This translation has not been editorially reviewed yet. The German version is authoritative. Deutsche Fassung →
Indexing
Why must internal links not lead to error pages?
Because every internal link is a promise — to visitors and search engines alike. If it leads to an error page (status 4xx or 5xx), the visitor's path ends abruptly, and the search engine crawler spends its fetch budget on addresses with no content. Broken internal links rarely happen on purpose: a page gets deleted or renamed, and the links pointing to it stay in place. Our check follows your website's internal links and counts how many of them end in an error.
Two victims: visitors and crawl budget
For visitors, a dead internal link is a dead end right inside your own house — unlike external links, the operator set this one themselves and let it break themselves. For search engines, it's a waste: the crawler plans a fetch budget per domain. Every request that ends in an error is one a real page misses out on. If errors pile up, trust in the domain's link structure as a whole drops too — the search engine can no longer rely on the signposts.
What the check exactly measures
The check collects the internal links on the pages measured and requests the targets. Every address that responds with an error status gets counted; the report states the number and example addresses, so the fix can start right away. Server errors (5xx) weigh heavier than not-found pages (4xx): they point to a technical problem that can affect other pages too.
- Fix the example addresses named in the report first — they stand in for the pattern behind them.
- Set up the redirect in the same step when you delete or rename a page.
- After fixing it, search for remaining links to the old address and point them to the new target.
- Repeat the check after major redesigns — broken internal links almost always arise as a side effect.
FAQ
Are a few dead links really a problem?
Individual cases cost little. It's the pattern that matters: anyone who regularly deletes pages without updating links and redirects builds up a web of dead ends over time — and it's exactly this web that search engines assess as a quality signal.
What's the difference between a 404 and a 500 error?
Status 404 means "this address doesn't exist" — usually a maintenance issue. Status 500 means "the server failed while responding" — a technical fault that needs investigating, since it rarely affects just one address.
Does the check also count links to external websites?
This check point assesses your own website's internal routes — those you have full control over. Dead links to external pages are a maintenance matter for the editorial team, but not an indexing risk for your domain.