Site Check Up: Broken Links

Doctors recommend that you get a physical check-up at least once each year. Web developers – your site need at least an annual check-up as well! There are so many things that need to be checked on a regular basis – some webmasters will even conduct these tests on a monthly basis… It all depends upon the size of your site, the purpose of your online business and the potential your site has for running into problems that could end up costing you money.

Not all programs are created equal – what works on one site may not work on another – you mileage may vary… or any other saying you can think of – they all apply here. Use at least 2 different programs or scripts of each type to ensure that you’ve got all your i’s dotted and your t’s crossed.

Broken Links

Broken links have plagued many a webmaster over the years. Since linking to other sites, within our own sites and traffic trades are so essential, some sites may have hundreds, thousands – or more – links. It would be impossible – or at the very least quite time consuming – to check all of those links by hand on a regular basis. The programs available for link checking are most times NOT a free service, but a purchased downloadable script or program that is used on your computer. However, there are a few web-based solutions that we will list here.

If you run a link list or a TGP-type website, the program that you use to add links, approve links and list links should have a broken-link checker right in it. If you aren’t sure, ask another webmaster or contact the software maker directly.

The Programs:

Site Valet
http://valet.webthing.com/link/
Web-based link checker – gives results based upon “bad” link returns, re-directs, server errors and other common linking issues.

W3C Link Checker
http://validator.w3.org/checklink/
A link to this program can also be found above in the W3C site validator resource.

Juicy Studio’s Link Analyzer
http://juicystudio.com/services/linktest.php
Checks all links on page (can take awhile for larger sites) and gives list of results with warnings wherever necessary.

Extra Tips:

As was mentioned, any time you run a program or script that focuses on mass quantities of links – either through trades of TGP/MGP listings or link list sites – you should make sure that the program you are using as your site’s backbone also has a link checker in place. Having this utility easily at your fingertips to use while you check listings, add new links and remove offending listings can help you save time and money.