Methodology: This check follows wSEO methodology 1.0. How the assessment works

Source, target, chain, and context

How to Audit Broken Links

A useful audit records more than 404s: it preserves link location, final response, error class, replacement relevance, and repeatability.

Audit chain from source page through a link to the final HTTP response
One target may be linked from hundreds of source URLs through a shared template.

Audit steps

  1. Collect crawlable a[href] from server/rendered HTML and normalize absolute targets without dropping query/fragment.
  2. Record source, anchor/element, target, every redirect hop, final status, and response type.
  3. Confirm with GET; repeat external 401/403/429/5xx/timeouts later and in a normal browser.
  4. Detect soft 404: 200 with absence messaging, empty main content, or an irrelevant redirect.
  5. Group by target and source template; prioritize navigation, calls to action, high traffic, and systemic errors.
  6. After repair, repeat the identical crawl and user journeys.

Classification

SituationLevelDecision
Intentional 404/410 with no internal linksNo issueDo not mask it
One external timeout/403 without reproductionVerifyRepeat with browser/GET
Editorial 404 or internal redirect chainHighUpdate the source
Menu/CTA/template widely targets 4xx/5xx or soft 404CriticalRepair the shared source

Evidence to save

  • Date/user-agent, crawl scope, and exclusions.
  • Source URL, anchor/element/DOM location, and raw target.
  • GET status, chain, final URL, MIME, and error evidence.
  • Internal/external, template frequency, traffic/business priority.
  • Decision, changed source, owner, and repeat status.

Robots blocking, login, geo/WAF, consent, rate limits, and HEAD policy cause false positives. A Search Console 404 without an internal link is not itself a broken site link. A fragment requires target-DOM validation, not status 200 alone.

Next step

Repair confirmed cases using the guide or use the service with recrawling.