Most website owners focus heavily on backlinks, content publishing, and rankings. Meanwhile, one of the most overlooked SEO problems keeps growing quietly in the background: bad internal links.
A few weeks ago, I audited my website using Semrush Site Audit and discovered something frustrating. My website had hundreds of internal links pointing to redirected URLs, along with several broken internal links leading to 404 pages.
At first, it did not seem like a major issue. The pages were still opening because redirects were working. But after digging deeper, I realized these internal linking problems were creating unnecessary friction for both users and search engines.
So I decided to clean everything up properly.
Here’s exactly how I fixed hundreds of broken and redirected internal links on my website.
The Problems I Found During the Audit
The audit revealed two major issues:
1. Redirected Internal Links
Many internal links across my website were pointing to old URLs that redirected to newer pages.
The structure looked something like this:
Old Internal Link → 301 Redirect → Final Destination Page
For example:
/best-seo-tools-2024
Redirecting to:
/best-seo-tools
This usually happens when:
- URLs are changed after publishing
- Categories or slugs are updated
- Old articles are merged
- HTTPS migrations happen
- Trailing slash formats change
The issue is that internal links should never rely on redirects.
Even though search engines can follow redirects, it still creates unnecessary crawl steps. Instead of going directly to the final page, Google has to process an extra hop.
2. Broken Internal Links
The second issue was worse.
Some pages were internally linking to URLs that no longer existed at all. These links were returning 404 errors.
This typically happened because:
- Old pages were deleted
- URLs were changed without updating references
- Draft URLs were accidentally linked
- Older articles contained outdated references
Broken internal links create a poor user experience. Nobody likes clicking a link and landing on a dead page.
From an SEO perspective, they also weaken website structure and waste crawl resources.
Why Redirected Internal Links are Bad for SEO
A lot of people ignore redirected internal links because “the redirect works anyway.”
That is technically true, but it is still not ideal.
Here’s why I wanted to fix them:
Extra Crawl Steps
Every redirect adds another step for search engines.
Instead of:
Page A → Page B
It becomes:
Page A → Redirect → Page B
On a large website, these unnecessary hops add up quickly.
Slower User Experience
Even small redirect delays affect page loading and navigation flow.
A direct internal link is always cleaner and faster.
Redirect Chains Become Messy
Over time, redirects can stack on top of each other.
Example:
Old URL → Another URL → Final URL
This creates redirect chains, which are terrible for technical SEO.
Cleaner Site Architecture
Good internal linking creates a clean and understandable website structure.
Direct linking helps search engines understand relationships between pages more efficiently.
How I Found the Issues Using Semrush
I used the Site Audit tool inside Semrush to crawl my website.
The audit highlighted:
- Internal links with redirects
- Broken internal links
- Redirect chains
- 4xx errors
- Crawl issues
One thing I liked was that Semrush grouped these problems clearly, making it easier to prioritize fixes.
I exported the reports into spreadsheets and started cleaning them one by one.
How I Fixed Redirected Internal Links
This process took time, but it was straightforward.
Step 1: Export All Redirected Internal Links
I first exported all URLs marked as redirected internal links.
This gave me:
- Source page
- Linked URL
- Redirect destination
Step 2: Identify the Final Destination URL
For every redirected URL, I checked the final working version.
Example:
Internal link pointing to:/seo-tools-2024
Final destination:/best-seo-tools
Step 3: Replace Old Links With Final URLs
I manually updated the links inside:
- Blog posts
- Navigation sections
- Category pages
- Related post areas
Instead of linking to redirected URLs, I linked directly to the final 200-status page.
This immediately removed unnecessary redirect hops.
Step 4: Remove Redirect Chains
Some URLs were passing through multiple redirects before reaching the final page.
I cleaned those as well.
The goal was simple:
Every important internal link should point directly to a live page without any redirects in between.
How I Fixed Broken Internal Links
Broken links required a different approach.
Step 1: Identify 404 URLs
Semrush showed all internal links leading to broken pages.
I reviewed them individually.
Step 2: Find Relevant Replacement Pages
For many deleted pages, there were newer or updated alternatives available.
Instead of keeping dead links, I replaced them with relevant working pages.
Step 3: Remove Unnecessary Links
Some broken pages no longer had useful replacements.
In those cases, I simply removed the internal links completely.
There is no point linking users to outdated or irrelevant content.
Step 4: Update Older Articles
Most broken links were found inside older blog posts.
This reminded me that content maintenance matters just as much as content publishing.
Publishing articles is easy. Maintaining them properly is the hard part.
What Happened After the Cleanup
I did not expect some magical overnight ranking increase.
But I did notice several improvements after cleaning the internal links.
Cleaner Technical SEO Health
My site audit score improved significantly after fixing the issues.
The website structure became much cleaner.
Better Crawl Efficiency
Search engines could now reach pages directly without unnecessary redirect steps.
Improved User Experience
Visitors were no longer landing on broken pages through internal navigation.
Easier Site Maintenance
The cleanup also helped me better understand my own site structure.
I discovered outdated URLs, forgotten pages, and unnecessary redirects that had accumulated over time.
What I Learned From This Process
One thing became very clear during this cleanup:
Internal linking problems grow silently over time.
Especially on websites that publish content regularly, URL changes and deleted pages slowly create technical SEO debt.
Most people focus only on publishing new content while ignoring maintenance.
But maintaining your existing website architecture is equally important.
A website with strong internal linking:
- Helps search engines crawl efficiently
- Improves user navigation
- Passes link equity properly
- Keeps the site structure clean
And honestly, fixing internal links is one of the few SEO improvements completely under your control.
Also, check How I Fixed Hundreds of Broken and Redirected External Links on My Website
Final Thoughts
If you have never audited your internal links, there is a good chance your website already has redirected or broken internal links hiding in the background.
Using tools like Semrush Site Audit makes it much easier to identify these problems before they start affecting SEO performance and user experience.
For me, this was not just a technical cleanup. It was a reminder that SEO is not only about creating new pages. It is also about maintaining the quality and structure of the pages that already exist.
And sometimes, small technical fixes create a surprisingly big long-term impact.
