Automating Broken Link Checks with Ahrefs and Python: A Practical Guide for Busy Business Owners
Broken links frustrate customers and quietly hurt your search rankings. If your site has lots of pages, manually hunting 404s or dead outbound links is a time sink that rarely gets done consistently. The good news: you can automate link checks so you get timely alerts, cleaner site navigation, and better SEO — without turning it into a full-time job.
In this post you’ll learn a simple, repeatable workflow using Ahrefs and a little Python to find, prioritize, and act on broken links. By the end you’ll know how to schedule checks, reduce manual work, and keep your site healthy.
## What you’ll gain
- Regular reports about broken internal and external links.
- A lightweight automation plan you can run weekly or daily.
- Practical tips for fixing high-impact links first.
- Pointers to where you can get help and a full walkthrough at [https://prateeksha.com](https://prateeksha.com)/blog/automate-broken-link-checks-ahrefs-python-scripts.
## The problem in plain terms
Every time a page is moved, a product is discontinued, or an external site changes its URL, links can break. Broken links:
- Damage user trust and increase bounce rates.
- Hurt navigation and conversion funnels.
- Signal neglect to search engines, which can lower rankings.
Detecting these problems manually is unreliable. Automation turns discovery into a routine task so your team can fix what matters.
## The straightforward solution: Ahrefs + Python
You don’t need to be a developer to use this approach. Ahrefs does the heavy crawling and provides broken-link data via an API. Python acts as the glue to fetch that data, filter it, and notify the right people.
Basic workflow:
1. Ahrefs crawls your site and exposes broken-link reports via API.
2. A small Python script pulls the report, filters by priority (e.g., internal links on high-traffic pages).
3. The script emails the list, creates tickets, or posts a summary to Slack.
4. Schedule the script to run regularly (cron or Task Scheduler).
## Why this combo works for small businesses
- Ahrefs: reliable crawl data and context (referring pages, anchor text).
- Python: flexible for formatting reports, integrating with your tools, or updating a CMS.
- Low maintenance: once set up, checks run automatically and surface only the important issues.
## Practical tips to make automation useful
- Focus on internal links and landing pages first — these affect conversions most.
- Filter out known, low-priority external links (e.g., archived press mentions).
- Respect rate limits and set sensible timeouts so you don’t trigger blocks.
- Store audit results in a simple spreadsheet or a shared ticket queue to track fixes.
Use this short checklist when you set it up:
- Get Ahrefs API access (requires an appropriate plan).
- Store your API token securely — don’t share it publicly.
- Build a small script to fetch and parse results.
- Connect the script to email, Slack, or your project tracker.
- Schedule regular runs (weekly for most sites).
## Example of what the script will do (no code required)
Your script should:
- Request broken link data from Ahrefs for your domain.
- Group results by page and severity.
- Generate a one-page summary: pages affected, broken URLs, suggested fix (redirect, replace, or remove).
- Send the summary to the person who owns the page or to your team inbox.
If you prefer a ready-made service or an expert to set it up, check out [https://prateeksha.com](https://prateeksha.com) for tailored automation and support. You can also read related articles and a full guide at [https://prateeksha.com](https://prateeksha.com)/blog.
## Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
- False positives from JavaScript-rendered links: use tools that render pages or combine Ahrefs data with a crawl that executes JS.
- Over-notification: only alert on new or unresolved high-priority issues.
- Hard-coded credentials: always store tokens securely and rotate them if needed.
## Wrap-up and next steps
Automating broken link checks saves time, protects your SEO, and improves the customer experience. If you want to get started quickly, follow the steps above and read the full walkthrough at [https://prateeksha.com](https://prateeksha.com)/blog/automate-broken-link-checks-ahrefs-python-scripts for a complete example and implementation tips.
Need help getting this running or want a hands-off setup? Visit [https://prateeksha.com](https://prateeksha.com) or our blog at [https://prateeksha.com](https://prateeksha.com)/blog to explore services and guides — we can set up monitoring, alerts, and even automatic fixes so your site stays healthy without extra effort.
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