Feature guide · 4 minute read
Trace links to their source
A broken or redirected destination tells you what failed, but not where to fix it. Use the Links table to move from a problem URL to every page that contains the link, without searching templates or exports by hand.
25-second workflow
Go from a bad destination to the page that links to it.
Recorded in SEO Crawler 0.1.8 using deliberate public fixtures. The matching theme loads on demand; the alternate recording is not fetched.
What happens in the demo
Find the destination that needs investigation
In Pages, filter Status Code to 404 and copy the broken URL. No cell is selected until the URL is ready to copy.
Switch from pages to individual links
Open Links. Each row now represents a discovered link rather than one crawled page.
Filter Destination URL
Paste the broken URL into Destination URL Incl. The table keeps links that point to that exact problem destination.
Read the source page
Select Source URL to identify the page that contains the link. That is usually where the correction belongs.
Choose the right unit of analysis
Pages describe URLs. Links describe relationships.
Pages contains one row per crawled URL and is the right place to identify a status problem. Links can contain several rows for the same destination because different source pages, anchors, or images may point to it. Use both views together: diagnose the destination in Pages, then locate every reference in Links.
Read each link as a source-to-destination statement.
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Source URL | The page or resource where SEO Crawler discovered the link. |
| Destination URL | The resolved URL the link points to and the field to filter when tracing a known problem. |
| Status Code | The destination response observed during the crawl. |
| Anchor or image context | Evidence that helps locate the exact reference inside the source page. |
Trace a destination in four passes.
- 1.
Identify the problem URL
Use Pages or an Issues result to find the broken, redirected, or unexpected destination. Copy its complete URL.
- 2.
Switch to Links
Keep the crawl results and change to Links. Open Filter only if Source URL, Destination URL, Status Code, or context columns are hidden.
- 3.
Paste into Destination URL Incl.
Use the complete URL for an exact investigation, or a stable path fragment when several related destinations should remain visible.
- 4.
Inspect every source row
The same destination may appear more than once. Review each Source URL and its anchor or image context before preparing the fix.
Verify both ends after the correction.
Update the link in the source template, CMS field, navigation, or page content. Run a fresh crawl and repeat the Destination URL filter. The old destination should no longer have source rows, and the replacement destination should return the intended status.
Include the source URL, old destination, replacement destination, status code, and link context in the handoff. That gives the implementer a location, a change, and a result they can verify.
Continue with the broken internal links workflow