Tech Tip - How to avoid "link rot"!

Google will be retiring its URL shortening service in 2025, which will have a significant impact to a lot of people that have been using it and do not make changes before the service stops, resulting in what is know as "link rot".

What is link rot. It is where a link or URL that used to work, no longer works, which will happen when this service is retired and anything using the short links will end up getting a 404 - page not found error.

What should you do to fix this?  

Regularly scan your website for broken links

It is always important to check your website for any "dead links" which you can do by using tools such as Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, or Ahrefs which can go through a website and scan all the links then report on dead ones.

List all URLs that have been shortened

Use Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to search your site and report on shortened links that in use on your website and then address the shortened URLs before they break.  This is a great way to ensure your website will still work after Google retires their service.

Keep an eye on links

It is important to scan your website regularly to ensure all links work so your website users have a great browsing experience

Create a helpful custom 404 page

A 404 error page is usually really bland and unhelpful, but it doesn't need to be.  Create a custom 404 error page that provides useful information to people, and also a means to report the issue so you can fix it.

Never be shy about asking people using your website for feedback if they find a problem.  Better to find out and fix it than have people get a poor user experience.