Link rot
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Link rot is the process by which links on a website gradually become more irrelevant or broken as time goes on, because the websites that are linked to disappear, change content or redirect to a new location.
The phrase also describes the effects of failing to update webpages so that they become out-of-date, full of information that is old and useless, and that clutters up search engine results. This process most frequently occurs in personal homepages that the owner has lost interest in, and is prevalent in free webhosts such as GeoCities, where there is no financial incentive to fix link rot.
Several notable web designers, such as Jeffrey Zeldman and the influental web designer magazine A List Apart list various techniques web designers can employ to prevent link rot. One solution is a permalink system, that is, a system that is designed with the fluidity of the web in mind and ensures that links on a server remain permanent and unchanging. This does not stop link rot, as sites still are taken down entirely from time to time, but can slow it significantly.
Combating Link Rot
- The golden rule: Do not keep a hyperlink collection unless you are willing to look after it.
- Design your hyperlinks so that you can maintain them. A central hyperlink collection is easier to service than hyperlinks that are scattered throughout a large website.
- Choose hyperlinks intelligently. Do not link to sub-pages ("deep linking") unless you are confident that they will remain stable. Do not keep more hyperlinks than you can manage.
- Use link checker software or a Content Management System (CMS) with link checking included.
- Use permalinks.
- Check your hyperlink collection at least once every three month.
- React quickly if you find out that a link has become obsolete. Do not leave broken links on the web under any circumstances.
- For large organisations:
- Assign somebody to link maintenance and make sure he understands his reponsibilities.
- Take efforts to ensure that reports of bad links reach the right person. In a big company, reports and complaints can easily get lost.
- Put the right e-mail address or other contact information on the same page where the links are with specific information ("Found a bad link? Contact links@business.com and we'll fix it.")
- If somebody reports a broken link, make sure it is corrected right now.
- If you have to change domains yourself, help others fix their link pages:
- Spread the information and new URL well ahead of the migration.
- Use HTTP status codes to communicate that a page has moved (eg. "301: Moved Permanently").
- Use search engines to track down sites that still have outdated links and inform the webmaster.
- Broken links annoy visitors, make your page look bad and may even affect your PageRank. Take links seriously.
External links
- Tim Berners-Lee on link rot (http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/URI)
- Jakob Nielsen on link rot. (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/980614.html)