Fixing Crawl Errors & Broken Links

Crawl errors and broken links harm both your SEO and user experience. If search engines can’t properly crawl your website, your pages may not be indexed — and broken links frustrate visitors, leading to lost trust and traffic.

What Are Crawl Errors?

Crawl errors occur when a search engine bot (like Googlebot) tries to reach a page on your site and fails. These errors are typically reported in tools like Google Search Console.

Common Crawl Errors:

  • 404 Not Found: Page doesn’t exist
  • 500 Server Error: Your server isn’t responding correctly
  • DNS Errors: Domain name can’t be resolved
  • Blocked by robots.txt: Crawlers are denied access
  • Soft 404s: Page looks like a 404 but returns a 200 status

What Are Broken Links?

Broken links are hyperlinks that lead to non-existent or unavailable pages. They can occur within your site (internal links) or point to other domains (external links).
Why They Matter for SEO

    🚫 Wasted Crawl Budget: Bots spend time on dead ends

    ❌ Poor User Experience: Visitors leave when they hit broken pages

    📉 Negative SEO Signals: Can reduce trust and authority

    🕷️ Indexing Issues: Key pages may not be crawled or indexed properly

How to Identify Crawl Errors & Broken Links

  • Google Search Console: Best tool for detecting crawl issues
  • Screaming Frog / Sitebulb / Ahrefs: SEO crawlers that scan for broken links
  • Online Link Checkers: Quick scans for small sites (e.g., BrokenLinkCheck.com)

How to Fix Them

For Crawl Errors:

  • 404 Errors: Redirect (301) to a relevant page, or restore the content
  • 500 Errors: Check server logs and fix hosting issues
  • Blocked Resources: Update robots.txt and allow necessary paths
  • Soft 404s: Improve content or redirect properly

For Broken Links:

  • Internal Links: Update or remove broken URLs
  • External Links: Replace or remove outdated references
  • Use 301 Redirects: Point old URLs to their new locations

Pro Tips

  • Set up custom 404 pages to keep users engaged
  • Regularly audit your site (monthly or quarterly)
  • Use Google Search Console alerts to stay informed
  • Don’t forget to fix broken images and file links too

A clean, crawlable website is foundational to good SEO. Regularly fixing crawl errors and broken links ensures search engines can index your pages efficiently and users have a smooth experience.