Inspect the customer’s path
Record the source page, broken href, returned status and what the visitor expected. Distinguish an internal typo, a deleted asset, a temporarily unavailable page and a genuinely retired service. Check links in navigation, articles, buttons and downloadable files. A page’s appearance alone may not reveal the actual HTTP status.
A worked example
Fictional examples: /serivces is a typo pointing toward an existing service selector; an old PDF download was renamed; a discontinued service has no current equivalent. The first needs the link corrected, the second needs a stable asset path or relevant replacement, and the third needs an honest retirement decision rather than a misleading service promise.
Choose the next action
Repair the source link whenever you control it. Add redirects for genuine moved destinations where they help existing visitors and external links. Keep a useful missing-page experience for unknown URLs, with routes to the main service and contact information. Do not make every unknown address return a successful generic page.
Check whether it worked
Recheck the corrected source and destination in the deployed site. Verify status, canonical and relevant page content, then inspect similar links generated by the same component. Keep an exception list for external pages you cannot control. If a large number broke during a redesign, return to the full URL migration inventory.
Put it to work
A record you can use
- Source page and broken destination
- Original visitor task
- Repair, redirect or retire decision
- Expected status and replacement
- Published verification
Plain text. No email required. Store completed records in your approved business systems.
Next useful step
Need help applying this to your marketing? A strategy call starts with your business and the evidence you have.
Talk through your next step →For a general editorial question, email Chris. Please leave out customer details. Questions are private, and no response time is promised.