Why check links? Normal website updates create hidden dead ends.
Broken links are usually a maintenance reality, not a blame issue. Pages move, content gets pruned, vendors change documentation URLs, and old redirect rules stack up over time.
- Internal link breakage: links inside your own site now point to missing or moved pages.
- External link rot: outbound references no longer resolve because another site changed.
- Redirect problems: chains, loops, or wrong-target redirects that technically resolve but miss intent.
This page explains what changes, what it affects, and what to fix first.
Link decay is normal, and measurable.
23% of news pages and 21% of government pages had at least one broken link in Pew’s May 2024 analysis.
Even high-trust sites develop broken references.
25% of webpages that existed between 2013 and 2023 were no longer accessible as of October 2023.
Older pages are more likely to decay, which is why routine checks beat reactive cleanup.
Ahrefs reported 66.5% long-horizon link decay across sampled links since 2013.
Link loss accumulates over years unless teams keep validating and refreshing destinations.
Broken links hurt real user journeys first.
User experience and trust
- Dead ends interrupt donation, contact, booking, and purchase journeys.
- Resource pages with broken citations can lose credibility with readers and partners.
- Repeated failures make your site feel outdated, even when core content is strong.
SEO impact without myths
- A 404 can be correct when content is truly gone.
- Important pages and important internal paths should not lead to dead ends.
- Broken internal links and long redirect chains can reduce crawl and recrawl efficiency.
- Redirect quality matters: use the right redirect and keep hops minimal.
Redirects are the new broken link.
A redirect is not automatically a fix. If it lands on the wrong page or passes through multiple hops, users and crawlers still pay the cost.
- Intent mismatch: users click one topic and land on another.
- Redirect chains: each extra hop adds delay and crawl overhead. Flatten to one hop where possible.
- Migration spikes: redesigns and URL restructures are when redirect issues usually surge.
What tools miss: crawl coverage gaps.
Seeing few errors in Search Console does not mean all links are healthy. It only reflects what Googlebot encountered during its crawls.
- Some pages are missed because they were blocked, behind authentication, or timed out.
- Orphan pages may not be reached from internal navigation.
- A single run can miss parts of a site that were temporarily unavailable.
PurrView adds crawl coverage summaries so you can see what was reachable and what was not in each run.
When link checks matter most.
- After a redesign or migration.
- After content pruning, merging, or deletions.
- After major navigation, footer, or template updates.
- Before and after publishing major resource content.
Cadence guidance without guesswork.
After major changes, run a check. For ongoing operations, choose a cadence that matches how often your content changes.
- Smaller sites with infrequent updates can often run checks less often.
- Frequently updated sites should validate more regularly.
- Redesigns are the exception: always validate before and after launch.
What PurrView validates on each run.
Use this as your concrete issue map when reviewing findings.
Broken internal links
Links inside your site that now point to missing pages, changed slugs, or retired paths.
Broken external links (link rot)
Outbound references that no longer resolve because the destination changed or disappeared.
Redirect chains and wrong targets
Multi-hop or misaligned redirects that waste hops or send users to irrelevant destinations.
Crawl coverage summaries
What was reachable and what was not during the run, including blocked and timed-out areas.
Changes between runs
New issues, resolved issues, and repeat breakage so you can verify fixes and spot patterns.
Fix-first workflow.
- Start with high-impact pages (top traffic, conversion, donation, and contact paths).
- Fix repeated destinations first (one broken URL can appear in many places).
- Choose the best fix: update the URL, replace the source, remove the reference, or add a relevant redirect.
- Re-run validation to confirm the result.
Use this as your link-health hub.
Does Google penalize every 404?
No. A 404 can be correct when content is intentionally removed. The risk is when important internal paths repeatedly send users and crawlers to dead ends.
Should every broken URL be redirected?
No. Sometimes the right move is to update the link target, replace the reference, or remove outdated citations. Redirect when there is a clear relevant destination.
How often should we run checks?
Always after major site changes. Between major changes, run on a cadence that matches your publishing frequency and site complexity.
Make link checks part of routine site maintenance.
Run validation after major changes and on a recurring schedule that fits your content velocity.