap (Google Search Console Help).
The indirect costs are real, though:
- Lost visitors. Someone clicks “Our services” and lands on an error.
- Wasted links. If another site links to a page you deleted, the value of that link stops at the error page.
- Trust. Dead links make a business look closed or careless.
It’s a common problem. Pew Research found that 38% of web pages that existed in 2013 were no longer available a decade later, and 23% of news pages had at least one broken link (Pew Research Center).
How do you find broken links on your website?
Combine free tools with a quick manual check. Each catches things the others miss.
- Check Google Search Console. Open Indexing, then Pages, and look for “Not found (404)”. Note each URL, then check whether your own pages still link to it.
- Run a crawler over the site. Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider finds broken links and server errors, and its free version crawls up to 500 URLs (Screaming Frog). That covers most small business sites, and it checks links out to other sites too.
- Log 404s as they happen. On WordPress, the free Redirection plugin records 404 errors and lets you create 301 redirects from the same screen (WordPress.org).
- Click through the money pages yourself. Menus, contact, booking and checkout. A crawler checks links; it won’t notice a form that submits to nowhere. If enquiries have gone quiet, read our guide on a WordPress contact form not sending email.
List each broken URL, where it’s linked from and what you’ll do about it.
Fix, redirect or let it go: which one?
Every broken link needs one of three treatments. Work through them in this order.
1. Edit the link
If the page exists and the link is just wrong, fix the link. Outbound links get the same treatment: update or remove them.
2. Add a 301 redirect
If the page moved or a close replacement exists, redirect the old address to it. Google treats a permanent redirect (301 or 308) as a strong signal that the new page should take the old one’s place in search. A temporary redirect (302 or 307) doesn’t send that signal (Google Search Central). When a page has moved for good, use a 301.
Point each redirect at the closest match. An old “Bathroom renovations” page should go to your current bathrooms page, not the home page. Google’s John Mueller has said it mostly treats those home page redirects as soft 404s anyway, so there’s no upside (Search Engine Roundtable).
Two more rules from Google’s site move guide: keep redirects for at least a year, ideally for good, and send each old URL straight to its final page rather than through a chain (Google Search Central). Chains are also how sites end up with the too many redirects error.
3. Let it return a 404
If the content is gone and nothing replaces it, a 404 (or 410, “gone”) is the honest answer. Remove your own links to it and take it out of your sitemap. Make sure the page really returns a 404 code. A “page not found” message served with a normal 200 code is a soft 404, which Search Console flags as an error.
What makes a good 404 page?
A good 404 page gets lost visitors moving again:
- A plain message that the page isn’t there.
- A search box and links to your main services.
- Your phone number or contact page.
- Your normal header, menu and footer.
How do you stop new broken links?
Most broken links are self-inflicted. These habits prevent the bulk of them:
- Add a redirect when you rename a page. WordPress redirects a renamed post to its new address automatically, but its built-in feature skips pages (WordPress Developer Resources). Service pages are usually pages, so they need a manual redirect.
- Plan redirects before a redesign or domain change. Map every old URL to its new home before launch. Our guide to changing your domain name covers the full process.
- Don’t delete linked PDFs. Price lists are often linked from emails and other sites.
- Run a crawl every month. Outbound links rot without warning.
Broken links rarely travel alone. If you’re finding them, you’ll often find out-of-date plugins and other common WordPress problems as well.
When should you get help?
Get help if there are hundreds after a redesign or migration, if redirects are looping, or if errors appear on pages that should exist. For a site that’s down or a checkout that’s failing, our guide to emergency WordPress repair explains what to do first, and our 24/7 line is 0426 833 422.
We offer fast WordPress repairs for one-off clean-ups, and ongoing website support when you’d rather hand the list over. Our website maintenance plans catch broken links before customers do.
Frequently asked questions
Should I redirect all 404 pages to my home page?
No. Redirect each old page to its closest current match. Sending everything to the home page confuses visitors, and Google may treat those redirects as soft 404s anyway. If nothing matches, a helpful 404 page is the better answer.
How long should I keep 301 redirects?
Google recommends keeping them for at least a year, and ideally for good. Old emails, bookmarks and other sites may use the old address for years. A redirect costs almost nothing to keep, so there’s rarely a reason to remove one.
What’s the difference between a 404 and a 410?
A 404 means “not found” and a 410 means “gone for good”. Google treats them the same way: both tell it the content doesn’t exist, and the URL drops out of the index. Use whichever your site or plugin makes easier.
What is a soft 404?
It’s a page that says “not found”, or is nearly empty, but returns a normal success code. Search Console reports it as an error. Fix it by returning a real 404 code for missing pages, or adding proper content if the page should exist.
How often should I check for broken links?
Monthly is enough for most small business sites, plus a full check after any redesign, migration or change to your page structure.
Sources
- How HTTP status codes affect Google’s crawlers, Google Search Central
- Page indexing report, Google Search Console Help
- When online content disappears, Pew Research Center, May 2024
- SEO Spider, Screaming Frog
- Redirection plugin, WordPress.org
- Redirects and Google Search, Google Search Central
- Site moves with URL changes, Google Search Central
- wp_old_slug_redirect(), WordPress Developer Resources
- Google PSA: Do not 301 pages that should 404 to your home page, Search Engine Roundtable, January 2019