Why do broken links affect SEO?
A well-curated and visited website will augment the number of web pages over a period of time and it is natural. The website content, whether they are blog posts, product descriptions, etc. will continue to add on. Many times, content that was available a few years ago is overlooked and some of the links on these pages are shifted to a different page or are non-existent anymore. These are referred to as broken links.
An SEO associate’s daily task is to clean up these broken links. They might be minor in size, however in SEO every bit of optimization matters. This entails returning to a blog published a few years back just to replace the link. It may seem like an easy task but it can become arduous at times as they tend to pile up quickly. Through this blog, we at Innogenx – the best digital marketing company in Bangalore will help you understand the relation between SEO and broken links.
Broken links are nothing but hyperlinks on a website linked to another website that is inaccessible any further due to multiple reasons. The most usual reason is that the page that is linked to is not existent any further (error 404). Other explanations entail misspelling in the URL, or the website encountering server issues or the owner restricted access to the page. Broken links can be classified as outbound links or internal links.
It is a common scene when some SEO associates and website owners are inclined to get concerned when they find broken links on their website dreading that it could cause a negative impact on their rankings. Will a few broken links translate to a drop in ranking? Mostly not. The point is that broken links may hamper your SEO indirectly and are not as bad as you think they would.
Google comprehends that it is but natural for broken links to be found across the world wide web. Broken links indirectly affect SEO as it impacts the user experience which is considered to be a ranking factor. Broken links can be irksome which leads to a poor user experience. Once the broken links are fixed, one should not expect a traffic surge or ranking increase. However, it is quite important that the users have a seamless experience as they navigate around your website.
One more way that broken links impact SEO is link juice. Link juice describes and measures how much power a backlink passes onto another site and therefore fortifies it. The link juice flows into different pages in your portal and broken links mean the link flow is cut off and squandered. For links that are outbound, broken links might direct negative signals about your website’s authority to Google. These things won’t affect the website traffic or rankings but would be apt if optimized.
Fixing internal broken links entails the following:
- Update page content
- Redirect to a proper page
- Delete the link
- Check for typos
Fixing external broken links entails the following:
- Replace with an effective existing link
- Remove the link totally
The internet is not the perfect place where you get the answers that you seek. Dead links remind us of the same. If you are running a website, broken links are red flags that one must be alert about. Fixing internal links is relatively easier than fixing external links. In case you are struggling with broken links or don’t have the time to fix them, connect with us at Innogenx – the best SEO agency in Bangalore!
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