Link Checker

The Link Checker crawls a single page, extracts every hyperlink it finds, and tests each one to report which links are working and which are broken. It checks the HTTP status returned by each target, flagging 4xx errors like 404 Not Found, 5xx server errors, and often redirects, so you can see exactly which references on the page lead nowhere. The result is a categorized list of links with their status, making it easy to spot dead ends that frustrate users and waste search engine crawl budget.

The tool parses anchor tags from the page's markup, resolves relative URLs to absolute ones, and then issues requests to each destination to read its response status. It typically distinguishes internal links (same domain) from external links (other domains), which helps you prioritize fixes, since broken internal links are fully within your control. Because it inspects the actual server responses, it catches problems that a visual scan of the page would miss.

Common use cases include auditing a blog post or documentation page before publishing, finding link rot in older content where external sites have moved or shut down, and validating navigation and footer links after a redesign. SEO and content teams run it periodically because broken links degrade user experience and can dilute the link equity that flows through a site. It pairs naturally with the Sitemap Checker for a fuller crawl-health picture.

A practical tip: fix or remove broken internal links first since they directly affect your own crawlability, then update or remove dead external links to keep content trustworthy. Watch for links that resolve through chains of redirects, because each hop adds latency and can leak ranking signals. For links flagged as broken, confirm with a manual visit, as some servers block automated requests or rate-limit them and return misleading status codes.