Broken Link Checker Tool
Broken links damage both user experience and SEO. When a visitor clicks a link that returns a 404 or another error, it creates frustration and erodes trust in your site. Search engines also treat broken links as a signal of poor site maintenance. Regularly checking for broken links is a simple but important part of keeping a website healthy.
The Wild Creek Broken Link Checker Tool makes this easy. Enter any public URL and the tool fetches the page, extracts every link, then sends a HEAD request to each one to check whether it responds correctly. The results are displayed in a clear table with each link’s status and HTTP response code.
Broken Link Checker Tool
What the tool checks:
The tool tests every hyperlink found on the page and returns:
- Link URL – the destination address of each link
- Anchor text – the visible clickable text
- Status – Valid (the link responds successfully) or Broken (the link returned an error or timed out)
- HTTP status code – the exact response code from the server (200 OK, 301 redirect, 404 Not Found, 500 Server Error, etc.)
You also get a summary showing total links found, how many are valid, and how many are broken.
When to use this tool:
Use it when auditing a page before publishing, as part of a regular site health check, after a site migration where URLs may have changed, when reviewing old content that links to external pages which may have since gone offline, or when checking a competitor page for weaknesses.
All processing happens server-side. No installation or browser extension is required.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a broken link?
A link is flagged as broken if the destination URL returns an HTTP status code of 400 or higher (such as 404 Not Found or 500 Server Error), or if the request times out or fails entirely. Links that respond with 200 OK or 3xx redirects are marked as Valid.
Can I check any URL?
The tool can check any publicly accessible page. Pages requiring a login, behind a paywall, or that block automated access may not return complete results.
How long does the check take?
Speed depends on the number of links on the page and how quickly each linked server responds. The tool applies a 5-second timeout per link, so pages with many external links may take a minute or more to complete.
Does the tool check links on every page of my site?
No – the tool checks links found on the single URL you enter. It does not crawl your entire site. For a full site audit, run the tool on your most important pages individually.
What do the HTTP status codes mean?
The most common codes you will see: 200 means the page loaded successfully, 301 or 302 means the link redirects (usually still considered valid), 404 means the page was not found, 403 means access was forbidden, and 500 means a server error occurred on the destination site.
Why does a link show as broken when I can open it in a browser?
Some servers block automated requests and return an error code even when the page loads normally for human visitors. Conversely, some links that appear to work may return unusual status codes that the tool flags. Use your own judgment when reviewing the results.
Is my data stored or logged?
No. The tool processes your request in real time and does not store the URL you entered or the results returned.