Quick answer
An internal link leads from one page of your site to another destination on that site. If the destination returns an error, a visitor may be stopped where they expected to continue. The exact response matters: a missing page and a page that requires access are different situations.
What can happen
A wrong link in a menu, product card, or article may prevent people from reaching useful content. If it appears in a shared element, many pages may be affected. Priority depends on the path and cause: the guide's Moderate label does not make every result urgent.
Why it is worth checking
A 404 or 410 means the requested destination was not found or was removed. A 401 or 403 may involve restricted access; a 429 may indicate a temporary request limit. These latter responses do not prove the page does not exist.
What TrustyRunner observes
TrustyRunner considers only internal links found in acquired pages and within the portion of the site explored. It uses responses already obtained during that scan, without requesting destinations a second time. It flags a link when the observed final response is HTTP 400 or higher.
This check does not cover external links, images, other asset files, or the quality of redirect chains.
How to read the result
For an observed error, read the HTTP code before deciding what to change. “No broken links observed” applies only to examined internal links with conclusive responses and pages whose links were fully extracted.
Timeouts, network problems, blocked requests, and limits on pages, depth, or content can leave a partial or uncertain result: they are not broken links by themselves. Even a result without errors does not prove every link on the site works.
What to do
- For 404 or 410, check whether the destination should still exist. Update the link, restore the content, or use a redirect only if there is a genuinely equivalent page.
- For 401, 403, or 429, review access, permissions, or request limits before changing the link.
- If the outcome is uncertain, clarify the response before intervening. If the same link appears on many pages, check menus or shared templates.
Limits of this check
The scan does not check every link on the site or external links, and it does not prove a destination stays available. Crawl limits and failed requests do not automatically become broken-link findings.
Verify with a new scan
After a change, run a new scan and compare the destination response if the link is included in the examined portion again. The new result concerns that scan, not the page's continuous availability.