Your website may look great, but if it’s littered with broken links, it could silently be harming your search rankings. At first glance, a broken link might seem like a small issue—but search engines (and users) think otherwise.
As a trusted Fresno SEO company, we’re here to break down exactly how broken links impact your SEO—and what you can do to fix them before they affect your visibility and user trust.
🔗 What Are Broken Links?
Broken links are hyperlinks that no longer lead to their intended destination. When users click on these links, they’re often greeted with error messages like 404 Not Found, Page Doesn’t Exist, or Server Not Available.
These links can break due to:
Deleted pages
Changed URLs without proper redirects
Typos in URLs
External websites removing or moving their content
Now let’s look at why this matters for your site’s SEO.
🚨 1. Poor User Experience (UX)
User experience is a key ranking factor for Google. When users land on dead-end pages, it interrupts their journey and frustrates them. If this happens too often, they’ll bounce—and search engines take notice.
➡️ A Fresno SEO company like ours prioritizes clean, intuitive user journeys. Broken links disrupt this flow and can drive potential leads away from your site.
🧭 2. Increased Bounce Rates
Bounce rate is a measure of how quickly users leave your website after arriving. If they hit a broken link right away or can’t find the content they expected, they’ll bounce fast—and high bounce rates signal to Google that your site may not be useful.
Over time, this can lead to lower search rankings for key pages.
📉 3. Crawling and Indexing Issues
Search engines use bots to crawl and index your site. If these bots run into broken links, it may prevent them from accessing deeper content or understanding your site structure.
Inconsistent or incomplete crawling can result in:
Important pages not being indexed
Diluted authority from internal linking
Reduced trust in site quality
A professional Fresno SEO company will use tools like Screaming Frog or Google Search Console to regularly scan for and resolve these issues.
🔍 4. Lost Link Equity (AKA “Link Juice”)
When an external site links to your content, it passes on some SEO value—known as link equity or link juice. If that page later breaks or is deleted without a redirect, all that equity is lost.
Broken internal links can also stop SEO value from flowing between your pages, weakening your entire site’s architecture.
🧰 How to Fix Broken Links (And Stay Ahead)
Run Regular Link Audits – Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Google Search Console to detect broken links.
Set Up 301 Redirects – Redirect broken URLs to updated or relevant pages.
Update Internal Links – When URLs change, ensure all internal references are updated across your site.
Use a Content Management System (CMS) Plugin – Platforms like WordPress offer link checker plugins to help you monitor in real-time.
Hire a Local SEO Expert – Partner with a Fresno SEO company to continuously monitor and optimize your site health.
🚀 Final Thoughts
Broken links might seem like a minor technical flaw, but they can have a major impact on your site’s search visibility and user trust. A well-optimized, error-free website tells both users and search engines that your brand is reliable, trustworthy, and ready to deliver value.
If you want expert help maintaining your site’s SEO health and eliminating hidden errors like broken links, reach out to a Fresno SEO company that understands how to keep your site running smoothly.
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