No broken links (internal and external)What it checks and how to fix it

What it checks

Collects the http and https links on the page (every internal link, and the first 25 distinct external links) and requests each one. Passes when all of them respond successfully, fails when any internal or external link returns a 4xx or 5xx status, and warns when internal links only redirect to another URL.

Why it matters

A broken link is a dead end for visitors and a wasted request for search engine crawlers, and a page full of them reads as abandoned. Internal links that redirect cost every click an extra round trip and pass ranking signals less cleanly than a direct link. External links rot as other sites reorganize, so they need checking as much as your own.

How to fix it

Fix links at the source: edit the page so each link points to the final, working URL, and remove links to content that no longer exists anywhere. For internal links that redirect, replace the old URL with the one it redirects to.

When you moved or deleted one of your own pages, also add a permanent redirect so old links and bookmarks keep working:

# nginx
location = /old-page { return 301 /new-page; }

# Apache
Redirect 301 /old-page /new-page

# Rails: config/routes.rb
get "/old-page", to: redirect("/new-page", status: 301)

On Cloudflare, use Rules → Redirect Rules for a few URLs, or Bulk Redirects for many. For external pages that are gone, the Internet Archive often has a copy you can link to instead.