You update internal links in bulk and assume they work. They don’t.
Broken or redirecting links slip through spreadsheets all the time. Google recrawls most sites every 3-7 days, so you’ve got a narrow window to fix them before rankings dip.
What Is a Internal Link QA Validator?
Internal Link QA Validator is a free browser-based tool that checks whether corrected internal links from your audit actually resolve.
You paste updated URLs, and it validates each one live — with built-in rate limiting so servers don’t block you like a bot.
Why It Matters for SEO
A single 301 redirect on an internal link passes only about 90% of link equity. Chain two redirects and you’re below 80%.
Google drops pages from search results if core internal links 404. Sites with over 50 broken internal links lose indexing speed by 40%.
The real issue is that spreadsheet audits don’t test live URLs. Most people miss that their “fixed” links redirect twice before landing — or fail entirely.
How to Use It
- Go to https://scrawl.tools/tools/internal-link-qa (no login needed)
- Paste your list of updated internal URLs — one per line — into the input box
- Click “Validate” and let it run; it checks each link slowly to avoid triggering bot defenses
It’s free, it runs in your browser, and it doesn’t send your data anywhere.
What the Results Tell You
Each URL returns a status code: 200 means live, 301/302 means redirected, 404 means broken.
You’ll see the final destination if redirected, so you know if it’s pointing to the right page.
Red 404s mean your fix failed. Yellow redirects mean you’re leaking equity. Green 200s mean you’re good.
3 Mistakes Most People Make
One: They validate 100 links at once without rate limiting. Their IP gets soft-blocked and results are incomplete.
Two: They assume a 301 is fine. But if your updated link goes /old → /temp → /live, you’re losing juice.
Three: They don’t recheck after deployment. One client pushed 200 “fixed” links live — 27 were still broken due to CMS sync delays.
Most people miss that internal link fixes aren’t done until they’re tested live. Google doesn’t care about your spreadsheet — only what actually loads.
You get what you test. Check every corrected link with the Broken Link Checker or this tool.
Closing paragraph
You’ll never catch every broken internal link without testing live.
Go check your fixes now at https://scrawl.tools/tools/internal-link-qa — it’s free and no login needed.
