A broken link – also called a “dead link” – is a hyperlink that does not work. When you click on a broken link, it does not take you to the desired page.
Hyperlinks often appear as russia phone number example underlined or highlighted text or images.
For example, a hyperlink on the Semrush blog looks like this:
A hyperlink on a Semrush blog with "alt text" as anchor text
But why do links break?
and how to fix them.
Why do links break?
The landing page is removed or moved
One of the most common reasons a link breaks is because the target page is removed or moved to a new URL without updating the link.
Deleted pages take the user to a 404 Not Found error page .
For example, let's say eBay creates a temporary sales page and links to it throughout its site.
After the sale, they delete the page but forget to remove the links.
Customers clicking the old link to this page will now receive a 404 error and land on a page similar to this:
Custom eBay 404 Not Found Error Page
The 404 error page shows users that the site was unable to find the requested page, potentially leaving users frustrated and confused.