Broken External Links

Explanation & Implementation Guide

Explanation

Broken external links are hyperlinks on your website that point to external resources but lead to pages that no longer exist or are inaccessible. These broken links can have a negative impact on both user experience and SEO.
From a user’s perspective, encountering a broken link can be frustrating, reducing trust and credibility in your website. For SEO, search engines view broken external links as an indication of poor site maintenance, which can result in lower rankings. Regularly identifying and fixing these broken links is essential for maintaining a smooth user experience and a strong SEO profile.

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Implementation Guide

1. Use Google Search Console

Log in to your Google Search Console account.
Select the property associated with your Shopify store.
Navigate to Coverage > Excluded to find pages with crawl errors.
Review the Crawl Errors report to identify broken external links.

Utilize Online Link Checkers

Use online tools like the W3C Link Checker or Dead Link Checker to identify broken external links.
Enter your website’s URL and let the tool scan for broken links.

Crawl Your Site with Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Download and install Screaming Frog SEO Spider.
Enter your website’s URL and initiate the crawl.
After completion, go to the Response Codes tab and filter for Client Error (4xx) to see pages with broken links.

Fixing the Issue

1. Update or Remove Broken Links

For each broken link, update it with the correct URL if available.
If the external resource is no longer relevant or accessible, consider removing the link.

Use Redirects if Applicable

If the external resource has moved, implement 301 redirects to point the broken link to the new, correct URL.

Regularly Monitor and Update

Periodically check for broken external links using the tools mentioned above.
Update your website’s content regularly to ensure all external links remain functional.

Re-crawl with Screaming Frog

After making fixes, re-crawl your website with Screaming Frog or another tool to confirm that the broken external links have been resolved.

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