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How to Find Broken Links in WordPress
You find broken links in WordPress with Link Manager Pro → Link Health. The plugin flags problems two ways: it scans post and page content for outbound URLs and checks each response with wp_remote_head, and it records 404s visitors actually hit on your own site. You review both lists in one dashboard, open any row for the URL, source page, HTTP status, and detection time, then either fix the HTML or create a one-click redirect from the bad path to a working page. You optionally turn on email digests in Settings so summaries land in your inbox on a schedule you choose.
The problem
Outbound links rot when merchants move pages, and internal URLs break after restructures. You rarely notice until SEO tools complain or readers report errors. Traffic-side 404s often never appear in a manual audit because you do not click every old permalink.
The solution: scheduled scans plus live 404 capture
Content scanning walks your published content, extracts outbound links, and requests each target with wp_remote_head. Link Manager Pro lists failed or error status codes as content issues.
Traffic monitoring logs 404 responses for requests against your domain—real visitors requesting paths that no longer exist. That catches rename-and-forget permalink problems that a desktop crawler might skip because you never linked to the old path in new posts.
WordPress cron runs the health scan on a schedule, so the issue queue refreshes without you remembering to click anything. When you migrate hosts, import hundreds of posts, or change permalink structure, you trigger a manual scan from the Link Health dashboard for an immediate pass.
Each issue shows:
- The broken or missing URL
- The page where the outbound link appears (for content issues) or the path visitors requested (for traffic 404s)
- The HTTP status code
- When the plugin detected the problem
One-click redirect: From an issue row you create a redirect that maps the bad URL on your site to a working destination without leaving the health UI.
Email digest: Under Settings, you enable periodic email reports so you monitor new breaks without opening WordPress daily.
Step-by-step
- Go to Link Manager Pro → Link Health.
- Review content issues (bad outbound links) and traffic issues (visitor 404s) in their sections.
- Click an issue to read full detail—URL, referring content, status, timestamp.
- Fix by updating the link in the editor or creating a one-click redirect to a valid URL.
- Optionally open Settings and enable the email digest for proactive alerts.
Run a manual scan after migrations or large plugin updates so the queue reflects the current site.
How to choose a fix
Update the source HTML when the destination still exists but you copied the wrong URL, or when the merchant moved a product page and you have a direct replacement. Create a redirect when the old path on your site should keep working—think renamed categories, retired landing pages, or campaign URLs you printed on physical media. Redirects buy time while you update templates or navigation menus.
Some remote hosts block automated HEAD requests; if a link works in your browser but flags in the scanner, verify manually and whitelist or adjust the destination if needed.
