A link is considered “broken” when its destination URL leads to a page that no longer exists. When a visitor clicks on a broken link, they will typically encounter a 404 error code, signaling that the target page is missing.
Several factors can lead to broken links appearing on your website. A frequent cause is simple human error during the process of adding internal links. If a link is found to be broken, the immediate first step should be to confirm that the link is pointing to the correct URL address.
If the URL is accurately typed, the page being linked to might have been relocated or completely removed. Should the page fail to load due to a transient server or technical malfunction, you would likely receive a 500 error code. In that scenario, the recommended course of action is to wait to see if the page becomes available again shortly.
When dealing with pages that are permanently missing, it is advisable to either remove the links or update them to direct traffic to a functioning website. Broken links can negatively affect the User Experience (UX) and may lead visitors to conclude that your source materials are outdated or unreliable.