You don’t want broken links on your web pages. A broken link is a link that does not work. The link may have worked when you created the page, but if the link is to an external page, you have no control over what happens to that link. If the owner of the web page decides to move the page or take it down completely, your link will be broken.
Not only are broken links frustrating for your visitors, but it’s not good for your search engine ranking either. It definitely helps to keep broken links off your site.
Checking for broken links can be a hassle. It’s time consuming and tedious to go through your site and check each link to make sure it’s working. Yesterday, someone posted a link to software that will do this for me. I downloaded the software and tried it out. It’s for Mac users only, but the author does have some recommendations for Windows users as well.
I really like the software so far. It didn’t cost anything but the author asked for donations and for a link back to her website. I am happy to oblige the link. Should I continue using the software and continue to be happy with how it works, a donation will be made.
You can read about and download the software here: Integrity website link checker
Let me know how it works for you!
UPDATE: I originally wrote this post in 2010. The Integrity website link checker is still there and should be a good option.
However, if you have a WordPress website, you can use the Broken Link Checker plugin.
You may want to deactivate the plugin after it finishes checking your site for broken links since it will slow your site down if it continually checks.
It would be a good idea to activate the plugin and check the site for broken links every month or so, depending on how many external links you have on your website.
If you are a Cullen Web Services customer and would like us to check your links for you, let us know. This is part of our WordPress Security package.
Let us know if you have any questions about broken links or how to get this service added to your website.