There is nothing more frustrating for a potential customer than clicking a link on your website and landing on a '404 - Page Not Found' error. Not only does it make your business look a bit unprofessional, but it also sends a signal to Google that your site might be neglected, which can hurt your rankings in the local Brisbane search results.
In this guide, we’re going to walk through the process of auditing your site for these 'dead ends' and fixing them once and for all. It’s a bit like spring cleaning—it’s not the most glamorous job, but your website will run much smoother once it’s done.
Why Broken Links Matter for Australian Small Businesses
When a link breaks, it stops the 'flow' of authority through your site. If you’ve worked hard on your SEO or spent money on Google Ads, you don't want that traffic hitting a brick wall. Plus, Google’s 'crawlers' have a limited amount of time to spend on your site (known as crawl budget). If they keep hitting dead ends, they might stop indexing your new content as quickly.
---
Prerequisites: What You’ll Need
Before we dive in, make sure you have the following ready:
- Access to your website's backend: (e.g., WordPress, Squarespace, or Shopify login details).
- Google Search Console access: This is a free tool from Google that every Aussie business owner should have set up.
- A Broken Link Checker tool: We’ll use a mix of free tools (like Screaming Frog or online scanners) in this guide.
- A spreadsheet: Google Sheets or Excel to keep track of what needs fixing.
---
Step 1: Identify Your Broken Links Using Google Search Console
Google Search Console (GSC) is the most reliable place to start because it tells you exactly what Google is seeing.
- Log in to Google Search Console.
- On the left-hand menu, click on Indexing > Pages.
- Scroll down to the section titled 'Why pages aren’t being indexed'.
- Look for the row that says 'Not found (404)'.
- Click on that row to see a specific list of URLs that Google tried to visit but couldn't find.
Pro Tip from experience: Don't panic if you see dozens of errors here. Some might be old pages from a previous version of your website that haven't existed for years. We only need to worry about the ones that are still being linked to.
Step 2: Use a 'Crawler' for a Real-Time Audit
Search Console can sometimes be a few days behind. To see what's happening right now, I recommend using a tool like Screaming Frog SEO Spider (free for up to 500 URLs) or an online tool like BrokenLinkCheck.com.
- Open your chosen tool and enter your website URL (e.g.,
https://www.yourbusiness.com.au). - Hit 'Start' or 'Scan'.
- Screenshot Description: You’ll see a table start to fill up with every page on your site. Look for a column titled 'Status Code'. You are looking for anything that says 404 (Not Found) or 999 (sometimes used for blocked requests).
- Once the scan finishes, filter the results by '404'.
Step 3: Find Where the Broken Link is Located
Finding the broken link is only half the battle; you need to know where on your site you've actually put that link so you can remove or change it.
- In Screaming Frog: Click on the broken URL in the top window, then click the 'Inlinks' tab at the bottom. This will show you exactly which page on your site contains the dead link.
- In WordPress: If you use a plugin like 'Broken Link Checker', it will tell you the specific post or page name next to the error.
Step 4: Categorise Your Fixes
Not all broken links are created equal. Grab your spreadsheet and categorise them into these three buckets:
- Internal Links: A link from one page on your site to another page on your site. (These are easy to fix!)
- External Links: A link from your site to someone else’s website (e.g., a link to the Brisbane City Council website that no longer works).
- Backlinks: Someone else is linking to your site, but they’ve made a typo in the URL or you’ve deleted the page they are linking to.
Step 5: Fixing Internal Broken Links
This is the most common issue. Usually, it happens because you changed a page's 'slug' (the part of the URL after the .com.au/) and forgot to update the links pointing to it.
- Log into your website CMS (e.g., WordPress).
- Navigate to the page identified in Step 3.
- Find the broken link in the text.
- The Fix: Either update the link to the new, correct URL or remove the link entirely if the content no longer exists.
- Hit Update or Save.
Step 6: Fixing External Broken Links
If you linked to a resource or a partner and their website has changed, you have two choices:
- Find the new location: Search for the resource on their site and update your link.
- Find a replacement: Link to a different, high-quality Australian source.
- Remove it: If the information isn't vital, just unlink the text.
Common Mistake: Don't just leave broken external links. Even though you don't 'own' the other site, having dead links to external sources still makes your page look outdated to search engines.
Step 7: Fixing Inbound Backlinks (The 301 Redirect)
This is where most people get stuck, and honestly, the interface doesn't help. If another website is linking to you but the page is gone, you can't 'fix' their website. Instead, you need to tell your website to 'redirect' anyone who clicks that link to a new page.
- Identify the 'dead' URL on your site that people are trying to visit.
- Choose a 'destination' URL (the most relevant active page on your site).
- In WordPress: Use a free plugin like Redirection. Click 'Add New', enter the 'Source URL' (the broken one) and the 'Target URL' (the new one).
- Select '301 Redirect': This tells Google the move is permanent.
Step 8: Customise Your 404 Page
Even with the best audit, someone will eventually mistype a URL and hit a 404 error. Instead of a boring 'Server Error' message, make it helpful!
- Add a search bar.
- Include links to your most popular services (e.g., 'Check out our Brisbane SEO services' or 'Visit our Blog').
- Add a bit of personality! A 'Whoops, looks like we took a wrong turn at the Story Bridge' message goes a long way in keeping a user engaged rather than having them click the 'back' button.
---
Troubleshooting Common Issues
"I fixed the link but it still shows as broken in the tool!" This is usually due to 'caching'. Your browser or your website might be remembering the old version of the page. Try clearing your cache or checking the link in an 'Incognito' or 'Private' window. "I have thousands of 404 errors in Search Console!" This often happens after a website migration. If the URLs look like gibberish or spam, they might be from a 'bot' attack. If they aren't real pages you ever had, you can often ignore them—Google will eventually stop crawling them. Focus on the URLs that actually represent your content. "The tool says a link is broken, but it works when I click it." Some websites (like LinkedIn or Facebook) block 'bots' from checking their links. This can result in a '403 Forbidden' or '999' error in your audit tool even though the link is fine for humans. If it works when you click it, you're all good.---
Next Steps
Now that your links are tidy, your site's 'health' has already improved. But SEO is an ongoing process. Here is what you should do next:
- Schedule a monthly check: Set a calendar reminder to check Google Search Console once a month.
- Check your images: Sometimes it’s not a link that’s broken, but an image file that has been deleted, leaving a 'broken image' icon on your site.
- Review your site speed: Now that the paths are clear, make sure the pages load fast!
If this all feels a bit overwhelming or you simply don't have the time to go through hundreds of links yourself, we can help. Our team at Local Marketing Group performs these audits as part of our standard SEO maintenance for Brisbane businesses.
Feel free to reach out to us at https://lmgroup.au/contact and we can take the technical headache off your plate.