Very disturbing issue
I just went through one of my articles to get a link and noticed that a word was crossed out?? So I wient into another article and all the backlink word are have a line through them.
If this has happened to you please advise or if you know how to fix it. Otherwise, I will contact Tech support.
I have never seen this before and it worries me.
I was reading through some old questions on here and someone else had the same problem in the past and suggested it might be due to the installation of Broken Link Checker (as per some training on here). Could this be the culprit? If so, will removing the plug in fix the problem or will I have to go through each post and do manually?
Mary Ann
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This happens because the Broken Link plugin you are using tests the links within a specified amount of time. If the site takes a longer time to render than that specified amount of time, the the plugin declares it as broken.
E.g when someone adds a comment on your site. The plugin checks the link and gives it 5 seconds to render. If it does it within that time, it will be considered a working link. If it renders more than 5 seconds, then the plugin will consider it a broken link.
The rendering depends on the link's web page. If it has a lot of javascript, images, or large images, etc and all that takes more than 5 seconds to render, then that is how the plugin will report that it is a broken link, even if it is not.
For all the reported broken links, you have to test them by visiting the link. If it still is working, then unlink it on your website. This will stop the plugin from reporting it as a broken link.
Hi Timotheus,
Thank you for your response.
I understood what you were saying until I got to the last paragraph and read "If it still is working, then unlink it on your website." It sounds as though you are suggesting I unlink all my links.
I don't understand what you mean by this.
For the record, I tested 115 links and there was only one that was an issue but it wasn't a broken link. I understand what you are saying about the rendering but I find it hard to believe that all 115 links would be causing an issue.
Thanks,
Mary Ann
Hi Mary Ann,
You are welcome.
What I mean by that sentence is:
1. Plugin reports it as broken link
2. Check the link by clicking on it and see if the web page still exists
3. If it still exists, this means the web page was reported as broken link by the plugin because of timeout
4. In this case, just unlink this link. Reason is because it is still a working link. It is just that unfortunately, the web page is taking too long t render, and the plugin is reporting this as broken link.
5. By unlinking it, it will help with your SEO - because Google and other search engines may also find it as a broken link. By unlinking it, you have satisfied one of the SEO criteria of the search engines.
Believe it, Mary Ann. I too encountered this for one of my websites. There were a lot of 'broken links'. And I did the exact steps given for all the links. It worked. My Google Search reported no more broken links after that.
The reason why there are so many 'broken links' is not because they are truly broken. It is simply they did not satisfy the timeout of the plugin or the algorithm of search engines like Google. This is because many web pages are slow to download, and the owners of the sites have not looked into it or are all right with it.
For example, one of my websites is a travel site. There are many images and even a video to download for every web page. The download speed of each page is considered slow. But I am all right with that because that is how a travel website is supposed to be - filled with images and videos and with less text.
Hi again Mary Ann,
Just to add to my earlier answer:
Another way to confirm if the broken links are affecting your SEO, go to Google Search. See if the number of broken links reported there are the same as the ones that the plugin reported. This would be in the Crawl error option.
If they are the same, do the steps that I suggested. Then after a day or two, return to Google Search to see if the removal of 'broken links' have improved the error report that Google gave.
Update:
I went through 115 links and not one was broken.
Now I have to go into the wp dashboard and tell the plug in they are not broken.
Problem:
Can't get into my dashboard. Anyone else experiencing an issue with getting into their website on here?
Mary Ann
Mary Ann, I just logged in this morning and picked up this message. I checked and I can get into my dashboard just fine.
I use this plug in and so far it has noted very few of my links are broken (that are not). Your 115 sounds extremely excessive, like something else might be happening.
You can contact the plugin creators and they might have some idea of why this is happening.
Also, check that the version of the Broken Link Checker plugin is compatible with your version of Wordpress.
Interesting you should say that because I believe it did not have that comment on the plug in but I was told by a trainer on here that he never had an issue. Maybe I am one of the lucky ones, haha.
It looks as though my recourse is to double check every link (to make sure they are good) and then I suppose I have to tell the checker each one is not broken.
After that, I think I am going to disable it. I have a direct link on google that will do the same thing so I don't think I really need this plug in.
Thanks for your response Jackie.
Mary Ann
It says the link is broken, if it's not broken you can fix them with the broken link plugin
https://raneydaydesign.com/fixing-link-text-appearing-with-a-strikethrough/
I am thinking the Broken Link Checker plug in is the issue as I never had this happen before. However, I will look at the article. Thanks Loes.
Mary Ann
That is showing you that the backlink is broken. To fix the problem check the links and either remove them or replace them with a working link.
Thanks for replying, however,this would imply that EVERY single post I have created ALL have broken links which I know isn't true. I am not talking about one or two links but every link. Therefore, this suggests to be that this can't be the case.
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Now I know the links aren't broken, link checker is giving me 5 options: Edit Url; Unlink; Not Broken; Dismiss; Recheck.
Which do I click? Not Broken?
Yes.