In the online world, links are like bridges that take us to different web pages. But sometimes, these bridges can break, leading to frustration. If you've ever clicked on a link that led you nowhere or to an error page, then you've encountered a broken link! In this article, we'll answer some common questions about broken links by exploring topics such as why your site has them and how to fix them through our app. Whether you're someone who loves surfing the web, someone who manages a website or even if you're a website owner aiming to provide a seamless browsing experience, this article will help you understand more about these pesky digital roadblocks and how to deal with them effectively with the use of our app.
✨ Broken Links feature is available on the Pro and Premium plans
Why does my site have broken links?
When you come across URLs listed as "Broken Links" within our app, it is important to note that they don't necessarily come from a broken link on your site. Instead, it indicates that someone attempted to access that specific URL within your site. However, if there's no page matching that URL, our app steps in by creating a redirect for that non-existent page to ensure a smooth user experience.
Broken links can stem from various sources, not just within your site. Sometimes, the URLs displayed in our app's Broken Links section may not match any pages that have ever existed on your website. This typically occurs when the broken links come from an entirely different websites.
Other times, broken links could be from products or pages that are no longer available on your site. This often happens when you remove a page or product, then customers still tries to access the outdated (now non-existent) page through old bookmarks or advertisements with the old link.
Another possibility is that the broken links are actually on your site. Either within your content, such as product descriptions, or due to potential bugs in your site's theme. The signs that broken links may be within your site include the sudden appearance of numerous new broken links in a short period of time or if a specific broken link receives a consistently high number of visits (as indicated in the "Visits" column on the Broken Links page). In these cases, we recommend checking any links in your site's content, and getting in touch with your theme developer to find out whether there are broken links in your theme code.
Regardless of the cause behind a broken link, your website's SEO remains unharmed, as long as the non-existent page has a redirect to an existing page on your site—and our app takes care of that automatically. 👍
How can I fix broken links?
An effective and quick way to benefit from the app is by activating AutoPilot for managing Broken Links.
By default, broken links are automatically directed to your homepage. However, if you need to adjust a redirection to lead to a different address, follow the path "Actions ⇨ Edit":
But if you're looking to customize the automatic redirection to something else beyond your homepage, you can fine-tune the settings in the Broken Links section on the AutoPilot page:
In most cases, our app automatically redirects broken links. However, there are times when it requires your input, showing a Needs Fix warning. In such cases, you'll need to provide the handle of the page where the visitors should be redirected to (the handle is the part of the URL after your site's address. For instance, in "www.shopify.com/admin/settings", the handle is "/admin/settings".). Once you've entered the handle of the page that visitors should see, simply hit Save.
How come URL Optimization created 404 pages or broken links?
URL Optimization is a helpful feature that improves the web address structure of a page on your website, so search engines can understand it better. This feature changes the web address (URL) of a product based on its product name. However, due to this change, customers who had saved the old URL may find that it no longer works when they try to access it, and they would be led to a page with the 404 error or broken link error.
If you see a URL listed as a broken link in the app, it doesn't always mean there's a broken link on your website. It just means someone tried to visit that web address on your site, but the page for that address doesn't exist anymore because of the changes made during the optimization process.
Old web addresses (URLs) often end up on different websites, especially if they were used as backlinks. This can also result in those web addresses leading to pages that say "404," which means the page can't be found, if you've changed the URL.
No matter the reason why a link is broken, no harm will be done to your website's search engine ranking (SEO) as long as there's a way for visitors to get to a page that does exist. Our app handles this automatically through the Broken Links redirect feature.
Lastly, our app also offers the "Delete All" button, allowing you to remove all the URL redirects made by the app whenever you want. This feature provides you with flexibility and control over your URL changes.
Why am I seeing broken links for pages that never existed on my site?
It's quite likely that another website is linking to pages on your site that aren't actually there. It's possible that they meant to link to a different site with a name similar to yours, where those pages are indeed present. However, due to a typographical error, they ended up linking to your site instead.
No matter the case, the important thing to remember is that if you see a URL in the "Broken Links" section of the app, it doesn't necessarily mean there's a broken link on your site.It simply means that someone tried to visit that particular URL on your site, but unfortunately, there's no corresponding page available. To address this, our app has set up a redirect for the missing page.
It is unfortunately impossible to trace the origin of a broken link, since there's no way to know where each visitor to your site is coming from. However, there's no need to worry about your SEO, as long as the non-existent page is redirected to an existing page on your site. Our app handles this process automatically to ensure that everything runs smoothly. 👍