# Broken internal links

Source: https://www.fixreports.com/issues/broken-internal-links

An internal link that leads to an error page is a dead end for visitors and a wasted request for search engine crawlers.

## What it means
A broken internal link points to a page on your own site that returns an error, usually 404 Not Found, or that doesn’t respond.

They appear when pages are deleted or renamed, products are discontinued, or menus and footers keep links to old addresses.

## Why it matters
Google doesn’t use the content of URLs that return a 404 and drops them from its index; a 404 for a page that no longer exists is the normal response. The damage is to people: a visitor who follows a link from your own menu to an error page is likely to leave.

Crawlers find pages by following links. A broken link is a request that leads nowhere, and if a moved page isn’t redirected, links to it stop passing anything to the new address.

## How to find it yourself
- Search Console’s Pages report lists URLs Google found that return 404.
- A site crawler, or the SEO checker for your key pages, follows internal links and reports the failures.

## How to fix it on any website
1. Update each broken link to the page’s current address.
2. If a page moved, add a 301 redirect from the old address to the new one.
3. If the page is gone with no replacement, remove the link; a 404 for a page that no longer exists is the correct response.

## On Shopify
1. Create redirects from the online store’s Navigation page (View URL redirects), and update menus that point to deleted products or pages.

## On WordPress and WooCommerce
1. Update links in menus and content, and use a redirection plugin or your host’s redirect tool for moved pages.

## How to check the fix
- Run the SEO checker again and confirm no internal link fails.

## How FixReports finds it
The SEO checker requests a sample of the internal links on the key pages it tests and lists those that return an error or don’t respond.

## Frequently asked questions

### Should I redirect every 404 to the home page?

No. Redirect only to a genuinely equivalent page. Sending every missing address to the home page confuses visitors who were looking for something specific.

## Sources
- Google Search Central: How HTTP status codes affect Google Search: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/http-network-errors
- Google Search Central: Redirects and Google Search: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/301-redirects
- Shopify Help Center: Creating and managing URL redirects: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/menus-and-links/url-redirect
- Google Search Central: Make your links crawlable: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/links-crawlable