Have you checked your links, lately? You might be unpleasantly surprised to find that some of them may not work.

For example, a prospect wants to sign up for a lead-generation promo, but when he clicks on the snazzy “Download Now” button, it goes nowhere. The link is broken.

Picture him clicking several times trying to get it to work. What is his next likely step? Probably a click away from your site and over to your competitor.

I often run across this particular web usability problem as I work with clients. Clients get so used to their own websites, they don’t poke around them as if they were customers.

One client had major navigational links that were connecting to the wrong pages. So if a client clicked Home, he was taken to Customer Service.

Broken and misdirected links on a website can drive customers away!

If you have a large website, you can sign up for a software tool that will check all your links. Just search for “link check” or “link checker” and you will find many options.

Easy Web Tip #75: Periodically, check the links on your website. Make sure you don’t annoy your visitors by having misdirected or broken links.