What is a Broken Link? Dead Link Definition & Impact

Definition

A broken link (also called a "dead link") is a hyperlink that no longer leads to its intended destination. Instead of loading the expected page, clicking a broken link results in an error. The term covers any link that fails to deliver the content the user or search engine expected to find.

Types of broken links

Broken links come in several forms, each caused by different underlying issues:

• 404 Not Found — the most common type. The server is reachable but the specific page does not exist.
• 500 Internal Server Error — the server encountered an unexpected error while processing the request.
• Timeout — the server did not respond within the expected time.
• DNS resolution failure — the domain name cannot be resolved to an IP address.
• Connection refused — the server actively rejected the connection.
• SSL/TLS errors — the secure connection could not be established due to an expired certificate, mismatched domain, or protocol issues.

Impact on SEO

Broken links affect search engine optimization in several ways:

• Wasted crawl budget — search engines spend time crawling URLs that return errors instead of indexing your real content.
• Lost link equity — both internal and external links that point to broken pages cannot pass ranking signals.
• Reduced indexation — pages that are only reachable through broken link paths may never be discovered by search engines.
• Trust signals — a site with many broken links may be perceived as poorly maintained, which can indirectly affect rankings.

Impact on user experience

When users encounter broken links, the consequences are immediate:

• Higher bounce rates — users who hit an error page are more likely to leave your site entirely.
• Lower conversions — if a broken link is in a conversion path (product pages, checkout, signup flows), you are directly losing revenue.
• Damaged credibility — broken links signal to visitors that a site is outdated or unreliable.

How to find broken links

The most efficient way to find broken links is to use a dedicated tool. Broken Link Scan crawls your entire website and reports every broken link it finds, along with the source pages where those links appear. You can scan up to 500 pages for free.

For ongoing protection, set up automated monitoring to catch new broken links as they appear — before your users or search engines find them.