Why WordPress Site Owners need this
Nobody sets out to leave dead links in a WordPress blog, yet five years of posts will almost always contain a few. An external guide gets deleted, a plugin vendor changes its domain, a category slug is renamed, and the sentence that linked to it still reads fine in the editor. Meanwhile the worries on your list are usually bigger ones: the Discourage search engines from indexing this site box left ticked after launch, tag and author archives flooding the index, or a bloated theme slowing every page. Broken links rarely top that list, which is exactly why they pile up. A Broken Link Checker run on a single post takes seconds and gives you the final HTTP status of each link it checks, after redirects are followed, sorted into OK and broken, with the anchor text beside each URL. That is enough to turn a vague worry about old content into a short edit list you can finish over a coffee. It will not tell you whether a page is indexed or how it ranks, but it shows which links your readers hit as dead ends.
WordPress Site Owners specific guidance
Which posts to scan first
Start with the posts that still get visits, not the whole archive. Open Posts > All Posts in the WordPress dashboard, sort by date, and copy the permalink of an older, well-visited article into the checker, for example https://example.com/2019/06/best-wordpress-backup-plugins/. The tool reads one page per run and does not crawl your site, so every post is a separate scan. It sees the HTML as served and checks only the first 50 unique links, and your theme's header menu, and a sidebar that comes before the post in the HTML, spend part of that allowance before the post body is reached. On a link-heavy roundup, the links past the 50th go unchecked, so read the count as a floor, not a full inventory. A clean result proves those links answered; it says nothing about whether the page is indexed.
How to read the broken links table
Look at the Broken links to fix table first, then the Scope column. A broken internal link, such as a post you trashed during a cleanup, is yours to repair right away; a broken external link means the other site moved on. Status 404 and 410 mean the page is gone, while a 5xx may be a temporary outage, so retest it later. A 403 or 429 on an outside site can be bot blocking while the page works for visitors, so open it in a browser before deleting anything. Because every link is fetched with redirects followed, an old URL that sends a 301 to a live page shows as 200 OK rather than as a redirect. The result does not tell you which block or template holds the link beyond its anchor text.
What to fix, and in which order
Fix internal broken links first: edit the post in the block editor, select the anchor text and replace the URL, or add a 301 in your redirect or SEO plugin if many posts point to the old address. Next, replace dead external links with a current source, or remove the link and keep the sentence. Links that show OK after a redirect can wait; update them to the final address when you are editing the post anyway. The checker does not edit anything, so every change is manual. After saving, rescan the same URL to confirm the Broken count dropped. A zero proves links resolve, not that the content is still accurate or helpful, and it says nothing about whether Google indexes the page.
Example scenarios
1. A 2019 plugin roundup
- Situation
- Illustrative example: a 2019 post comparing backup plugins links to vendor sites and docs pages. Over the years two vendors shut down, one renamed its docs, and the owner later trashed a related post of their own.
- Input
https://example.com/2019/06/best-wordpress-backup-plugins/- Reading the result
- The cards might show Checked 38, OK 33, Redirects 0, Broken 5 and Broken internal 1. Four external 404s mean the vendors are gone, so replace them with current options or cut those list entries. The single internal broken link is the one to repair first.
2. Pillar post after a content cleanup
- Situation
- Illustrative example: an owner moved six thin posts to the trash to tidy the site, but a pillar guide still links to three of them from older paragraphs.
- Input
https://example.com/blog/wordpress-seo-checklist/- Reading the result
- A run might report Checked 47, OK 44 and Broken 3, all three with Scope internal and status 404. Each row shows the anchor text, so you can find the sentence in the editor and point it to a live post or a 301 target. This does not show how the trashed posts performed before.
3. Resource list that hits the 50-link limit
- Situation
- Illustrative example: a plugin resource page has about 120 links, and the theme's header menu and sidebar take 28 of the first 50 slots.
- Input
https://example.com/resources/wordpress-plugins-list/- Reading the result
- The summary reads Checked 50, with 47 OK and 3 Broken, all external 403. Those 403s may be sites blocking automated requests, so open each in a browser before removing it. The roughly 70 links beyond the cap were not tested, so a clean result here is only partial.
Common mistakes
- Expecting a whole-site crawl. The checker scans one page URL per run. To cover old posts you have to run each permalink separately, starting with the ones that matter most.
- Deleting every 403 on sight. Some sites answer bots with 403 or 429 while the page loads normally for people. Open the link yourself before you remove a useful source.
- Trusting a clean result on a long post. Only the first 50 unique links are checked, and the header menu uses up part of that. A long roundup can hide broken links past the cutoff.
- Looking for old redirects in the Redirects card. Redirects are followed, so an old URL that 301s to a live page shows as 200 OK. Use the Redirect Checker to see the hops of a single link.
- Fixing the link but skipping the rescan. A typo in the replacement URL or a missed second instance of the link is easy to make. Rescan the same permalink after saving and confirm Broken reads zero.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find broken links in old WordPress posts without a plugin?
Paste the permalink of one post into the checker and read the Broken links to fix table. It scans a single page per run, so work through your most visited posts first, starting from Posts > All Posts sorted by date. Only the first 50 unique links are checked, and the theme's header menu counts toward that. Nothing is installed on your site, and nothing is edited for you, so you fix each link in the block editor yourself.
Can broken links be why my WordPress site is not indexed by Google?
Rarely. If the site is missing from Google, check Settings > Reading first: the Discourage search engines from indexing this site box, when ticked, is a more likely cause. Dead links waste visitor patience and can leave crawlers at dead ends, but a handful of 404s in old posts does not by itself keep a site out of the index. This checker reports link status only, so it cannot tell you whether a page is indexed or why.
Why does an old redirected link show as OK 200 instead of a redirect?
Each link is requested with redirects followed, up to five hops, and the final status is reported. An old URL that sends a 301 to a live page therefore appears as 200 OK, and the Redirects card only counts chains that do not finish. If you want to see the hops of one link, for example after changing your permalink structure, run it through the Redirect Checker. Updating the link to the final address saves a hop.
Should I delete a link that returns 403 in the results?
Not before opening it yourself. Some sites block automated requests and answer 403 or 429 even though the page loads fine for visitors. Open the URL in a browser; if it loads, keep the link. If it shows an error page, a parked domain or unrelated content, replace it with a current source or remove the link and keep your sentence. A 404 or 410 or a No response result is a much stronger sign the page is gone.
How often should I check my WordPress blog for broken links?
There is no fixed rule, so tie it to events. Scan a post before you publish it, scan your top posts after a theme change, permalink change or cleanup of old content, and rescan older articles now and then because external pages disappear without notice. Each run covers one URL, so a short list of your ten most visited posts, kept in a note, makes a realistic monthly routine. A clean run only shows that links answered at that moment.
Reference: Yoast's WordPress SEO: the definitive guide warns that date, author and tag archives get indexed even when they add no value, which is worth checking alongside your links.