The playbook
Broken Links: Checklist
Use this broken links checklist before a new release, a handoff, or a scheduled review. Its purpose is to verify the decisions that affect broken links on priority pages. Check an actual page or query record; a box marked complete without evidence does not show that the customer journey works.
Put the task in context
Separate an incorrect link in a shared menu from an obsolete external reference in one article. The menu repair belongs in the common component. The article may need a current replacement source or a rewritten recommendation rather than a redirect you do not control.
Before you use the checklist
Name the exact item being checked and its purpose. Gather source URL, broken target, response, repair. If one of those details is unknown, mark it as unknown and assign a way to resolve it. An invented value makes the checklist look complete while weakening every later decision.
Working checklist
| Check | Evidence to keep | Responsible role |
|---|---|---|
| Collect broken internal and external destinations | A dated observation showing how source URL was verified | SEO lead |
| Identify the pages and components that link to them | A dated observation showing how broken target was verified | content or development owner |
| Replace remove or redirect links based on relevance | A dated observation showing how response was verified | analytics owner |
Check the failure path
- Look specifically for this failure: redirecting a missing resource to an unrelated sales page.
- Restore the expected resource or update the surrounding recommendation. Record the actual correction, not just the intention to make it.
- Repeat the affected task after the correction and check repair.
- Make sure the next owner can find the decision and supporting evidence.
Use three outcomes for each check
Mark an item as complete only when the expected behavior or information has been observed. Mark it as incomplete when a required condition is absent. Use not applicable when the condition genuinely does not belong to the chosen scope, and write a short reason. These states keep a review useful without forcing every process into an identical mold.
For example, if the check is “Collect broken internal and external destinations,” a meeting about the subject is not the evidence itself. Retain the relevant source URL and broken target, the decision made from them, and the result of checking that decision. The record should allow someone who missed the meeting to understand what changed.
Decide what must be resolved first
An incomplete item that prevents repair links that lead readers to unavailable or incorrect destinations deserves attention before a cosmetic improvement. Assign an owner and a next action to that issue. Keep optional refinements visible, but do not let them obscure a failure in the core process.
Close the review
Recheck corrected items and note anything still uncertain. The checklist is finished when the next owner understands what was verified and what remains open. Follow broken links on priority pages using a consistent definition so later reviews can connect execution quality with useful results.
Test representative templates as well as individual URLs. When a problem appears on several pages built from the same component, a template correction may be more useful than a series of one-off edits. Verify the affected pages after the shared change.
Skip the manual steps. Let AgentixSEO run this for every client.
Start now