When outside pages link to your company’s website, this is a boon for your business. Checkerboard’s website support can ensure external links send customers to your current content, not to Y2K blogs you took down years ago.

Over time, outside links that used to refer visitors to your posts may now send them to pages that no longer exist. Perhaps you’ve changed your product line, removed old announcements or changed promotions. Those links give guests the dreaded “404” page: that never-fun-to-experience message that says it can’t find the page being sought. This makes your visitors say “hmmph” and move on to other sites. And, since Google uses links to your site as a way to measure your content’s value, broken links are lost opportunities for better search rankings. This is why Checkerboard’s marketing and technical experts routinely monitor for broken links as part of our ongoing support packages.

We can obtain a list of the outdated links and redirect traffic to your current content. Checkerboard also uses industry-standard tools to keep websites tuned up and running smoothly.

To redirect links yourself:

• Run a Google Webmaster Tools report that shows which links in cyberspace are sending visitors to outdated pages. In Webmaster Tools, go to the left menu. Click “Crawl”, and then “Crawl Errors”. From there, click on the “Not Found” tab. You’ll find a list of the offending links.
• Redirect traffic to more current content. If you’re using WordPress, log into your WordPress administration and go to the left menu. Go to “Tools”, and then “Redirection”. Look for “Add new redirection” at the bottom of the page. For “Source URL”, enter the outdated link from your Google Webmaster Tools report. For “Target URL”, paste in a new link from your current website. Select “Add redirection”.

Using Checkerboard to build your website gives you a real advantage in this process. Unlike most other web design firms, we include a Google Webmaster Tools connection in our initial builds. And, our web builds include easy tools for managing broken links.

If you don’t have time to fuss with broken links, a Checkerboard property manager can take care of them for you. Our property managers monitor all aspects of a website. Redirecting broken links is just the beginning. They have access to a broad range of tools to improve a website’s efficiency. They’re Google Analytics certified, so they can track web traffic in detail and plan digital marketing campaigns that attract the right target audience.

Expert website maintenance can help you capture more traffic and generate more leads. To find out more about our property management service, give us a call at 952-697-5211 or complete our form. Keep your web visitors seeing your latest and greatest offerings.