Google Webmaster tools, How to locate broken link?

Discussion in 'Products & Tools' started by smokey99, Nov 18, 2006.

  1. #1
    Hi,
    I am using G's webmaster tools on several sites, and find it helpful.

    Problem is in the "Web Crawl" section, it shows one of my sites with links to 2 unfound pages. Which is nice to know, but for the life of me, I can't find where these links are in the site.

    I have looked at every link in the site and nowhere does it link to the unfound page.

    I have also tried link:http://www.missingpage
    in G and Y

    How do I find out where this broken link is?
    I wish G would include more details of where the broken link is located, instead of just saying you have a broken link. :mad:

    Thanks for any advice
     
    smokey99, Nov 18, 2006 IP
  2. stargazinc

    stargazinc Active Member

    Messages:
    109
    Likes Received:
    10
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    78
    #2
    having that same problem, if you find out the answer let me know

    thanks,
    good luck
     
    stargazinc, Nov 19, 2006 IP
  3. Subzero

    Subzero Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,563
    Likes Received:
    139
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    103
    #3
    I use Xenu's Link Sleuth to check my sites for broken links.. It's free :D
     
    Subzero, Nov 19, 2006 IP
  4. dazzlindonna

    dazzlindonna Peon

    Messages:
    553
    Likes Received:
    21
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #4
    I agree, Xenu is the way to go. This situation was also asked about at PubCon and Matt Cutts mentioned that they are quite aware that this would be helpful, and he "implied" we might be able to expect it in the future, although he didn't exactly say so.
     
    dazzlindonna, Nov 19, 2006 IP
  5. smokey99

    smokey99 Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    475
    Likes Received:
    11
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    108
    #5
    I had a quick read over at Xenu's Link Sleuth
    But it doesn't say if it tells you where the broken link is.

    I used http://www.backlinkwatch.com/index.php it found the broken links, but doesn't tell me what page they are on, with thousands of links in the site, its like searching for a needle in a haystack.
     
    smokey99, Nov 19, 2006 IP
  6. freespace

    freespace Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    718
    Likes Received:
    15
    Best Answers:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    140
    #6
    If you have a small site you can use this tool to find broken links.

    http://www.auditmypc.com/free-sitemap-generator.asp

    Scroll down and click on the G Sitemap Builder image to load the program.

    Enter your URL in the options page and let the crawler run.

    Problems are displayed in the errors tab.

    Click on the + symbol on the error to find out what page it appears on.

    If the error appears on multiple pages it will show the URLs.
     
    freespace, Nov 19, 2006 IP
  7. lkj

    lkj Peon

    Messages:
    729
    Likes Received:
    17
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #7
    Xenu displays link errors and where is the broken link (the file)..... .... and where it links...
     
    lkj, Nov 19, 2006 IP
  8. KVeil

    KVeil Member

    Messages:
    79
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    41
    #8
    smokey99, I feel your pain.

    WMT identifies incoming links that are broken - usually from other sites. (I am assuming that we all do regular link checks on our sites, right?)

    So, none of the solutions suggested above really helps: Xenu does not identify problems with incoming links, "link:http://www.missingpage.com" only works if G or Y have already indexed the page with the broken link. Same problem with www.backlinkwatch.com ... it only seems to list indexed links.

    Of course, Google Web Crawler knows where the problematic link is ... So maybe we do need to give Matt Cutts a nudge after all ... ;)

    K
     
    KVeil, Feb 18, 2008 IP
  9. Sthman

    Sthman Guest

    Messages:
    66
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #9
    Kveil: Google w'mstr tools now sho the incoming links!!! seems Mat heard!!! ;-)
     
    Sthman, Oct 26, 2008 IP
  10. penelope.garcia

    penelope.garcia Peon

    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #10
    good info.....for a person like me ...
     
    penelope.garcia, Jan 1, 2010 IP
  11. _Eugene_

    _Eugene_ Member

    Messages:
    72
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    41
    #11
    validator.w3.org will help you. it shows the broken links aswell
     
    _Eugene_, Jan 2, 2010 IP
  12. Sthman

    Sthman Guest

    Messages:
    66
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #12
    Yes, you can put a "W3.org" badge on your site as well !
     
    Sthman, Nov 27, 2010 IP