066: How to find and fix broken links on your website

One of the ways you can improve the user-experience and ranking of your site is by fixing broken links. In this blog, I will share what are broken links, why they are bad for your website/business, how to find them and how to fix them.

How to find and fix broken links on your website?

What are broken links and how do they happen?

Broken links are links on your website that lead to a ‘404 error’ page or do a ‘page not found’ page. Essentially, that means when someone click on a link it leads to a dead end. That’s why they are also called “dead links”. There are several “innocent” reasons for broken links:

1. It may be that there was simply a typo and a link was typed in incorrectly.
2. It may be that the external website that was linked to, is not longer active.
3. A program or an event that your organization once hosted, is not in offer anymore.
4. It may be that a domain name is no longer in use or was changed.

In fact, there’s been research done that leads to the conclusion that about every seven years, your website is prone to lose 25% of its links. This is called a “link rot” and there’s a natural tendency of sites to do this according to Maciej Cegłowski.

Types of Broken Link Error Codes:

400 Bad Request
401 Unauthorized
403 Forbidden
404 Not Found

Why are broken links so bad?

There are two reasons why broken links are not so good for your website.

1. Broken links hurt your SEO rankings.
Your website ranks higher in search engine results such as Google or Bing when it’s considered to a healthy, value-giving website. One of the factors that contribute to your search ranking is whether all links lead to where they promise to lead you. When you click on a link and it goes to an error page, you hurt your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and that’s clearly not a good thing for your website.

2. Broken links give a poor user-experience to your site visitor.
Another way broken links hurt your website is by giving a poor user-experience to your site visitors. If someone looking for something on your site clicks a link that yields nothing a broken link, it not only affects how professional your site is perceived by the visitor but it ultimately wastes their time and they may immediately jump off your site. Thankfully, this is something you can fix either by investing your own time or hiring a professional to fix. (Hint Hint: You can hire me by the hour to clean up the broken links on your site).

What can you do to fix broken links?

The way to fix broken links is to find them and correct them periodically. You can use free or paid tools. Here are some free tools to get you started:

1. Dead Link Checker: https://www.deadlinkchecker.com
2. Broken Link Finder: https://brokenlinkfinder.com/
3. Dr. Link Check: https://www.drlinkcheck.com
4. Broken Link Check: https://www.brokenlinkcheck.com/
5. Also check out this Ukrainian link checker tool: https://sitechecker.pro/broken-links/

I recommend using all four of these (free) tools. Last week, I used one of them and cleaned up all my broken links. I came back to write the blog and plugged in my domain name into the remaining three and still found some new broken links.

So I hope that this article is helpful to you and you will go and test out your website for broken links. I’d love to know about your experience so chime in the comments if you found any of the above links helpful.

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065: Why you should batch process everything you can in your business

One of the best things I learnt about running a business is the importance of creating good content for my audience. It is a powerful way to make a connection with exactly those people who are looking for solutions that your content can help solve. Email makes if possible to keep your business “top of mind” for your readers/clients.

The other best thing I’ve learnt is to organize and streamline my business activities using batch processing. This can be done very easily using automation tools that are already in place. Case in point: scheduling out emails in advance.

The many benefits of batch processing

There are many benefits to batch processing your activities in your business. Let’s take the example of batch processing your weekly emails to your lost:

|1 Frees up your time
You can easily free up your time when you schedule out your emails in advance. If you are sending emails four times a month, but you write and schedule them out in one sitting, that saves you at least 4 times of opening your email marketing platform, going to the right section and creating a new email. If you are not using that email platform everyday, you have to re-acquaint yourself with the system each time. Rather, re-acquaint yourself once a month and then write it all up at one go.

|2 Take advantage of flow
You may have heard about the state of flow - the mental state of mind that happens when you are in your zone of genius. Well, this flow also happens when one is getting into the groove of a particular project. For example, when I start writing, at first I may be at a loss of how to begin. But once I begin writing, more ideas come and I have not only completed that one blog post, but I am already writing the next one. This same magic can happen during your email writing session. This way you simply get a lot done faster and get it done in a state of flow instead of in a state of fighting writer’s block four times a month (4 times in the scenario when you are sending out one email a week and writing them individually each week).

|3 It helps you feel a sense of accomplishment

At least, that is what it does for me. When I have 4 emails and 4 blog posts all ready to go a month in advance, I feel so good about my productivity and creative output. It allows me to then go on and create more content or focus on another project without interruption. This is a feeling I think every solopreneur/business owner should have a taste of - the feeling of “being ahead” of one’s to-do list. I love that feeling and batch processing gives me that.

|4 It allows you to put out content consistently even if you face a difficulty

This one is personal. Just last month, I realized how important it is to have video + blog content along with the weekly newsletters scheduled out. You see, I faced an unexpected hospital visit and I had to undergo surgery. The recovery process took a full three weeks when I could not do anything in or for my business. Plus the fourth week after the surgery when I slowly came back to my desk, I felt so exhausted that I didn’t get a lot accomplished. It was only in the fifth week that I got back on my feet fully.

Thankfully, back in February, I had created 4 videos , 4 blog posts and 4 emails, all of which I had scheduled out for March. This way, in March when the unexpected hospital visit and surgery came, I could completely focus on my rest and recovery. Boy, was that a relief to have everything scheduled out.

I only missed on sending out content the week when I came back to work. But you know what, given my health circumstances, I can live with that. And I know my audience is kind and compassionate enough to not mind me missing out on one week’s worth of content. After all, I have over 60 videos and blog posts on my website that they can still go and make use of.

This 4th point is probably the most important benefit. And it doesn’t have to be health issue. What if you wanted to take August completely off or December completely off from your business. Well, you can still build up SEO points and heart-points with your audience by sending them useful content that you schedule out for them in advance.

How to Batch Process?

There are several ways you can go about this.

1. Pick a day for a specific task:

One of my fellow web designer based out in Canada, uses a weekly system. For her, Mondays are content creation days. You can do this too. Plan to do a specific task on a specific day of the week each week. This also helps create a nice timetable for you to follow so you know what you are doing each day of the week. This does require some good planning and you will surely, need to try it out and adjust it to how you work.

2. Follow a workflow:
What I like to do is use a workflow that works best for my style of working. For example, my workflow is a synergized plan that includes video content creation, blog article creation and newsletter creation. Depending on the topic of my blog, I first either shoot the video or write out the step-by-step plan. Sometimes I like to write out the article so I know what to do in the video. At other times, it is easier for me to show the steps in a video and then I write it out as a blog.

I like the second method because it allows me to start a workflow whenever I like. I can do this before or after a client project and this way I have a bit more flexibility to accommodate my clients when it comes to matching our schedules for video call consultations. I can also break up the workflow in part 1 and part 2 and still have the “batch process” effect. I’ve tweaked this process as it fits my working style and my business over the last 2 and a half years. I recommend you giving it a try and as you do it, you will find out what works best for you.

So the workflow method works for me. Do what works for you but batch process.

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Are you getting excited to get your own website? I love designing websites for fabulous people like yourself, so take action to get your website design process started —> Start the Conversation by sharing some ideas about your site with me.

Questions about this blog post? You can drop them in the comments below!

~Peace,

Sophia

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