Check My Links is a free Chrome extension that scans any webpage for valid and broken links. It highlights working links in green and broken or 404-ed links in red, letting users diagnose link issues on their own pages or find broken link opportunities on other sites. It is one of the most-installed SEO tools in the Chrome Web Store and a staple of broken link building workflows.
This page covers what Check My Links does, how to install and use it, the main use cases in SEO and content quality control, and which alternatives are worth knowing in 2026.
What Check My Links Does
The extension crawls every link on the currently open webpage and reports the HTTP status of each. Results are color-coded inline:
- Green: Valid link (2xx response)
- Red: Broken link (typically 4xx or 5xx response)
- Yellow: Redirect (3xx)
- Gray: Warning (often mixed content or unreachable in the scan window)
The extension displays a summary count (total links, valid, broken, redirects) and highlights problematic links directly on the page so a user can see exactly where they appear in the content.
How to Use Check My Links
Installation
Search "Check My Links" in the Chrome Web Store and install. The extension shows up as a small chain-link icon in the browser toolbar.
Running a scan
- Open any webpage you want to audit
- Click the Check My Links icon in the toolbar
- Wait 5 to 30 seconds depending on how many links the page has
- Review color-coded results inline and in the extension summary
Exporting results
Results can be copied to clipboard from the extension popup. For larger audits, paste into a spreadsheet and annotate with action items.
Main Use Cases
1. Page-level auditing
Check your own site's pages for broken internal and external links before publishing. Especially useful for:
- New blog posts (catch broken citation links)
- Landing pages (catch broken CTAs or resource links)
- Resource pages (catch broken recommendations)
- Footer and navigation updates
2. Broken link building
A classic SEO tactic where you:
- Find a resource page or listicle in your category
- Run Check My Links on it
- Identify dead external links
- Reach out to the site owner with a replacement resource (yours)
Done well, broken link building produces links with higher reply rates than cold outreach because you are providing genuine value (pointing out a broken link) before asking for anything.
3. Content quality control
Before publishing a blog post or long-form content, run Check My Links to verify every citation, reference, and external link resolves. This catches common mistakes like typos in URLs, cited resources that have been removed, and paywalled links that return unexpected status codes.
4. Competitor audit
Run Check My Links on competitor resource pages to find gaps you can fill with your own content. If their "best tools for X" page has three broken links, that is three pitches you can make with a replacement resource.
5. Client reporting
Agencies and consultants use Check My Links to produce quick link audit reports for clients. Paired with a Loom video walkthrough, a broken link audit is often the first quick-win deliverable in a new SEO engagement.
Check My Links Limitations
The extension is designed for page-level work, not site-wide audits. Specifically:
- Scans only the page currently open. Does not crawl from a root URL.
- Limited export options. No automated API or bulk export.
- No scheduling. Scans only when manually triggered.
- Does not follow redirects to terminal status codes in some edge cases.
- Some JavaScript-heavy single-page applications do not fully render all links for scanning.
For site-wide crawling, monitoring, or automated reporting, use a different tool.
Alternatives in 2026
Single-page alternatives
- Link Checker by Sitechecker: Chrome extension with similar functionality plus some UI improvements
- BrokenLinkCheck.com: Web-based tool, no install required, handles larger pages
- W3C Link Checker: Standards-based, slower, useful for strict HTML audits
Site-wide scanners
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider: Desktop app, free up to 500 URLs, paid for more. Industry standard for site audits.
- Ahrefs Site Audit: Included in Ahrefs subscription, schedules weekly crawls
- Sitebulb: Desktop crawler with strong visualizations
- Semrush Site Audit: Part of Semrush subscription
Monitoring and alerting
- Linkody: Monitors backlinks and flags when they break
- Dead Link Checker Pro: Paid service, schedules regular scans
- Monitor Backlinks: Tracks backlink health over time
Most professional SEO operators combine Check My Links (for quick diagnostics) with Screaming Frog or Ahrefs (for site-wide audits).
Broken Link Building in Practice
The full broken link building workflow:
- Identify target pages: Use Ahrefs or Semrush to find resource pages and listicles ranking for your target keywords
- Scan with Check My Links: Find pages with multiple broken links
- Verify the broken links: Cross-check with Wayback Machine to understand what was originally at each URL
- Create a replacement resource: If you do not already have relevant content, produce something that matches what the dead link was pointing to
- Reach out: Short, helpful email pointing out the broken link and offering your resource as a replacement
- Track responses: Most broken link building campaigns see 5 to 15 percent reply rates
The hit rate is higher than cold outreach because you are delivering value (pointing out a problem) before asking.
Ahrefs' research across their user base shows broken link building produces an average link placement rate 2 to 3x higher than standard cold outreach when done with a quality replacement resource.
Check My Links for Social Media Work
Social media marketers use Check My Links most often for:
- Auditing link-in-bio landing pages
- Checking resource pages that social posts point to
- Verifying citation links in blog posts that will be promoted on social
- Auditing newsletters or email campaigns before send
Conbersa is an agentic platform that manages social media accounts on real human-device fingerprints for multi-account distribution on TikTok, Reddit, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Tools like Check My Links sit alongside the distribution work, helping keep the owned content that social points to in healthy condition.
The Short Version
Check My Links is a free Chrome extension that scans any webpage for broken links, color-coding results inline. It is widely used for page audits, broken link building, content quality control, and client reporting. The tool is fast and diagnostic-focused but not designed for site-wide crawls. For site audits, combine with Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, or Sitebulb. Broken link building workflows that start with Check My Links typically see reply rates 2 to 3x cold outreach when paired with a quality replacement resource.