Also referred to as inbound or incoming links, backlinks are links from a page on one website to another. Search engines use backlinks as a ranking signal and high-quality backlinks can aid to increase a site’s rank as well as its visibility in the SERPs. As backlinks serve as votes from other websites, they tell search engines that the content on a specific site is credible, useful, and valuable. However, not every backlink works. All backlinks aren’t created equally. If you want to drive organic traffic from the search engines, you must focus on quality backlinks and ditch the dead backlinks.
What are dead backlinks and how they affect your site?
Dead backlinks are broken inbound links from other sites to your website. As the page or site no longer exists, the dead backlinks return as a 404 error. Broken backlinks waste the link juice and they cause a decline in the authority of your site. Backlinking dead links may not seem like much on the surface, but deep down, a dead link can cause serious damage to your site’s reputation, your site’s user experience, and revenue.
Broken backlinks indirectly harm your SEO by destroying your conversion and increasing bounce rates. They might send signals to search engines that your website is old or outdated and hence they can cause your site’s visibility to sink.
How to find broken or dead backlinks?
To get rid of broken or dead backlinks you have to identify these links first. To check your website for broken links you can use the Google Search Console Method or the W3C Link Checker procedure. The former method enables users to review the dead links as well as errors that Google’s crawler discovers while the latter one scans websites for dead links on demand. The W3C Link Checker also provides the line in the HTML source file that contains the broken link.
Broken Link Tools
Technique #1: Google Search Console
- First, open Google Search Console and log into your account. If you don’t have an account, then you need to sign up.
- Enter or click on the site that you want to dig for broken links.
- Click Crawl on the Search Console page.
- After the crawling is complete, click on Crawl errors.
- You can find the broken links under URL errors.
Technique #2: W3C Link Checker
- Open the W3C Link Checker on your browser.
- Type the URL of the website that you want to scan
- Tap on the Summary Only option
- Click on the check linked documents recursively option
- Click check and the broken links will appear.
How to get rid of dead links?
There are five ways to fix a broken link:
- Correct the typo error, if there is any
- Make the missed or deleted page real again (if you can)
- Redirect the broken link to a new location replace or recreate the content in the broken URL
- Delete the broken link
The bottom line
With the provided necessary info, you can easily delete the broken links manually. Once you run your website through a reputed broken link checker tool, you will be all set on your way to foster better-optimized visibility on the SERPs. When your users will visit the site, they will find a cleaner and more optimal experience.
So make your site free of broken links or get in touch with the experts at SEO Out of the Box. Don't let dead links hamper your brand image and website quality. Talk to our experts today!
Source: https://seooutofthebox.com/how-dead-backlinks-can-drop-your-website-ranking/
