Broken Link Checker

A broken link is one whose destination can't be reached successfully, most often because the page has been removed, moved without a redirect, or the destination server can't be reached at all. Not every non-200 response is broken in the same sense, a redirect points somewhere new on purpose, and an access restriction means the resource may still exist but isn't reachable by an automated checker.

A 404 means the server was successfully reached, but has no page at the requested address. It's the most common and clearest form of a genuinely broken link, and this checker reports it as Broken.

Not necessarily. A 403 means the server refused the request, often because it requires authentication, expects a specific referrer, or deliberately blocks automated tools like this checker. The resource may work perfectly for a real visitor in a browser, this checker labels it Restricted rather than Broken to reflect that real difference.

An internal broken link points back to the same site and is usually within your control to fix directly. An external broken link points to a different site, whose content or availability you don't control, so the right fix is often to update the link to a current source or remove it rather than expect the original to come back.

A broken link goes nowhere useful. A redirect deliberately sends a visitor from one URL to another, and when set up correctly it preserves the experience of following the original link. The two are reported as separate categories here because they call for different action, a broken link usually needs a direct fix, while a redirect is often working exactly as intended.

Inspect a specific URL's status code and redirect chain in detail with our HTTP Status Checker. Check a page's title, description, and social tags with our Meta Tag Checker, preview how it could look in search with the SERP Snippet Preview. For a combined view of a page's links alongside headings, content, and metadata, try the On-Page SEO Checker, or run a full Buzzing Bee website & SEO audit. Explore the rest of our free marketing tools, or see our SEO & organic growth services.