Check your outbound links for broken destinations

External links rot quietly. A source you cited, a partner you linked, a tool you recommended: when it 404s, your page sends visitors to a dead end and looks neglected. Internal links are checked elsewhere; this checks the ones leaving your site.

Lists links found on sampled pages with a source page for each; probes up to 15 unique destinations. Saved to your account if you are signed in to a paid plan.

How this check works

Shipwork collects external links from the pages in its bounded crawl and lists up to 50 distinct destinations with a page where each was found. The free preview shows up to 15. It then sends a HEAD request to up to 15 unique destinations and flags confirmed 404 and 410 responses. A timeout or blocked HEAD request is inconclusive; open an important destination in a browser before changing your link.

What the outbound link checker tests

The outbound-link lens reads external links from the pages discovered by its bounded crawl, deduplicates them, then sends HEAD requests to a sample of up to 15 URLs. It flags confirmed 404 and 410 responses and includes the target URL so you can locate the link. A timeout is treated as inconclusive rather than proof that a link is dead. If there are no external links on the pages checked, the result says so.

This is a sample, not a complete test of every external link on your site. Some hosts reject HEAD requests or behave differently for automated requests, and a 4xx response may be temporary or require a different method to confirm. Open the linked page in a browser before removing a link that provides important evidence or attribution.

External links found on pages in the crawl sample.
Up to 15 unique external URLs requested with HEAD.
Only 404 and 410 responses reported as broken findings.
A timeout is not labeled as a broken link because the result is inconclusive.

How to interpret broken external link findings

A 404 generally means the destination page is missing; a 410 indicates it has been intentionally removed. This lens does not flag 5xx or redirect responses as broken. It does not follow redirects, so check a redirected URL yourself to see whether it reaches a relevant final page.

A broken citation or reference can frustrate readers and weaken the page’s usefulness. Fixing it is good maintenance, but a single dead external link is not proof of a Google ranking penalty. Preserve useful context: update the URL to a reliable replacement or remove the link and revise the surrounding claim if the source no longer supports it.

Check the exact status and destination before editing.
If the source moved, link directly to its current canonical URL.
If no replacement exists, remove the link and update any statement that depended on it.

Repair outbound links responsibly

Start from the reported page on your own site and find the anchor text around the external URL. Confirm the replacement source is authoritative for the same claim and still accessible. For commercial, legal or scientific claims, avoid swapping in a vaguely related page just to clear the report. If the original source has moved permanently, use its official new address when one exists.

The check samples links and uses HEAD requests, so a destination can return a different result to a browser or GET request. Retest important links manually. A site that blocks HEAD may be usable by visitors; do not remove it solely because an automated probe was refused.

Example: replace a dead https://example.org/old-report with the publisher’s current report URL only if it supports the same statement.
Check whether a 301 or 302 leads to a valid and relevant destination, then update your link to that final page.
Use the broken internal link checker for links that stay on your own domain.
See how to check outbound links for a manual review workflow.

When to check external links

Run this check on pages with citations, partner references, product documentation or resource lists, especially after a content migration or long period without editorial review. A small sample can point you to external link rot on high-value pages. If you need a complete link inventory across a large site, use a crawl designed for broader coverage rather than treating this bounded sample as exhaustive.

Outbound links and internal links fail differently. An external site controls the destination; your own team controls internal routes and templates. Fix the right source and rerun the corresponding check.

Broken links: dead internal destinations.
Link graph: internal structure and connections.
Site audit: broader crawl findings across sampled pages.

Questions

Why do outbound links break?

Pages move, domains expire, and URLs change without redirects. A link that worked last year is often a 404 today.

Why fix broken outbound links?

A dead destination interrupts a visitor and makes a citation harder to verify. Fix a useful link to its relevant replacement, or remove it when there is no equivalent. A failed probe alone is not a ranking diagnosis.

Does this check every external link?

No. The free audit samples pages and probes up to 15 unique outbound URLs. Use a dedicated full-site crawl and export if you need every outbound link.

How do I find outgoing links and their source pages?

Submit the site to see destinations found in the sampled pages and a source page for each. For a broad inventory, crawl the site and export external outlinks.

Does a timeout mean the external link is broken?

No. A destination may block HEAD requests or respond too slowly. Open the URL and verify it separately before changing the source page.

What is the difference between outbound and external links?

Nothing. Outbound, external and outgoing links all mean a link that leaves your site for another domain, and an outbound link checker tests them the same way.

How do I find broken external links on my website?

Collect external links from your pages and request each destination, then confirm errors in a browser or with a GET request. Shipwork extracts outbound links from its discovered pages, deduplicates them and checks up to 15 with HEAD requests. It reports HTTP errors, while timeouts remain inconclusive. The sample is useful for finding issues but does not cover every link on a large site.

Do broken outbound links hurt SEO?

A dead external link can make a page less useful and frustrate readers, especially when it supports an important claim. It is not accurate to treat every broken citation as a direct ranking penalty. Review the destination, replace it with a reliable equivalent when possible, or remove the link and revise unsupported text.

Why does a link checker say an external link is broken when it opens for me?

The checker may use a HEAD request that the destination host blocks or handles differently from a browser’s GET request. The site could also have recovered after the check. Treat an automated result as a lead: open the exact URL, test the final destination and confirm whether the error persists before changing important citations.

Does the outbound link check test every link on my site?

No. It checks links found on the discovered pages and probes a bounded sample of up to 15 unique external URLs. A clean result applies to that sample at that time. If you need every outbound URL across a large site, use a crawler with a broader page and link budget, then verify errors before editing content.

Should I remove a link that returns 404?

First check whether the page moved and whether the owner provides a replacement. Update the link if the new destination supports the same claim. If the source is gone and no equivalent exists, remove the link and revise the sentence if it relied on that source. Preserve citations that remain useful; do not replace them with unrelated pages merely to avoid an error.

Keep reading

What this reads

Reads public pages from outside your network, the way a crawler does.
No signup, and nothing is stored on the free checks.
One of 83 checks across discovery, content, markup, trust and catalogue data.

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Cool, just ran an audit and got some insights! Let’s see if I can fix them :)

Tenta Dev, @DevTenta

Whoah! this site is crazy, nothing to roast at all

Ainreek, @AinreekAI

cool as heck, tried it on my blog and the insights it gave are helpful and not bluff.

Refaat 🍉 (Mouse), @1Mouse__