Definition
What is Link Rot?
Link rot, also known as “link death,” refers to the phenomenon where hyperlinks cease to lead to their originally targeted resources, often resulting in a 404 error or an “HTTP not found” message. This occurs when the destination webpage has been moved, deleted, or the entire website has ceased to exist. Link rot is the decay over time of hyperlinks throughout the internet, leading to the accumulation of links that point to missing or deleted content.
How It Works
Concept and Function
Link rot is a natural process due to the dynamic nature of the internet. It involves the removal and disappearance of links due to ongoing updates, content changes, or the shutdown of websites. There are two primary aspects of link rot:
- The natural disappearance of links when publishers update their websites.
- The gradual reduction of link power as new pages push older pages away from the home page, reducing their visibility and link equity.
Relevance in SEO
Link rot affects both internal and external links, leading to broken links that can frustrate users and harm a website’s credibility and SEO rankings. When links become broken, the link equity is no longer passed along, potentially impacting a web page’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Practical Use Cases
Link rot can occur due to various reasons such as website updates, content migration, domain expiration, server issues, content removal, and human error like typos in URL input or HTML coding.
Why It Matters
Impact on User Experience
Broken links create a poor user experience, leading to higher bounce rates and lower levels of user engagement. Users may perceive the site as unreliable or out of service.
Impact on SEO and Rankings
Link rot negatively affects website rankings and search engine optimization (SEO) results. Search engines consider user experience significantly when determining page rankings, and frequent broken links can signal to search engines that the website is not being adequately maintained.
Impact on Backlinks and Credibility
Damage to a website’s credibility and status can result from link rot on pages referenced by other websites. Consistently broken links may lead other websites to remove or disavow those links, damaging the backlink profile and SEO rankings.
Best Practices
Identifying and Fixing Link Rot
Use SEO tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Screaming Frog to crawl the site and identify broken or rotten links through regular audits. Fix broken links by:
- Creating 301 redirects to the new destination if the web asset has been moved.
- Ensuring redirects point to pages that are substantially equal to the original page to avoid soft 404 errors.
Link Reclamation
Implement link reclamation by reviewing 404 response codes and checking if links point to web assets that no longer exist. Replace these links with new, relevant, and healthy ones.
Preventive Measures
Conduct deep and comprehensive domain research to confirm the health and legitimacy of links before referring to them. Register domain name variants and redirect them to the real domain to capture links that might be misspelled.
Regular Maintenance
Regularly update and maintain links to prevent them from becoming broken. This includes checking for typos, tracking code issues, and ensuring that links remain valid over time.
Related Terms
- Broken Link: A hyperlink that no longer leads to its intended destination, often resulting in a 404 error.
- 404 Error: An HTTP status code indicating that the server could not find the requested resource.
- Broken Links: Hyperlinks that are no longer valid, often leading to missing content or 404 errors.
- Link Reclamation: The process of identifying and fixing broken links or reclaiming lost link equity from outdated URLs.
- 404: Another reference to the 404 error, indicating a missing web page.
- Redirect: A method to forward one URL to a different URL, typically used to avoid broken links.
- 410 Gone: An HTTP status code indicating that the requested resource has been permanently removed and will not be available again.
- Link Profile: A collection or inventory of all inbound links pointing to a website.
- Link Juice: The value or equity passed from one website to another through hyperlinks.
- Link Scheme: Any practice that manipulates links to affect site ranking in search results negatively.
Conclusion
Link rot is a pervasive issue that affects the entire internet, impacting user experience, SEO rankings, and website credibility. By understanding what link rot is, how it works, and why it matters, website owners can take proactive steps to mitigate its effects. Regular maintenance, using appropriate SEO tools, and following best practices can help in identifying and fixing rotten links. This will not only improve user satisfaction but also maintain the website’s SEO performance and overall credibility. In this dynamic digital landscape, vigilant management of links is essential to ensure a robust and reliable web presence.
