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Dead Link Checker

Checks a page's (or a whole site's) links for broken destinations. Any URL can be checked; if it matches one of your tracked Dodolytics websites, inbound referrer links recorded by this app are checked too. Free tool, nothing you check is stored.

How to use

  1. 1

    Enter a URL in the field above. A bare domain or a full URL both work.

  2. 2

    Pick a scope: Single page checks only the links found on that one page, Whole website crawls the site's internal pages first (bounded, so it stays fast).

  3. 3

    Click Check links and see the status of every link, with the dead links first. Inbound referrer links show too if the URL matches one of your tracked websites.

Tip: you can check any publicly reachable URL, not just a tracked Dodolytics website.

What is a dead link checker?

A dead link checker scans a page, or a whole site, for links that no longer work: a destination that returns a "page not found" error, a server error, an unreachable host, or a broken redirect that never lands anywhere real. These are usually called "dead links" or "broken links," and they build up over time as other sites (or your own) delete, move, or rename pages you've linked to.

How do I use it?

Enter the URL of a page you want checked, then choose a scope: Single page only checks the links found on that one page; Whole website crawls the site's internal pages starting from that URL (bounded, so it stays fast and doesn't hammer the target) and checks every link found across all of them. If the domain matches one of your own tracked Dodolytics websites, inbound links (other sites that have actually referred real visitors to you, based on this app's own recorded traffic) are checked too, not just outbound ones.

Why is it useful?

  • Broken links are a bad experience for visitors: they hit a dead end instead of the content they were promised.
  • They can hurt SEO too: search engines spend less effort crawling a site with a lot of broken internal links, and too many broken outbound links can make a page look poorly maintained.
  • Catches "link rot" proactively: pages you linked to months or years ago can quietly disappear elsewhere on the web, breaking your own links without any warning.
  • Free, no sign-up required, and nothing about a check is stored: check any URL, not just a site you already track.

FAQ

Is this tool free?

Yes, no login required either.

Do you store the URLs I check?

No. Nothing about a check (the URL, the results, or that it happened at all) is saved anywhere. It's shown once, in the same response, and gone.

What do the statuses mean?

"OK" means the link works. "Redirect" means it works but goes to a different address first. "Broken" means the page answered with an error (like page not found). "Unreachable" means the server did not answer at all, and the row gives the reason. "Blocked" means the site refused this tool, so the result is not known.

Why does a link show Blocked when it works in my browser?

Some sites refuse requests from tools and answer them with an error (HTTP 403, 405, 429, or 999), or the page needs a login (HTTP 401). The link usually works for a person. Open it in a browser to make sure. These links do not count as dead links.

What does "Permanent redirect" mean for me?

The page moved to a new address for good (HTTP 301 or 308). The link still works, but it is better to change it to the new address: the visitor gets there faster, and the old address can stop working later.

What's the difference between Single page and Whole website?

Single page only checks the links found on the exact URL you enter. Whole website first crawls the site's own internal pages starting from that URL (bounded, so it stays fast and doesn't hammer the target), then checks every link found across all of them.

Why is there no Inbound links section for my site?

Inbound links only show up when the URL you check matches one of your own tracked Dodolytics websites, using real referrer data this app has already recorded. Any other URL has nothing recorded to check.

What does "Also check images, scripts, and stylesheets" do?

A page loads files as well as linking to pages: images, script files, and stylesheets. With this option the tool checks those addresses too and labels each one. A missing image shows as a broken picture to your visitors, and a missing script or stylesheet can break the page. The option does not read the addresses inside a stylesheet or the "srcset" list of an image.

Where are my results after I reload the page?

Gone. Nothing is stored, so the results are only in the page that showed them. Run the check again, or use "Export CSV" to keep a copy. If your browser has scripts off, the results are on a page of their own, and a reload of that page asks to send the form again. That is the normal behavior of a browser, not a bug.

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