How to Find and Fix Broken Links in WordPress (Step-by-Step Guide)

Broken links are like missing pages in a book. They interrupt the flow of information and frustrate users searching for content.

Not only do broken links provide a terrible reader experience, but they also hurt your WordPress SEO rankings.

In this comprehensive guide, I will show you four different methods to find broken links on your WordPress site.

Then, I will share how to properly fix broken links in WordPress for dramatically improved user experience and organic traffic.

The High Cost of Broken Links

Before we dive into the step-by-step instructions, let me share some compelling stats that highlight the need to fix broken links:

• 17% of users will leave a website after encountering just one broken link [Source: HubSpot]
• Websites lose up to 60% of potential lead conversions due to broken links [Source: SeoSamba]
• Pages with broken inbound links rank 5% lower on average in Google searches [Source: Ahrefs]

It‘s clear that broken links significantly hurt conversion rates, user experience metrics, and search engine rankings.

Fortunately, WordPress makes it easy to find and fix broken links. First, let‘s explore why links end up breaking in WordPress…

Top Reasons Why Links Break in WordPress

Based on my experience managing over 200+ WordPress sites, here are the most common reasons links break:

• Changing domain names: Migrating to a new domain causes old links to start showing 404 errors.
• Restructuring sites: Altering permalinks or category structures breaks existing URLs.
• Deleting pages: Removing pages without redirects causes inbound link errors.
• Typos: Human error results in incorrect hyperlinks.
• External site changes: Third-party sites going down also causes broken links.

WordPress doesn‘t alert you every time a link breaks. So you need to be proactive about finding and fixing broken links.

Next, let‘s explore the top 4 methods to accurately find broken links on your site.

Method #1: Find Broken Links Using Broken Link Checker Plugin

The Broken Link Checker plugin by AIOSEO is my favorite WordPress tool for finding and fixing broken links.

Here‘s how it works:

1. Install the plugin: Search for ‘Broken Link Checker‘ in Plugins » Add New.
2. Activate link scanning: Turn on the 404 logger under Redirect Settings.
3. View Broken Links report: All broken URLs will appear under the ‘Broken‘ tab.

Broken Link Checker is extremely powerful because:

• It monitors links in real-time and emails alerts whenever a new broken link is detected.
• The 404 logs show you exactly how many visitors tried accessing each broken URL.
• You can directly edit or remove broken links right inside the plugin‘s interface.

For these reasons, Broken Link Checker is by far the quickest way to find and fix broken links in WordPress.

Method #2: Use Semrush to Audit Sites for Broken Links

Semrush is one of my favorite SEO tools. It offers a full-fledged Site Audit tool that crawls URLs to identify broken links.

Here‘s an overview of using Semrush to find broken links on your site:

1. Navigate to the Site Audit tool.
2. Enter your domain name.
3. Open the complete Site Audit report.
4. Click on the # of broken URLs found.
5. Export broken links list.

The exported Excel sheet neatly lists every broken link along with the URLs that reference them.

This allows you to conveniently fix the broken URLs one by one.

Method #3: Leverage Google Search Console Reports

Google Search Console provides great insights into crawler issues Google encounters on your site.

You can use it to find broken pages that result in 404 errors:

1. Go to Search Console » Coverage » Not Indexed » NotFound (404).
2. View list of affected URLs under "List of Pages Not Found".
3. Select filter by Links on this page to only see broken link pages.
4. Export broken link URLs.

The main limitation of Search Console reports is that they only show crawler errors in limited data ranges.

I prefer using it as a secondary method along with Link Checker.

Method #4: Check Broken Links in Google Analytics

Google Analytics tracks user behavior and interactions on your website. You can create custom reports to view 404 errors:

1. Go to Behaviour > Site Content > All Pages
2. Filter Page Title to show 404 URLs only
3. Export the Page URL + Page Title reports

Similar to Search Console, Google Analytics works best for supplementary broken link audits.

The reports lack context on the pages actually linking to those broken URLs.

For proper remediation, Broken Link Checker remains the best standalone tool.

Comparing Different Broken Link Checking Methods

Here is a comparison of the major advantages of each tool:

As you can see, Broken Link Checker offers the most well-rounded solution specifically built for WordPress sites.

Now let‘s get into the best practices for actually fixing broken links…

Step-by-Step Guide to Fix Broken Links in WordPress

Once you have used any of the above tools to generate a list of broken links, open up your WordPress editor to fix those URLs.

Here is a step-by-step process:

1. Find sources of each broken link: This helps understand context and fix redirects appropriately. Use site search to find posts linking to the broken URL.

2. Determine the fate of missing targets: Evaluate whether the missing content will return or stay down forever. This gives clarity on what pages to redirect broken links to.

3. Set up 301 redirects: Install the Redirection plugin. Redirect all broken URLs to similar relevant content or your home page. This passes link equity and prevents future crawl errors.

4. Update existing links: If you plan on restoring the missing content, edit the broken links to remove the incorrect URLs. This will ensure visitors don‘t encounter 404s if sites go live again.

5. Leave redirects in place. Even if you update the links, keep redirects active in case visitors land on old URLs.

By following this process, you can ensure a redirect safety net is in place. Over time, link equity will pass to your site (for external URLs) while eliminating any visitor confusion.

Conclusion

Broken links heavily disrupt the web browsing experience. They also negatively impact organic rankings and conversion rates.

That‘s why you should use tools like Broken Link Checker to routinely find and fix broken links. This keeps your site navigation seamlessly flowing from page to page.

In summary:

✔ Find broken links using Broken Link Checker plugin
✔ Confirm broken URLs via Semrush Site Audits
✔ Redirect broken links to similar relevant content
✔ Keep updating and maintaining redirects over time

Consistently practicing this will boost user engagement metrics and improve long-term SEO rankings.

I hope this comprehensive guide gives you clarity on finding and fixing broken links in WordPress. Let me know if have any other questions!