69. What are broken links?
Broken links are clickable links which direct the visitors to a page that no longer exist. Hence, these links don't work.
They are also called dead links or link rots. A change in the URL of a webpage, removed website or webpage or relocation of a webpage can lead to broken links where the visitor lands to a page that doesn't exist. For example, a click on a broken link means the user may land to a page that reads “404 page error” or “ Oops,page cannot be found”.
Too many broken links negatively impact the quality of web pages. They are irrelevant links loitering about a page thus adding to the irrelevance of the page. Search engines see the links as sources of content a user is searching for. If these links lead nowhere and come to a dead end, the quality of the website storing the broken link comes down.
Links to your website and links within your website influence the ranking on SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Therefore, one must either remove or update broken links. Clearing your webpages of broken links will enhance the user experience, make the content more relevant to the search query and facilitate user search journey.
A good SEO practice involves regularly cleaning the webpages of broken links since websites and links aren’t active forever. You can check your website broken links using various online tools.
