Over time, target URLs go stale. Pages get moved, removed, redomained, or 404. Link Health automatically checks your pretty links’ target URLs on a schedule and flags any that have started returning errors — so you can fix them before visitors bounce off.
What Link Health Checks
When Link Health runs, Pretty Links makes a quick HTTP request to each target URL and looks at the response:
- 2xx status codes (success) — Link is healthy;
- 3xx status codes (redirect) — Usually fine; the target is just bouncing visitors somewhere else;
- 4xx status codes (client error) — Flagged. The most common is 404 (page not found), indicating the target page has been removed or moved;
- 5xx status codes (server error) — Flagged. The target server is having problems. May be transient; rechecks will tell you;
- Connection refused / DNS failure — Flagged. The target domain may have been abandoned or moved;
- Timeout — Flagged. The target took too long to respond.
Each check stores the result so you can see the link’s recent health status in the Pretty Links list.
Enabling Link Health
Go to Dashboard > Pretty Links > Options > Link Health.
- Enable Link Health — Master on/off;
- Check frequency — How often to run automated checks (weekly or monthly);
- Notifications — Whether to email you a digest when dead links are found, on its own schedule.
Once enabled, Link Health runs automatically on the schedule you’ve set — no manual intervention needed. Each run checks links in batches of 50, and the email digest runs as a separate scheduled task.
The Dead-Link Badge
When Link Health detects an unhealthy target, the affected link gets a dead-link badge in the Pretty Links list, making it easy to spot at a glance.
You can also filter the links list to show only links with health issues, so you can fix a batch in one sitting.
Manually Triggering a Check
In addition to the scheduled checks, you can trigger a one-off check for a specific link from its edit screen, or for all links from the Dashboard > Pretty Links > Tools page.
This is useful when:
- You’ve just fixed a target URL and want to confirm the health status updates immediately;
- You suspect something has changed (e.g., a partner emailed about a domain migration) and want to verify before the next scheduled check;
- You’re auditing your link collection ahead of a big campaign.
Remediation Suggestions
When a link is flagged unhealthy, Pretty Links offers basic suggestions for how to fix it:
- 404 errors — The target page is gone. Options: update the target URL to a working alternative; redirect the pretty link to your own related content; expire the link with a fallback URL;
- 5xx errors — The target server is having trouble. Options: wait and recheck (often transient); reach out to the target’s owner; if persistent, treat like a 404;
- Connection refused / DNS failure — The domain is dead. Options: find a successor URL; redirect the pretty link to a related page on your own site;
- Timeout — The target is slow. Options: recheck (might be a load spike); contact the target’s owner if persistent.
For affiliate links specifically, if a partner discontinues a product, you can update the pretty link to point at a comparable replacement product. Every existing share of the pretty URL automatically benefits — you don’t have to update individual posts.
Scope of Checks
Link Health checks the target URL (the destination), not the pretty URL itself. Pretty URLs hosted on your own site are always healthy by construction (unless your site is down).
Link Health checks only each link’s main target URL. It does not check the alternate URLs used by rotation or split tests. A bad variant inside a rotation is therefore not flagged on its own.
Things to Keep in Mind
- Some sites block automated requests. Cloudflare, bot mitigation services, and rate-limited APIs may block Pretty Links’ health checks. Those targets may be flagged as unhealthy even when they work for human visitors. You can ignore the warning or update the target to a check-friendly URL;
- Checks make real HTTP requests to your targets. On very large link collections, this is real network traffic — schedule checks during low-traffic windows if your hosting has tight limits;
- Health checks don’t follow your targeting or rotation rules. They check the literal target URL stored on each link, not the URL a specific visitor would actually receive.
Combining With Other Features
Link Health pairs naturally with:
- Expiration — When you find a dead link, expire it with a fallback URL to gracefully retire the campaign;
- Rotation — Spread traffic across several targets, so one dead destination need not stall the whole campaign;
- Auto-Create — Detect when post permalinks change (rare but possible) and update auto-created links accordingly.
Tips
- Don’t panic over a single 5xx flag. Server errors are often transient. Wait for the next check;
- Audit health-flagged links monthly. Block out time to update or expire them in a batch;
- Use rotation for high-stakes campaigns. If one target dies, the others keep working while you investigate.