Finding and Fixing Broken Links

#Overview

Broken links point to pages that no longer exist, returning a "page not found" error to visitors. They create a poor experience for users and can negatively affect your search engine rankings. SEO Max helps you find and resolve these issues before they cause lasting damage.

#Broken Links

The Broken Links tool scans links on your site that lead to missing or removed pages.

#How to Find Broken Links

1. Click SEO Max in your admin menu
2. Select Broken Links
3. Click Scan to start a new scan
4. Review the list of links that are returning errors

The list shows where the broken link is located and what address it is pointing to. Large sites may take a while to finish scanning because SEO Max spaces out requests to avoid slowing down your website.

#Scan Status and Warnings

While a scan is running, the Scan button is replaced by Stop. If you try to start another scan before the current one finishes, SEO Max keeps the current scan running and shows a warning instead of clearing your existing results.

If you see Scanner not configured, contact your site administrator. The scanner needs an administrator setup step before it can check your site reliably.

Some links may be skipped instead of listed as broken when the destination blocks automated checks, rate limits requests, or does not allow the type of check SEO Max uses. These links are checked again during a future scan so temporary blocks do not create false broken-link reports.

#Review Whitelisted Links

Use the Whitelisted Links tab to review links or URL patterns that have been excluded from broken link reporting.

• Remove an entry from this tab if you want it checked again in future scans.
• Keep entries here when you intentionally want to ignore a known URL or pattern.

#How to Fix Broken Links

For each broken link, you have several options:

• Update the link — Edit the page containing the broken link and update it to point to the correct destination
• Restore the missing page — If the destination page was accidentally deleted, you can recreate it
• Create a redirect — Add a 301 redirect from the broken address to a relevant page so both visitors and search engines are sent somewhere useful (see Managing 301 Redirects)
• Remove the link — If the content it pointed to is no longer relevant, remove the link from the page entirely

#Why Broken Links Hurt Your Site

• Visitors who click a broken link see a dead end, which damages trust and may cause them to leave your site
• Search engines that follow broken links may lower their confidence in your site's quality
• If important pages are only reachable through broken links, they may not be indexed at all

#Broken Redirects

A broken redirect is a redirect rule that is not working correctly — for example, a redirect that points to a destination that no longer exists, or a chain of redirects that loops or dead-ends.

#How to Find Broken Redirects

1. Click SEO Max in your admin menu
2. Select Broken Redirects
3. Review the list of redirect rules that are failing

#How to Fix Broken Redirects

• Update the destination — Edit the redirect to point to a valid, existing page
• Delete the redirect — If the original URL is no longer relevant, remove the redirect rule entirely
• Resolve redirect chains — If a redirect points to another redirect, update it to go directly to the final destination to avoid slowdowns

Tip: Redirect chains (A redirects to B, and B redirects to C) should be collapsed so A points directly to C. This improves page load speed and makes your redirect setup easier to maintain.

#Keeping Your Site Healthy

Checking for broken links and broken redirects regularly — especially after major site changes like URL restructures, page deletions, or content migrations — helps you catch problems before they affect visitors or search rankings. A quick review after any large update is a good habit to build into your workflow.