QA finding
A link leads to a page that is gone, unreachable or not what it claims
QA Error Severity: Medium
Part of the audit Broken links. Finding id: qa.brokenLinks.
What it costs you
A visitor who follows the link reaches an error or the wrong place and has to search again or leave. Search engines stop passing value through a dead link.
What to do
Point the link at the page that replaced the target, or remove it. If all the links share one template_id, change the template once.
What it checks
- Link target not found or removed
- Link target is a disguised error page
- Link target website does not exist
- Link target does not answer in time
- Link works only for some request types
- Link target has a security certificate error
- Link target blocks our check
- Link to a missing spot on the page
How to fix it
Open the link by hand first
- Open [group key] in a browser, on another network if you can.
- If the page loads, dismiss the finding for this target. The checker was blocked or the fault has passed.
- If it fails there too, treat the link as broken: link to a replacement or remove it.
How to check: The target loads in a browser, or the link is gone from the linking pages.
Add the anchor or drop the fragment
- Open the target page and find the section the link is meant for.
- If the page is yours, give that section the id named after # in the link.
- If it is not, or the section is gone, remove the part after # from the link.
How to check: Follow the link in a browser: it jumps to the section, or opens the page at the top on purpose.
Fix the certificate or link elsewhere
- Open [group key] in a browser and read the certificate warning: expired, wrong name or unknown issuer.
- If the host is yours, renew the certificate or install one that covers this host name, with the full chain.
- If it is not yours, tell the owner. Until it is fixed, link to another source or remove the link.
How to check: The target opens in a browser without a warning.
Repair or remove the link
- Open [group key] in a browser to confirm what a visitor sees.
- If the content moved, link to its new address. If it is one of your own pages, also add a redirect from the old address.
- If the content is gone, remove the link or link to the closest replacement.
- If the evidence shows one template_id for all pages, the link sits in a shared header, footer or menu: change it there.
How to check: Recheck the linking page: the target no longer appears in this finding.
A real case
Researchers at Harvard Law School found that 50% of the URLs in US Supreme Court opinions, and more than 70% of those in the Harvard Law Review and other journals, no longer led to the information originally cited.