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How to find and fix broken links and broken backlinks for SEO
Executive overview
Broken links on your site and broken backlinks pointing to your site both cost you rankings. Internal broken links signal outdated resources to Google and frustrate users. Broken backlinks pass no link equity — every one is a lost vote.
Fixing broken links and broken backlinks is one of the highest-leverage, lowest-hanging SEO wins available.
What broken links and broken backlinks are
- Broken link: a page on your site links to another page that no longer exists
- Harms user experience and signals to Google that your content is outdated
- Broken backlink: an external site links to a page on your site that no longer exists
- Passes no link juice; Google ignores the vote entirely
Finding broken links (outgoing)
- In Ahrefs Site Explorer, go to Outgoing Links > Broken Links report
- The report shows every page on your site that contains at least one broken outgoing link
- Example: a 188-page blog had 81 pages with broken outgoing links
- For each broken link: delete it, update it to a live URL, or redirect the target
Finding broken backlinks (incoming)
- In Ahrefs Site Explorer, go to Inbound Links > Broken Backlinks report
- Shows all external links pointing to non-existent pages on your site
- Example: a major site had 13,000+ broken backlinks — none counted toward rankings
Fixing broken backlinks: two options
- Redirect the dead URL to a relevant live page (e.g. homepage or closest equivalent) using a 301 redirect
- Recreate the content at the original URL so the incoming link resolves correctly
- Use the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) to retrieve cached versions of deleted pages
- Copy the cached content and republish it at the same URL
Practical tips
- Both tasks are tedious at scale — outsource to a freelancer or virtual assistant
- Prioritise broken backlinks with the most referring domains or highest-authority sources
- Monitor broken backlinks regularly and fix them as they appear rather than letting them accumulate
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