2024-01-15
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3 min read
When search engines encounter broken links on your website, they interpret this as a sign of poor site maintenance. This can have several negative consequences for your SEO performance:
Search engine crawlers have limited time and resources to spend on each website. When they encounter broken links, they waste valuable crawl budget on dead ends. This means fewer pages get crawled and indexed, reducing your site's overall visibility in search results.
Search engines like Google consider broken links as a negative quality signal. Sites with numerous broken links may experience ranking drops, especially for competitive keywords where quality signals matter most.
Broken links frustrate visitors and increase bounce rates. When users can't find what they're looking for, they leave your site quickly. High bounce rates signal to search engines that your content isn't meeting user needs.
Internal links help distribute page authority throughout your site. When these links break, you lose the SEO value they were passing between pages, potentially weakening your overall site authority.
Regular broken link audits are essential for maintaining SEO health. Use automated tools to scan your site monthly and address issues promptly. Consider implementing redirects for moved content and updating or removing links to deleted pages.
Need to check your website for broken links? Use our free tool to scan your site and find issues before they hurt your SEO.
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