404 Errors and Why you should Check your website links regularly!
You should check your internal and external links on your website because broken links are not only annoying for visitors, but also Google can mark you down in Search Results.
You know how irritating it is when you visit a website, click on a link, and either nothing happens, or you end up with the dreaded “404 error page” (Page Not Found). It is not only annoying, but it can also cost you dearly.
What is 404 error page?
404 error page is shown when your server cannot find the URL (link) that is being requested. Usually it displays a standard Apache Server message, or if your web designer is smart enough, a customised page to ask visitors to try something else, or report it to the website administrator.
How could this happen?
Internal links can produce an 404 error because:
- Simple spelling mistake, or typo, can make a URL invalid.
- URLs on some websites can be case sensitive, so even getting the case wrong could cause a 404 error.
- Internal URL could have been changed, but no 301 redirect set to send the visitor to the new page.
However, for external links you have additional risks:
- Just like internal links, the URL could have been changed by the website owner, without setting a 301 redirect to the new page.
- The page could have been removed, without a 301 redirect instructions for the server.
- The Domain could have expired and not renewed.
- Website could have been sold and content may have been changed.
So risks of getting errors for external links are higher, as you have no control over the target website, which means anything could have happened through the passage of time.
Why Visitors Hate it?
We will be surprised if this needed explaining, but for the sake of completeness, we included this!
It is annoying because if a visitor clicks on a link, they clearly want to see the information. If they can’t find it, they will go somewhere else. Very few visitors bother reporting this to the website owners, as they do not see this as their task (rightly so). Some may report it, if the information they want is vital and you are the only website that can offer them the information.
Why does Google Hate it?
Google is all about customer experience, and when you mess with your visitors, you will pay a price! That price is downgrading your site on Google search results. By the way, it is not just Google, as all search engines detect and penalise you for invalid links.
How to avoid 404 Errors?
You can imagine this is not easy, specially if you have a large website with lots of internal and external links. In fact finding broken links could be a bit of a nightmare!
Don’t panic, as there are tools to help you discover invalid links, but it depends on what you have used to set up your website. Here are some suggestions:
WordPress
This is the most popular CMS (Content Management System) on the market, and up to 25% of the websites globally use WordPress. If you have WordPress there are plug-ins you can deploy that can discover and warn you about your broken links.
For examples “Broken Link Checker” plug-in finds broken links, and gives you options that can help you fix the problem, including editing the link, or removing the link, without having to edit the page. This is done directly from the plug-in reporting tab.
For external links, you have add their “External Link” plug-in, which works pretty much the same. A word of warning. External links can give “false positive” more often than internal links. Some links can take too long to load, which triggers a false alarm. So before you go on the hunt to change the URL, make sure this is not the cause.
Dynamic (PHP) or Static Websites
There are websites that allow you to enter your domain and they will scan your website for broken links. These include websites such as brokenlinkcheck.com, deadlinkchecker.com, drlinkchecker.com, etc.
Clearly they cannot fix your links, but at least you find out what links are failing, and on which pages, so that you can fix them manually.
Browser Add-ons
Both Chrome and Firefox offer Add-ons/Extensions, which you can install on your browser. These extensions will check the site or the page you are visiting, and inform you of any broken links. However, you still have to edit the code on your website, so you need to have admin access and the know-how, so that you can fix the links.
Google Search Console
This is the least effective tool, which is not something you can say about Google very often. You need to Register your website on Google Search Console. Then you will get warnings of errors in your indexed pages included in your sitemap.xml file, that generate 404 errors. However, this is not a comprehensive and foolproof method. It only reports on links within your Sitemap file, which means internal links that are returning 404. So whilst useful, it is not a complete solution in itself, as it cannot detect links from within pages or posts, or links to external websites.
Summary
Broken links can cost you business, both from frustrated visitors, as well as downgrading of your site on Google Search Results Page.
You need to pay attention to this and make sure you review and check your links regularly. Contact us if you want to discuss our Managed Hosting Options.