Fixing Broken Hyperlinks to Improve Webbot Crawl Results

 

Some of the greatest software utility programs ever made have started out as freeware. In the case of Xenu "Link Sleuth" software it continues to be a value free tool for people who are serious about keeping the website error free. This software paired with the free HTML validator from http://validator.w3.org are two must have tools for any web developer or web owner wanting to improve organic search engine results.

Xenu Link Sleuth software can also be a value asset for search engine optimization because it does a great job of listing all pages in your website directory and lists the corresponding HTML Titles. We'll talk more about how to use this tool in a minute for SEO project.

Free SEO Tools - Link Checker Identifies Outdated and Broken Links

I get many calls from people who want free SEO advice. Simply stated, they believe that there is no need to hire a professional for their search engine marketing plans. This article is written in good faith to show some great tools that the average website owner can operate and get valuable insight into their current website design. Downloading and installing Xenu Link Sleuth software is an easy task that most anyone can accomplish. The software can be downloaded at:  http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html#Download

After installation, run Xenu and click on the leftmost icon called "Check URL". It starts by the entry of your homepage URL as follows:

http://www.brianpasch.com/

 

The software then search all subdirectories under you home page and checks internal and external links. It can also check individual sub-directories. If your website links to news articles or information on other websites this tool should be run on a weekly basis. This is because when Yahoo and Google "bots" visit your site you don't want them finding dozens or hundreds of broken links.

Running XENU Link Checker

Depending on your website, Xenu will take a few minutes or longer to run. My site which had 1,300 links took about 6 minutes to complete. When it's running the screen will look similar to this:

Notice how the software lists each page or file and the HTML METATAG "Title". This is a great way to scan hundreds of pages and see any page titles that are missing or titles that are outdated or could be improved. Since the Title of your pages is very important, this feature alone makes the tool a great resource for organic search engine optimization.

Understanding Xenu Error Reports

When I first ran Xenu I on my website I was in Ecuador and there were many pages that had timeout errors so my advice is when you run this tool, make sure you are on a good high speed connection. The Xenu link sleuth software will break hyperlink errors into logical groups. It will identify links that are:

• Broken
• Forbidden Access
• Timed Out

I found that re-running the software a few times eventually eliminated many of the timeout errors. You can re-run the hyperlinks with errors by pressing CTRL-R. When the scanning is completed you will be asked if you want a report. Click on Yes.

 

Then you will be asked to Check orphaned files via FTP. I click on "cancel" because I'm very cautious on how I give our access passwords. This is completely up to you but skipping this step is not a big issue if you have a good handle on your source code and what has been published to your web server.

 

 

After you press cancel, your link report will be shown as an HTML page with this handy table of contents: