Broken Links, What is the big deal?
Your organization’s digital platform has broken links. Another element for someone to check on, but what is the big deal? Does anyone click on your links, or review previous pages or posts? The short answer is yes, links are critical to your organization’s digital platform. Search engine platforms, such as Google, do not like a digital platform with broken links. We will discuss the effects in a few minutes.
Causes
What are the causes of broken links? There can be many, but we will take a like at some of the most common causes. Most of these issues can be fixed, but they might involve some sweat equity.
*Recent move – your organization has decided to move to a new and better (hopefully) web hosting platform. The new hosting platform does not add all your links to your new site. This might appear to be unheard of by many, but moving hosting is not as easy as paying for new hosting and cloning your organization’s digital platform. Your organization is going to need to make sure that none of your organization’s links are broken.
*3rd Party Links – your organization’s digital platform has a blog post, and your organization links another party. If the other party link no longer exists, then your digital organization will need to unlink the post. Or make reference to the 3rd party organization without a link.
*Domain name change – your organization is looking for a dot.com name, and maybe your organization can not secure it initially. Now your organization has secured it, but all your links are to your old surname. This is going to cause some broken links, and your organization will need to fix it.
*Your Web Host – your organization’s digital platform’s web host has some unusual firewall settings. And, the hosting company does not allow linking. Your organization will need to have a conversation or look for another web hosting company.
Effects
What are the effects of broken links? The effects could include loss of traffic and revenue and bad user experience. These could be highly impactful reasons to make sure your organization does not have any broken links.
*Bad user experience – Yes, some visitors do check links. We check them all the time, and the number of websites with broken links is incredible. This does take away from the user’s experience. Generally, this could be the difference between a return visitor and a non-returning visitor.
*Lost Traffic and Revenue – We have mentioned that broken links are a concern for most search engine optimization. Links can be the reason for poor ranking or the improvement of ranking for a competitor. Loss of traffic can have a tremendous effect on your organization’s digital platform strategy. If your organization has an e-commerce section, then the loss of traffic could play a role in sales.
*SEO Profile – Search Engine Optimization is looking for the best user experience for its customers. If someone is coming to your organization’s digital platform and receiving 404 errors (bad link), then the user experience is going to be not good. This will play a major role in your digital strategy.
Fixes
While fixing broken links does require some sweat equity, the fact that your organization (or you) is reviewing this article showcases your understanding of the importance of this issue.
*Broken link checker – your organization could use a broken link checker, such as WC3 Broken link checker, or Google WebMaster Toolshttps://search.google.com/. There are many others, which can assist your organization.
*Search Engine Plugin – Some SEO plugins include broken link checkers, including but not limited to SEO Press and Rank Math.
Conclusion
If your organization is looking for some assistance with Marketing, then we are available and can be reached at info@jdswebdesign.biz or 678-718-5489. Image courtesy of John Schnobrich.
JDS WebDesign is a Web Design and Brand Marketing Agency located in Marietta, Georgia. We create AWESOME on line presence for Start-ups and Influential People/Organizations. To learn more about us or how we can help you and your organization, you can contact us or schedule a meeting.
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