Crawlie
Home Free tools Site audit Blog About Contact
Run free audit
February 28, 2026

# How to Use Broken Link Checker the Right Way (2026)

Getting broken links (404 errors) right isn't complicated, but it does have a correct order of operations — skip a step and the rest of the work doesn't hold up as well.

Start here:
1. Prioritize fixing internal broken links first — they're fully within your control and directly affect crawl efficiency across your own site.
2. For broken external links in old content, either update to the current URL, link to an archive.org snapshot, or remove the link entirely.
3. Set up a recurring check (monthly for an active site) rather than a one-time audit — links break continuously as other sites reorganize.
4. When a page is permanently gone, 301-redirect its old URL to the closest relevant replacement instead of just letting it 404.

Once that's in place, the real value comes from doing it consistently rather than once. Broken Link Checker is one of those tasks that pays off more from a regular check-in than from a single perfect pass.

A mistake worth calling out specifically: Fixing the visible symptom (the link) without checking whether the destination page itself has other structural problems. This is common enough that it's worth a deliberate check, not just an assumption that it isn't happening.

This pairs naturally with Meta Tag Generator best practices — the two are frequently part of the same technical SEO pass, and fixing one without the other leaves an easy win on the table.

Broken Link Checker does the mechanical part of this for you — the judgment calls above still matter, but the setup and checking becomes a couple of minutes' work instead of a spreadsheet.

Try Broken Link Checker yourself

Everything in this guide runs directly in your browser — no signup, no install.

Open Broken Link Checker →
More on broken links (404 errors)
Broken Link Checker vs. Doing It by Hand: Is It Worth Switching?
A practical look at what Broken Link Checker actually saves you over doing broken links (404 errors) manually, and when manual still makes sense.
Broken Links (404 Errors) FAQ: Questions People Actually Ask
Straight answers to the questions that come up most often about broken links (404 errors).
The Broken Links (404 Errors) Checklist: What to Verify Before You Publish
A short, practical checklist for broken links (404 errors) — the things worth checking every time, not just the first time.
Audits & reports▸
Full SEO audit Competitor comparison
Technical SEO▸
Bulk URL indexability checker Robots.txt generator Sitemap generator Schema generator Redirect checker Broken link checker Backlink checker Image URL checker Internal link suggestion tool Keyword cannibalization checker Search intent cluster tool eCommerce keyword research tool Programmatic SEO page generator
Product & e-commerce feeds▸
Multi-channel feed generator Google Merchant feed generator Facebook product feed generator Pinterest product feed generator Google product category finder Competitor product research Merchant feed validator GTIN / EAN / UPC validator Product title optimizer SEO product description generator Slug generator Keyword density
Content & AI search▸
AI crawler &amp; llms.txt checker Readability counter Blog topic generator Google Discover headline generator AI Overview optimizer GEO checker Featured snippet optimizer Topical coverage calculator Meta tag generator
Sharing & distribution▸
SERP preview Open Graph preview UTM builder WhatsApp link generator RSS feed generator
No tools match your search.