Broken Link Finder Find and fix broken links on any website. This tool crawls your pages, checks every link, and reports which ones are broken — helping you maintain SEO rankings and provide a better user experience. ## What does Broken Link Finder do? Broken Link Finder automatically scans your website to detect: - 404 errors — Pages that no longer exist - Server errors (5xx) — Links to pages with server problems - Timeout issues — Links that take too long to respond - Invalid anchors — Fragment links (#section) that don't exist on the page - External broken links — Dead links pointing to other websites ## Why check for broken links? Broken links hurt your website in multiple ways: 1. SEO Impact — Search engines penalize sites with broken links 2. User Experience — Visitors leave when they hit dead ends 3. Lost Revenue — Broken product or checkout links cost sales 4. Credibility — Broken links make your site look unmaintained ## Features - Deep crawling — Check links inside article pages, not just the homepage - Configurable depth — Control how deep the crawler goes (1-10 levels) - Fast parallel checking — Scan up to 50 pages simultaneously - External link checking — Verify links to other websites work - Smart content detection — Focuses on main content, skips navigation menus - Email notifications — Get reports sent directly to your inbox - Detailed reports — HTML and JSON reports with all findings ## How to use 1. Click Try for free to open the actor 2. Enter your Website URL (e.g., https://example.com/blog) 3. Set Crawl depth to control how deep to check (default: 3) 4. Set Max pages to limit the crawl size (default: 100) 5. Click Start and wait for results 6. Download the report or view online ## Input options | Field | Description | Default | |-------|-------------|---------| | Website URL | The starting URL to crawl | Required | | Max pages | Maximum pages to crawl | 100 | | Crawl depth | How many levels deep to check links | 3 | | Max concurrency | Pages to check in parallel | 10 | | Check external links | Also verify links to other sites | Yes | | Save only broken links | Only save broken links to dataset | Yes | | Crawl subdomains | Include subdomains in the crawl | No | | Notification emails | Email addresses for reports | None | ## Input example Check a blog for broken links, going 3 levels deep: json { "baseUrl": "https://example.com/blog", "maxPages": 500, "maxCrawlDepth": 3, "maxConcurrency": 10, "checkExternalLinks": true, "saveOnlyBrokenLinks": true } Check an entire e-commerce site including subdomains: json { "baseUrl": "https://shop.example.com", "maxPages": 2000, "maxCrawlDepth": 4, "crawlSubdomains": true, "notificationEmails": ["webmaster@example.com"] } ## Output Results are saved in two formats: ### Dataset (structured data) Each broken link is saved as a record: json { "sourceUrl": "https://example.com/blog/old-post", "sourceTitle": "My Old Blog Post", "targetUrl": "https://example.com/deleted-page", "linkText": "Click here", "linkType": "internal", "httpStatus": 404, "status": "Not Found", "isBroken": true, "severity": "high", "issueType": "404_not_found", "checkedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z" } ### Key-Value Store - OUTPUT — JSON summary with statistics and all broken links - OUTPUT.html — Visual HTML report for easy viewing ## Understanding the results | Status | HTTP Code | Severity | Meaning | |--------|-----------|----------|---------| | OK | 200 | None | Link works correctly | | Redirect | 301/302 | Low | Link redirects (usually fine) | | Not Found | 404 | High | Page doesn't exist | | Forbidden | 403 | Medium | Access denied | | Server Error | 500+ | High | Server problem | | Timeout | — | High | Page didn't respond | ## How crawl depth works The Crawl depth setting controls how deep the crawler goes: | Depth | What gets checked | |-------|-------------------| | 1 | Only links on the starting page | | 2 | Starting page + one level of linked pages | | 3 | Two levels deep (recommended for most sites) | | 4+ | Deeper crawling for large content sites | Example with depth 3: 1. Crawls category page /blog/tutorials 2. Finds 20 article links, crawls each article 3. Checks all links inside each article (images, downloads, related posts) ## Use cases ### Blog and content sites Find broken links in old articles that reference deleted pages or outdated external resources. ### E-commerce stores Detect broken product links, missing images, and dead checkout paths before customers do. ### Documentation sites Ensure all internal links between docs work and external API references are valid. ### Site migrations Verify all old URLs properly redirect after moving to a new domain or platform. ### Regular SEO audits Schedule weekly or monthly checks to catch broken links before search engines do. ## Cost estimation Costs depend on pages crawled and resources used: | Site Size | Pages | Estimated Cost | |-----------|-------|----------------| | Small | 100 | ~$0.10-0.25 | | Medium | 1,000 | ~$1.00-2.50 | | Large | 10,000 | ~$10.00-25.00 | ## Tips for best results 1. Start small — Test with 50-100 pages first to verify settings 2. Use appropriate depth — Depth 3 works for most sites 3. Lower concurrency — Reduce to 5 if you get rate-limited 4. Schedule regular checks — Use Apify schedules for weekly monitoring 5. Check external links — Many broken links point to other sites ## Integrations Export results to: - Google Sheets - Slack notifications - Email reports - Webhooks for custom integrations - Any tool via Apify API ## FAQ How long does a crawl take? A 100-page site typically completes in 2-5 minutes. Larger sites take proportionally longer. Will this slow down my website? The crawler includes rate limiting and respects server responses. Reduce concurrency if needed. Can I check competitor websites? Yes, but respect their terms of service and use reasonable crawl limits. What's the difference between internal and external links? Internal links point to pages on your site. External links point to other websites. How do I fix broken links? Update the link to the correct URL, set up a redirect, or remove the link entirely. ## Support - Apify Documentation - Community Forum - Contact Support