How to Find Outbound Links on a Website – Fix All Kinds of Errors
To find outbound links on a website, use the Turgs Website Indexer Tool. It crawls your domain, lists all external links with their status codes, identifies do-follow and no-follow links, and exports the results to CSV or text format. The free version scans up to 100 outbound links per domain.
Every outbound link on your website is a vote of confidence you’re passing to another domain. When those links point to low-quality sites, broken pages, or irrelevant content, that damages your own site’s credibility with search engines. Most website owners don’t audit outbound links regularly because manually checking them is tedious. There’s a faster way.
The Turgs Website Indexer Tool crawls your entire domain and finds every external link in minutes. It shows you exactly which links are live, which are broken, and which are passing link juice you might not want to pass. If you’re serious about site health and search performance, this is a task you should run at least quarterly.
Why Tracking Outbound Links Matters
Outbound links, also called external links, connect your website to other domains. Search engines use these links as a signal of your site’s editorial judgment. Three specific problems come from unmanaged outbound links:
First, broken outbound links. When you link to a page that no longer exists, visitors hit a 404 error and leave. Search crawlers also notice these dead ends. Second, do-follow links to low-quality domains. If you’re passing PageRank to spammy or irrelevant sites, it can reflect negatively on your own authority. Third, link juice leakage. Even well-intentioned outbound links pass ranking signal away from your site. Knowing which links are do-follow versus no-follow lets you make informed decisions about which external connections to maintain.
Also read: How to Track Website Errors Easily
How to Find Outbound Links on a Website
Here are the five steps to find all outbound links using the Website Indexer Tool:
- Launch the Website External Link Checker on your computer.
- Enter your domain URL in the search field.
- Click Start and wait for the crawl to complete.
- Click OK on the completion popup.
- Go to the External Links tab to review your outbound link data.
Complete Step-by-Step Process
Download and install the Turgs Website Indexer Tool on your Windows machine.
Launch the application. The dashboard shows website analytics sections including links, errors, and status codes.
The graph panel gives you a visual overview of your site’s link health. You can see counts for internal links, external links, broken links, and redirects at a glance.
Type your domain URL into the search field and click Start to begin the crawl. The tool begins scanning every page on your site and collecting link data.
The scan runs in real time. Larger websites with hundreds of pages will take longer. Watch the progress indicator as the tool finds and categorizes each link.
When the scan completes, a popup appears. Click OK. The tool now displays your link data organized by category including broken 404 links, 301 redirects, and 200 OK links.
Click the External Links tab to view all outbound links from your website. You’ll see the full list with source URLs, destination URLs, and link status. You can also see which links are do-follow versus no-follow, and export the full report to CSV or text format for further analysis.
Key Features of the Outbound Links Checker
Here’s what the tool does beyond a basic link list:
Full link categorization: The tool identifies external links, internal links, broken links, and redirected links from a single crawl. You get the complete picture of your site’s link health in one report rather than running separate tools for each link type.
HTTP status code visibility: Every link comes with its status code: 200 (working), 301 (permanent redirect), 302 (temporary redirect), 400 (bad request), 403 (forbidden), or 404 (not found). This lets you prioritize which broken links to fix first.
Do-follow and no-follow detection: You can see exactly which external links are passing link juice to other domains. If you find do-follow links pointing to domains you don’t intend to endorse, add a nofollow attribute directly from the tool.
Export to CSV and text: The full report exports to CSV or text format so you can share it with clients, import it into a spreadsheet, or archive it for later comparison. Running quarterly audits and comparing exports shows you how your outbound link profile changes over time.
No technical setup required: Just install, enter your domain, and run. The tool handles the crawl automatically. Non-technical website owners can run a full outbound link audit without any coding or configuration.
Limitations to Know
Limitations
- The free version scans up to 100 outbound links per website. Large sites with hundreds of external links require the full paid license.
- The tool runs on Windows only. Mac users need an alternative solution for outbound link auditing.
- Dynamic JavaScript-rendered content may not be fully crawled. Links loaded via JavaScript after page load might not appear in the scan results.
- Very large websites with thousands of pages will take longer to crawl. Plan for processing time when auditing enterprise-scale sites.
- The tool audits links from the public-facing pages it can access. Pages behind login walls or password protection are not scanned.
- External link status can change after your scan. A link that shows 200 OK today might be a 404 by next month. Regular rescans are the only way to stay current.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find all outbound links on my website?
Use the Turgs Website Indexer Tool. Enter your domain URL, click Start, wait for the crawl, and then open the External Links tab. You’ll see every external link on your site with its status code and do-follow or no-follow designation. The free version handles up to 100 outbound links per domain.
Why should I check outbound links on my website?
Broken outbound links create a bad experience for visitors and signal low site maintenance to search engines. Do-follow links to poor-quality external sites can also drag down your own domain authority. Regular audits let you fix broken links and add nofollow attributes where appropriate before they affect your rankings.
Can I export my outbound link report to share with clients?
Yes. The Turgs Website Indexer Tool exports the full link report to CSV and text format. You can then share it directly with clients, import it into Excel for analysis, or compare it against a previous export to track changes over time.
What HTTP status codes should I watch for in my outbound links?
Watch for 404 (not found), 403 (forbidden), and 400 (bad request). These indicate broken or inaccessible links that should be removed or updated. 301 redirects are less urgent but worth reviewing since the destination may have changed from your original intent.
How many outbound links can the free version detect?
The free version of the Turgs Website Indexer Tool detects up to 100 outbound links from a single website. For sites with more external links than that, you’ll need to upgrade to the paid license for unlimited scanning.
How often should I audit outbound links on my website?
Run an outbound link audit at least every 3 months. External sites change, delete pages, and go offline regularly. Quarterly audits catch broken links before they accumulate. For actively updated sites or those running affiliate programs, monthly audits make more sense.
