How the broken link checker works
It starts on the page you enter and reads it like a browser, collecting every link and image. Links to other pages of the same site are followed, up to 50 pages. Then every unique target is checked once, internal and external, and the report groups them by what happened.
Each link is first checked with a light HEAD request. Many servers answer those badly, so anything odd is checked again with a normal request before it is called broken. Sites that refuse automated visitors, like LinkedIn, Amazon and many shops, are listed as “could not verify” instead of broken, so you do not chase false alarms.
| Result | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Broken | 404, 410, a server error or a domain that no longer exists. | Fix the link, link to a replacement or remove it. |
| Redirected | The link works but goes through one or more redirects. | Update it to the final URL, especially for internal links. |
| Could not verify | The other site refused the check (401, 403, 429, 999) or timed out. | Open it yourself before changing anything. |
| Working | Answers 200 OK directly. | Nothing. |
Why broken links matter
A broken link sends a visitor to an error page, and most of them leave. For search engines, links are how they find and value pages: links that end in a 404 waste the crawl and pass nothing on. Old posts collect broken links over time as other sites move or close, so a site that was clean a year ago rarely still is.
Fixing broken links in WordPress
- Inside posts and pages: open the page listed in “Found on”, search for the anchor text and update or remove the link.
- Many posts at once: a search and replace plugin can swap an old URL for a new one across the whole database. Back up first.
- Pages you moved or deleted: add a 301 redirect from the old address to the closest page, so old links elsewhere keep working. The redirect checker confirms it works.
- Menus and widgets: broken links that appear on every page usually live in the menu, the footer or a widget. Fix them once in Appearance.
Checking a site you do not own? The theme detector and plugin detector show what it is built with.