How to find broken links

[universal4]

Based in this question, thought this should be it's own thread so as not to take it off topic
https://www.gpwa.org/forum/where-get...tml#post995233

Hey! I am new in SEO. Could you please guide me how to find broken links on popular websites?

There are a number of ways to discover broken links, having nothing to do with whether the site is popular or not.

What comes to mind as the 2 very popular choices are Screaming Frog and Xenu. The reports you can get from either of these will help you find broken links, missing images, pages that have issues with titles or image alt tags and many more things.

Main drawback with screaming frog is that it is limited to a total of 500 links on the free version, but if you like the software it is not hugely expensive.

Xenu is free without limitation, but it is a bit more old school in it's report layouts etc.

Both of these are very thorough and it just takes a bit if study when first learning how to use them to get the best advantage out of their use.

I am sure there are other things to use, some that may have additional functions.

Rick
Universal4

[baldidiot]

Ahrefs can do this as part of their standard data (ie: you don't need to specifically crawl a site to find them).

Outgoing Links > Broken Links

[PaulEchere]

I'd second "Screaming frog" and Ahrefs. probably if you can (and are willing to) pay more - Ahrefs would be a better option as it comes with a lot of cool useful tools. If you have a small website and / or want to pay less - Screaming frog would be a good option to go with.

[BettingTop5]

I'll personally go with ahrefs/Screaming frog

[Manish Radzha]

I use the paid versions of the Screaming Frog and Ahrefs tools. For me these are the most convenient tools. I use Screaming Frog in cases where I need basic analysis, and Ahrevs when I need a more detailed link report.

[Thai casino reviews]

screaming frog is the best for that kind of things in my opinion, ahrefs does a decent job as well

[idanbraun]

I recommend using deadlinkchecker.com. It's free and simple to use.

[erminrajic]

Recommend installing broken link checker in wordpress, it will show you all your broken links, keep track of all your links and let you easily fix the issue.

[universal4]

Problem with many wp broken link "checkers" is they follow your affiliate links regularly which will askew your stats. Try to look for those that allow limits by folder or url so you can reduce this from happening.

Rick
Universal4

[allfreechips]

I would always keep affilate links outgoing as mysite.com/play/casinoname or /casinoid ext and noindex that then redirect out fyi..

[universal4]

Good point and surely a good recommended practice.
Some of the link checkers will ignore that and follow them anyway. Not sure if any of the ones members have been listing do, so it never hurts to keep that in mind.

Rick
Universal4

[baldidiot]

Recommend installing broken link checker in wordpress, it will show you all your broken links, keep track of all your links and let you easily fix the issue.

Problem with many wp broken link "checkers" is they follow your affiliate links regularly which will askew your stats. Try to look for those that allow limits by folder or url so you can reduce this from happening.

The original question was about finding broken links on other sites, not your own.

[dannyx]

Don't create 100,000 that make no sense or coherence and are only for the search engine. Some people continually publish new content because they feel the pressures of the search engine. By publishing less but better and having fewer solid pages, this is easier to manage and the result is no broken links. It's easier to make a cohesive site with a network of internal links that tie the site together.

Of course, it all depends on the specifics of the site.

[carl2603GL]

I find this tool does a really good job https://www.brokenlinkcheck.com/ but I use the licensed version of Screaming frog .

[bon]

You can use screaming frog or netpicker to scan the site.

Besides finding broken links it will help you with seo optimization recommendations

[seofuel]

I will recommend "screaming frog"

It provide you very deep analysis on multiple factors..

[Chonpa]

Does anyone have any stats and ROI on this?

If you reach out to X website, how many of them are willing to source you?

[universal4]

Does anyone have any stats and ROI on this?

If you reach out to X website, how many of them are willing to source you?

The original topic is how to find "broken" links (on your own site) not reaching out to people to get links.

So reaching out to X website

(many site owners just consider this a form of spam).

Rick
Universal4

[valismaakasiino]

I have always used ahrefs for that. It is great to know other tools, especially the wordpress widget. thanks

[sycsl]

Solid tactic in theory, painful in practice.

Finding broken links is easy — Ahrefs, Screaming Frog. The real problem is outreach. Response rates are low and most webmasters simply don't care enough to update a dead link.

It works, but slowly. Best used as a secondary tactic, not your main linkbuilding strategy.