What the outbound links check shows
- Broken links — the page does not exist (404, 410, server error) or the domain does not respond at all.
- Redirects — links that go through redirects and those that never reached the end.
- Nofollow, sponsored, ugc — which links pass weight and which do not.
- Hidden links — hidden with styles (display:none, zero font size, moved off screen).
- Anchors — the text of each link, as well as links with no text and no image.
- Domains — which sites the links lead to most often.
Why check outbound links
How we check
First we open your page and read its code, then collect all <a href> links and discard internal ones, mailto:, tel: and anchors. We check the rest in parallel without downloading the pages in full: the response code and headers are enough. We follow redirects up to three steps. We do not open addresses that lead to closed networks.
About “protected” and “did not respond” links
Some sites (big social networks, Cloudflare, shops) refuse automated requests with codes 403, 429 or 999, although the page opens in a browser. We do not consider such links broken and mark them separately. The same goes for those that did not manage to respond: check them manually.
What else to check
Links in the opposite direction are checked by the backlink checker: it will show whether the link to you is still in place and whether the donor page is indexed. Redirect chains are analysed in detail by the Redirect Checker, and server headers are shown by the HTTP headers checker.
Limits of the check
We analyse one page and do not run JavaScript, so links that appear only in the browser are not visible. Up to 100 unique external addresses are checked at a time, and if there are more, we only count the rest. The result is a snapshot of this moment: a site may have been temporarily unresponsive.
What else StayIndexed can do
This page is a free tool from the StayIndexed service. In your account you can save a list of URLs, check them in one click and see when broken or hidden links appear in them (this is free too), while the service’s main job is to track how your pages do in Google.
How much it costs
The check is free, both on this page and in your account. Tokens are used to pay for the other services: indexing, speed and backlinks cost 3 tokens per check. 30 tokens are credited at sign-up, no card required.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check the outbound links on a page?
Enter the page address in the form above: we will find all external links, check each one’s response and show broken, redirecting, nofollow and hidden ones.
What are outbound links?
These are links from your page to other sites. They help users, but each one passes on part of the weight, so they are worth controlling.
Do broken outbound links hurt SEO?
There is no direct penalty, but many broken links spoil the impression of a page and signal that it has not been updated for a long time. Worst of all is the loss of user trust.
Why are some links marked as “protected”?
These sites reject automated requests (code 403, 429 or 999), although they open in a browser. We do not consider them broken, but we advise opening them manually.
How many links are checked?
Up to 100 unique external addresses at a time. If there are more on the page, we show how many were left without a status check.
How much does the outbound links check cost?
Nothing: the check is free both on this page and in your StayIndexed account. In your account you can save a list of URLs, check them in one click and see the history of link changes.