Dumb SEO Questions

(Entry was posted by Zawar Kamal on this post in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 04/04/2019).

Is it a good idea to redirect all broken link to homepage?

Is it a good idea to redirect all broken link to homepage? I just got a project and the old guys were redirecting every 404 to homepage. They were basically using a plugin that would redirect every broken link to homepage. Shall I remove the plugin and deal with all the broken links? Is it worth it?
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YOUR ANSWERS

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

  • Scott Clark: 100% never do this. Never redirect things to the homepage. Link them to a well designed 404 page with a navigation menu.
  • Zawar Kamal: It would be better if I make it 410 instead of redirecting it to a 404 page. But I have to do it manually & if I find any better place to link that page I can link it there instead of 404 page
  • Zawar Kamal: They have about 2500 broken links. I think I have to go through every single one of them :(
  • Brenda Michelin: Yes. I did one last week with over 1200 404 pages. Takes some time, but I did it in about 10 hours.
  • Scott Clark: Zawar Kamal I find that most sites I work on with broken links have repairs that you can do that fixes batches at once. So 100 broken links requires 30 changes, etc
  • Brenda Michelin: Yes, kill that script, and look at each 404 instance individually. Sometimes the Home page WILL be the best route, but usually there are better options. I will also look at the links coming into the page to see if it is even worthwhile to do further research.
  • Scott Hendison: I agree that when it`s realistic to do so, you should individually repair the 404s.

    However, sometimes that`s just not possible given certain situations, someone`s budget, etc.

    In those cases, when its on a WP site, we`ll use a plugin called 404 to 301 which will auto-redirect to a closely associated topical page whenever possible, or a default page you can choose.

    It`s a good (and fast) way to gain back some inbound link equity, and it`s a lot better than doing nothing.

View original question in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 04/04/2019).