Not by itself in any dramatic way. A broken link makes the page less useful and can make it look neglected, and a dead link to a domain that has lapsed can later be taken over. Link Signals treats it as the least dangerous kind of finding, and it does not predict what broken links do to search rankings.
What counts as broken
A link is broken when the destination answers with 404 (not found) or 410 (gone). Both mean the page is not there: 404 says it cannot be found, 410 says it was removed on purpose. Both are reported as broken, and the fix is the same.
Before a link is called broken it is asked again. Many sites give an unknown crawler an error that a normal browser would not get, so a failed request is retried once with a browser-style user agent. Only a 404 or 410 that survives the second try is reported.
| What happened | How it is reported | A broken link? |
|---|---|---|
| 404 or 410 | Broken | Yes |
| The domain does not resolve, refuses the connection or times out | Unreachable | Not necessarily. It may be temporary |
| A 5xx server error | Server error | Not necessarily. The site may be having a bad day |
| 401, 403, 429, a bot check, or too many redirects | Couldn’t check | No. The site is there but would not let the crawler read it |
Why they cost so little
Broken links are the fourth of five priorities, and the broken links row in your LinkSignal takes off half a point each, up to a limit. A takeover or a hack costs far more because it puts visitors in someone else’s hands. LinkSignal is Link Signals’ own metric, based only on this tool’s findings and not connected to any search engine or third-party score. See broken links in LinkSignal.
A broken link moves up if its domain has also lapsed. A link whose domain is not registered or is parked is counted in that higher priority instead, once.
What to do about one
- Check it in a browserA site that returns 404 to automated requests and a normal page to people is not broken for visitors. If it loads for you, mark the finding reviewed.
- Look for the new addressTry the destination’s home page or search, or an archived copy of the old site. Sites often restructure and the same article lives on elsewhere.
- Replace or removePoint to an equivalent source, or delete the link and keep the sentence. Pointing everything at a home page is rarely better.
- Fix your own pagesIf the broken link points at one of your own deleted pages, restore it or redirect it to the closest current page.
A link is not worth removing just because it is old. Remove it because of what the report found about the destination. Use re-check to confirm the fix without a full scan.
Where to read more
Link Signals reports what is broken on your site. It does not say how a search engine treats broken links, and it does not speak for one.
- Broken links: what the report lists, and how to fix and confirm each one.
- What do the verdicts mean: why unreachable and blocked links are not counted as broken.
- Do outbound links hurt my search rankings: what Link Signals can and cannot say about rankings.
Questions
Is an unreachable link a broken link?
Not necessarily. A site that was down for an hour during the scan is not a page that has been removed. A link that stays unreachable across several scans is probably gone for good.
Should I redirect my own deleted pages?
Yes, if other pages still link to them. Restore the page or add a redirect from the old address to the closest current one, and the link stops being a dead end.
Why does one broken link appear on many pages?
It is often repeated in a footer or template. Fix it at the source.
Paste your sitemap and see every outbound link that no longer leads anywhere.
