How to Tell a Client Their Website Has Broken Links (Without Sounding Like Spam)

October 19, 2026 · 7 min read

You've found broken links on a client's site. Maybe you built it, maybe you inherited it, maybe it's a prospect. Finding them took two minutes. Telling the client is the harder part. Get it wrong and you sound like the dozens of "your website has 47 SEO errors!" emails they already delete every week. Get it right and the client sees you as the person who keeps their site working, which is exactly what a retainer pays for.

This guide covers how to frame the conversation, what to put in the report, scripts for the three common situations, and how to turn a one-off fix into ongoing work.

Why "you have 37 broken links" doesn't work

Clients don't care about broken links. They care about what broken links cost them: lost enquiries, lost sales, and looking careless to their own customers. A raw count tells them none of that. It also sounds exactly like automated spam, because automated spam says exactly that.

Three things separate a useful message from a spammy one:

1. Specificity. Name the actual URL, the page it's on, and what a visitor sees when they click it.
2. Business impact. "Your 'Book a consultation' button on the Services page leads to a 'page not found' error" lands. "A 404 on /services/" doesn't.
3. Verification. Before you send anything, check each link yourself, in a browser and preferably twice. Nothing kills your credibility faster than flagging a link that works. Sites sometimes block automated checkers (returning 403 or 429 to bots while working fine for people), and servers have bad minutes. Only report links that fail consistently.

Sort before you send

Group what you found into three tiers. This is the most useful thing you can do for the client, because it tells them what matters.

Tier 1: Revenue and lead paths. Broken links on or to contact forms, booking pages, checkout, pricing, quote requests, phone/email links, and the main navigation. These cost money every day they stay broken.

Tier 2: Trust and credibility. Broken links in the footer, About page, team bios, case studies, certifications, and missing images on key pages. They don't stop a sale on their own, but they make the business look neglected.

Tier 3: Housekeeping. Old blog posts linking to dead external articles, broken links deep in archives, outdated resource lists. Worth fixing, rarely urgent.

A client who sees "2 urgent, 5 worth fixing this month, 19 housekeeping" can make a decision. A client who sees "26 broken links" can't.

What to put in the report

Keep the client-facing version to one page (or one screen). Put the full list in an attachment or behind a link.

1. One-sentence summary. "We checked every page of example.com and found 2 broken links that affect enquiries, plus some lower-priority cleanup."
2. The urgent items, in plain language. For each: which page, which link (the visible text, not just the URL), what happens when clicked, and the fix. Example: "Services page → 'Request a quote' button → shows 'page not found'. Fix: point it at /contact/ (5 minutes)."
3. Counts for the other tiers. One line each.
4. What you recommend. Fix it yourself, quote for the fix, or include it in an existing plan.
5. Proof. A screenshot of the error page next to the button that leads to it is very persuasive. For the full list, the broken URL, its status code and the "found on" page are enough.

Leave out jargon like crawl budget, link equity and HTTP status theory. If the client asks why it matters for search, one sentence is enough: Google drops pages that return "not found" from its index, and visitors who hit dead ends leave.

Scripts for the three common situations

Adapt these. Don't paste them unchanged, because the specific details are what make them work.

Situation 1: A current client, and you maintain the site

You're on a care plan or retainer and your monitoring caught something. This is the easy one. Fix first, then report.

Subject: Fixed: broken "Book now" link on your Services page

Hi Sam,

Quick heads-up: our monitoring caught that the "Book now" button on your Services page was going to a "page not found" error, most likely since the booking page moved last week. We've pointed it at the new booking page and checked it works.

We also found 4 older blog posts linking to articles that no longer exist. Those don't affect bookings, so we'll clean them up as part of this month's maintenance.

Nothing you need to do. It'll be in your monthly report too.

Why it works: the problem is already solved, it's tied to something the client cares about (bookings), and it reinforces the value of the plan without saying "aren't we great."

Situation 2: A current client, but the site isn't on a maintenance plan

You built it, you still have the relationship, but they declined ongoing care, or the plan doesn't cover this.

Subject: Two broken links on example.com affecting enquiries

Hi Sam,

While working on [the thing you're doing for them], I noticed two links on your site that lead to "page not found" errors:

• The "Get a quote" button on the Services page
• The phone link in your footer on mobile (it's missing a digit)

Both are quick fixes. I can do them this week for [price], or I can send your team the exact steps if you'd rather handle it in-house.

There are also about 15 lower-priority broken links in older pages. If you'd like, I can set up monitoring so these get caught and fixed automatically each month. That's what our care plan covers.

Why it works: it gives them a free, useful piece of information whatever they decide, offers a do-it-yourself option (which builds trust), and mentions the ongoing service only after the immediate value.

Situation 3: A prospect, cold

This is the hardest, because you're a stranger. The bar for specificity and verification is highest here, and you must follow the rules for commercial email where you are and where they are (in the US that's CAN-SPAM: honest subject line, your physical address, and a working opt-out).

Subject: Broken "Contact us" link on example.com

Hi Sam,

I was looking at local [industry] sites and noticed the "Contact us" link in your main menu goes to a "page not found" error (checked twice today). It's linked from every page, so it's probably affecting enquiries:

• Link: https://example.com/contact-us (returns 404)
• Found on: every page, main menu

The fix is usually pointing that menu item at your current contact page.

I run [agency], and we look after sites like yours. Happy to help if useful. Either way, I hope the heads-up helps.

[Name] · [Company] · [Physical address] If you'd rather not hear from me again, reply "unsubscribe."

Why it works: one specific, verified, important problem, with no pressure and no inflated numbers. The fix is given away for free, and the pitch is one line.

What not to do: don't attach a 40-page automated audit, don't use alarming language ("critical SEO errors!"), and don't report anything you haven't checked yourself.

When you built the site and the links broke later

This one is awkward. The client may think the site you delivered was faulty. Usually it wasn't. Links break because content changes after launch, external sites move, or someone else edited the site. Say so plainly and without getting defensive:

"Links tend to break over time as pages get edited and other websites change. Your site has had [N] content updates since launch, and two of them left old links behind."

Then move to the fix. This is also the strongest argument for ongoing monitoring: a site that's right at launch won't stay right without anyone watching it.

Turning the fix into recurring work

One-off fixes are fine, but the bigger opportunity is to stop the client ever having to hear about this. Agencies usually set it up like this:

• Monitor every client site on a schedule (daily for sites on a paid plan) and alert only on new breakage, so the team fixes things before the client notices.
• Send a short monthly report per client: what was checked, what broke, what was fixed. This is proof of work. It answers the question every retainer client eventually asks, "what am I paying for?"
• Put your brand on it. The report should come from your agency, not a tool vendor. Clients pay you, not your software.

This is what we built AgencyHealth for. It checks every client site daily for broken links, SSL expiry, uptime and SEO basics, and produces one white-label monthly report per site under your agency's name. It's $49/mo for 50 sites or $99/mo for 150 (see pricing). If you just need link monitoring, DeadLinkPatrol plans start at $9/mo (pricing).

Checklist before you hit send

• Every link you mention fails consistently (checked at least twice, and once in a browser)
• Problems are grouped by business impact, not listed by status code
• Each urgent item names the page, the visible link text and the fix
• Plain language with no jargon, and no inflated counts
• A clear next step: fix it, quote it, or give them the steps
• For cold email: honest subject, your physical address, and an easy opt-out

Before you contact anyone, check the site yourself. The free DeadLinkPatrol checker scans up to 25 pages with no signup and shows each broken URL with the page it's on, which is exactly what you need for a specific, credible message.