Broken backlinks often stirs up debate with respect to SEO. Gary Illyes from Google has come up with some useful suggestions. He offered an unexpected perspective on the issue. He suggested a novel approach and not to focus on fixing all broken backlinks. In fact, he recommended prioritizing those that would be most beneficial for users.

SEO experts typically argue for repairing all broken backlinks. Illyes suggests evaluating the usefulness of these links from a user perspective. It can serve as a shortcut for determining the importance of a backlink. If a link points to a product that is no longer available, it is better to return it to a 404 error.

Fixing broken backlinks can be considered easy and quick too. It can significantly improve user experience by ensuring visitors reach the intended content. Site owners sometime may add links weeks or months after being requested. These links might be incorrect. Regularly checking as well as regular correcting the errors can prevent visitors from encountering broken pages.

However, it important to note that all the broken backlinks may not carry the same weight. The most critical ones appear as 404 errors in server logs or Google Search Console. The errors can occur if a linked page does not exist anymore or even if the URL was misspelled. Conversely, backlinks coming from low-quality websites or outdated content might not warrant immediate attention. Links generated by spambots or random AI chatbots also fall into this less important category.

Identifying broken backlinks often involves reviewing 404 errors from pages which are no longer existing or are having incorrect URLs. Server logs can provide valuable insights. These can show the IP address and user agent responsible for the broken link. Hence, the data helps site owners in deciding whether the traffic is from a genuine user or a bot. Plugins.