Digital Marketing Agency Portland experts know that SEO isn’t just about keywords and content—technical health matters too. Broken links and faulty redirects can silently sabotage your website’s visibility, user experience, and authority. Whether you’re managing your own site or overseeing multiple client accounts, fixing these issues is a foundational step toward better SEO performance.

In this guide, we’ll explore what broken links and redirects are, why they harm your site, and how to fix them effectively for long-term SEO benefits.

What Are Broken Links and Redirects?

Broken links are links that lead to non-existent or inaccessible pages, resulting in 404 errors. They can happen when content is deleted, URLs are changed, or links are incorrectly formatted.

Conversely, redirects are instructions that send users (and search engines) from one URL to another. While redirects are necessary in many cases—such as after a site migration, poorly implemented redirects can cause problems like loops, chains, or misuse of temporary redirects.

Ensuring that links and redirects function properly for any Digital Marketing Agency in Portland is essential to building and maintaining a strong SEO foundation for clients.

Why Broken Links and Redirects Matter for SEO

Broken links and mismanaged redirects may seem minor, but they can severely hurt your SEO and user engagement in several ways:

1. Poor User Experience

When users click a link and land on a 404 page, they often leave the site immediately. This increases bounce rate and lowers session duration—both negative signals for SEO.

2. Reduced Crawl Efficiency

Search engine bots waste crawl budget on broken URLs or redirect loops. This means fewer of your valuable pages get crawled and indexed.

3. Loss of Link Equity

Inbound links are crucial for SEO. If they point to a broken page, that authority is lost unless you redirect the old URL properly to a relevant, active page.

4. Duplicate Content and Ranking Dilution

Improper redirects—like redirecting to irrelevant pages or using 302 (temporary) instead of 301 (permanent)—can confuse search engines, leading to index issues and diluted authority.

Step-by-Step Guide to Fixing Broken Links

Step 1: Run a Full Site Audit

Start by identifying all broken links and redirect errors. Use tools like:

• Google Search Console – Look for Crawl Errors under the “Coverage” section.

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider – Crawl up to 500 URLs for free.

• Ahrefs Site Audit or SEMrush – Find broken backlinks and redirect chains.

• Dead Link Checker – Quick tool for smaller sites.

Step 2: Fix Internal Broken Links

These are links on your own site that lead to 404 pages.

Solutions:

• Update the URL to the correct path if the content still exists.

• If the page was deleted permanently, redirect it (301) to a relevant page or category.

• If there’s no suitable replacement, remove the link.

Step 3: Repair Broken Backlinks

Use Ahrefs or SEMrush to find other websites that link to broken URLs on your site. These backlinks are SEO gold—you don’t want to lose their authority.

How to fix:

• Redirect the broken page to a live, relevant page.

• Alternatively, reach out to the webmaster of the referring site and request an update to the correct URL.

Step 4: Handle External Broken Links

If you’re linking out to other sites and those links are broken, it damages credibility and user trust.

Solutions:

• Find updated URLs for the content and update your links.

• Replace the link with a different source.

• If no suitable replacement exists, remove the hyperlink.

Best Practices for Redirects

Redirects are useful when used correctly. But mismanaged redirects can cause SEO damage. Here’s how to do it right:

Use 301 Redirects

Always use 301 redirects for permanent changes. This tells Google that the content has moved and ensures that link equity is passed to the new URL.

Avoid Redirect Chains

A redirect chain is when URL A redirects to B, then B to C, and so on. This slows down page load times and may confuse search engines.

Fix: Go straight from A to the final destination (C) with one 301 redirect.

Fix Redirect Loops

Redirect loops occur when a URL redirects to itself or is in an endless cycle. This causes crawl errors and severely impacts SEO.

Fix: Use site audit tools to detect loops and correct the destination path.

Don’t Use 302 Redirects for Permanent Moves

302 redirects are for temporary changes. If you’re permanently moving a page, use a 301. Otherwise, search engines may not pass full ranking authority to the new URL.

Ongoing Monitoring and Maintenance

Fixing broken links and redirects isn’t a one-time task. For a Digital Marketing Agency Portland operation that manages multiple clients, you should schedule routine audits every quarter (or monthly for large sites).

Tools for continuous monitoring:

• Google Search Console (Crawl Stats and Coverage reports)

• Ahrefs Alerts (for broken backlinks)

• Screaming Frog (scheduled crawls)

• Sitebulb (visual audits and error reports)

You can also set up 404 monitoring tools or use your CMS’s built-in analytics to find broken links through user behavior.

How a Digital Marketing Agency in Portland Can Help

If you’re struggling to manage technical SEO, an experienced Digital Marketing Agency Portland team can provide:

Full-site audits

Link mapping and redirect strategy

Ongoing performance monitoring

Fixes for 404 errors and redirect chains

Optimization of internal linking structure

Whether you’re handling your own website or managing client properties, getting professional help ensures your site stays optimized, user-friendly, and visible in search results.

If you’re managing SEO for a Portland-based business, broken links on location-specific pages can impact your local search performance. Make sure URLs like /services/portland-seo or /contact-portland are correctly linked from menus, footers, and external citations.

Additionally, check local business directories and ensure that backlinks to your site or Google Business Profile don’t lead to outdated URLs.

Real-Life Example: Redirect Cleanup That Boosted Rankings

A local Digital Marketing Agency in Portland was hired to improve the SEO of a regional law firm’s website after a major content restructuring. After identifying over 100 broken URLs and 60+ unnecessary redirect chains from a previous redesign, the agency performed a full technical cleanup.

Results after 90 days:

• 38% increase in organic traffic

• 22% growth in contact form submissions

• 17 high-intent keywords moved to Page 1 of Google

This example shows that fixing technical SEO issues like broken links and redirects can produce fast, measurable gains.

Conclusion

Fixing broken links and managing redirects is one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve your site’s SEO and user experience. For a Digital Marketing Agency in Portland, mastering this process helps deliver real value to clients and build websites that search engines love.

By regularly auditing your site, using the right tools, and applying smart redirect strategies, you can avoid common SEO pitfalls and ensure your site ranks higher, loads faster, and serves users better.

Don’t let broken links cost you business. Fix them, redirect with purpose, and watch your rankings climb.