Story Based Question
You’ve been managing a local bakery’s website, and things have been going well—customers are flocking in, and online orders are steady. However, you’ve recently noticed that some of the images on your site (like those for your specialty cupcakes) aren’t loading. You start thinking, How do you identify and fix broken image links to ensure my site is running smoothly and remains SEO-friendly?
Exact Answer
You can identify broken image links using website crawlers or tools like Google Search Console. To fix them, ensure the image file path is correct, re-upload missing images, or update the image source URL if it’s been changed.
Explanation
Identifying and fixing broken image links is essential to maintaining a high-quality website. Here’s how to go about it:
- Identify Broken Image Links
There are several ways to find broken image links:- Website Crawlers: Tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs can crawl your site and find broken image links. These tools will show you all the 404 errors related to images and help you pinpoint which links need fixing.
- Google Search Console: The Coverage Report in Google Search Console can help identify pages with broken image links. You’ll see which images are having trouble being indexed, either because the image file is missing or the link is incorrect.
- Manual Inspection: You can also manually check key pages on your website by opening them and inspecting whether the images are showing up. While this method can be time-consuming, it works well for small websites.
- Fix Broken Image Links
Once you’ve identified the broken links, it’s time to fix them:- Check the Image URL: Ensure the file path is correct. A common mistake is a typo in the URL or moving the image to a different folder without updating the link.
- Re-upload the Image: If the image has been deleted or lost, re-upload it to your server or hosting platform. Ensure that the file name and URL remain the same to prevent further issues.
- Update the Image Source: If the image has moved to a new location (e.g., a different folder or a new domain), update the src attribute of the image in your HTML or CMS to reflect the new location.
- Use Image Hosting Platforms: Consider hosting your images on an external CDN (Content Delivery Network) or image hosting platform like Cloudinary. This ensures the images are delivered faster and reduces the likelihood of broken links due to server issues.
- Prevent Future Broken Links
After fixing the current issues, it’s important to set up systems to prevent broken image links in the future:- Regularly run website crawls to detect and fix any broken links.
- If you’re using a CMS (like WordPress), choose plugins that automatically check for broken links and notify you when something is wrong.
- Set up proper redirects if you ever move images or change URLs. Use 301 redirects to ensure search engines and visitors are properly sent to the new image location.
- Check for Crawl Errors
After fixing broken image links, re-crawl your site using a tool like Screaming Frog or Google Search Console to ensure that all image links are working correctly. If the issue is resolved, the error should no longer show up.
Example
Let’s say you’re running an online bakery and notice that some of the images of your famous chocolate cupcakes aren’t loading on the product page. Here’s how to fix the broken image links:
- Identifying Broken Links:
You run a crawl using Google Search Console and see that some of the cupcake images are returning 404 errors (meaning the page or image cannot be found). You also notice these images aren’t showing up properly on the product page when you check manually. - Fixing the Links:
You start by checking the image URLs. One of the links is missing the extension—“.jpg”—which was inadvertently removed when the image was uploaded. You quickly correct the file path, adding the missing extension.For the second broken image, the image file was accidentally deleted during a website update. You re-upload the chocolate-cupcake.jpg image and make sure the URL stays the same as it was originally. - Preventing Future Errors:
To avoid this issue in the future, you install a broken link checker plugin for your CMS. It scans your site regularly and sends you an email notification whenever a broken image link is detected, allowing you to fix it quickly. - Re-crawling:
After fixing the issues, you re-crawl the site with Screaming Frog and check Google Search Console to confirm that the errors are resolved. Your product page is now displaying all the images correctly, and your customers can see the cupcakes in full detail, increasing trust and engagement.
Broken image links can hurt your SEO and user experience, but with the right tools and proactive steps, they’re easy to identify and fix. Regularly check for broken links, update image paths, and use proper redirects to ensure your website remains professional and search engine-friendly.