Links are still the most relevant factor that allows Google to measure trust in a page, which makes it all the more annoying when carefully-built links are lost. A new feature in the link module will help you identify these lost links. Video walkthrough at end of article.
General Options
At the top right corner you’ll find general settings for the whole page, in particular:
- Filter: Save and access filters or use the advanced filter.
- Export: With this button you can export the displayed table, downloading (filtered) keywords and the data contained in every column. Read more about exports and credits here.
- Shortlink: Share the page with other Toolbox users. You’ll get a personalised shortlink, active for a few days, that you can share without any limitations.
Finally, the cogwheel icon of the table will let you export the data, or add them in a dashboard or a report. Here you’ll also find the function “Select columns” which allows you to add more interesting columns to the table.
Lost Links – Table
This table shows, in descending order of host Visibility Index, the list of links lost along with additional information showing the possible cause.
The results are divided into four broad categories. You can filter these categories in the Toolbox as you wish.
- Server offline – the web server is (currently) unreachable. All links from this hostname are unavailable. In some cases, this is only a short or medium-term problem until the provider fixes the error, but sometimes the links are lost permanently.
- 3XX: Page moved – the document that this link was originally found on has moved to a new URL and will be redirected there via the 300-range of status codes. The link is often still set, just under a different URL. You often see this when a domain moves to SSL.
- 4XX: Page not found – the document on which we originally found the link is no longer to be found. An HTTP status code from the 400 range also promises no alternative.
- Link not found – the document still exists, but the original link was not found. It’s likely that the link has been removed.
