What is a broken link (404)?

A broken link is a link whose target no longer exists. The server usually answers with 404 Not Found, or 410 Gone for a deliberate removal; both are 4xx client errors. Common causes are deleted or renamed pages, typos in URLs and internal links forgotten after a migration.

#Why it matters

Users who land on an error page lose trust and leave. Search engine bots waste time on dead requests. Broken internal links cut the paths, and the link value, leading to valuable pages. If a page with external backlinks is deleted, the value of those links is lost too.

#Where you see it in SEOAsist

Technical Audit checks the targets of the internal links it finds during a crawl. If a target returns 4xx, it reports Broken internal link (4xx) at Critical severity. The issue panel shows the page holding the link and the target's status as target → HTTP 404; Download URLs gives you the full list as CSV. Details: Technical Audit.

#Example

Page:   https://site.com/blog/boiler-guide
Detail: https://site.com/boiler-prices → HTTP 404

Fix in this order: update the link to the right address; if the page moved, 301-redirect the old address to the new one; if the content is gone for good, remove the link.

#Common mistakes

• Covering 404s with redirects only, without fixing the link on the page.
• Redirecting every 404 to the homepage; this can be treated as a soft 404.
• Showing a “not found” page that returns 200 for missing pages; the right status code is 404.
• Leaving the deleted page in the menu and the sitemap.