Are Your Affiliate Links Broken? Bulk Check Them in Seconds

3 min read SEOMediaWorld Staff

Affiliate links that return 403, 404, or get stuck in redirect loops lead to lost commissions and poor user experience. Use a free Bulk HTTP Status Code Checker to scan all links at once—no login or scripts required.

Why This Problem Matters (And Why You Probably Have It)

Ever opened your old blog post and clicked your affiliate link… only to land on a 403 error page?
That’s your money disappearing in real-time.

Affiliate programs rotate links. Merchants change platforms. Even legit links break due to content pruning or tracking failures. You could lose 10%, 20%, or more of your affiliate income just because links went stale.

And no, manually checking 100+ URLs one by one isn’t the answer—unless you’ve got all day.

Error TypeWhat It MeansWhat It Costs You
403 ForbiddenThe merchant or tracking domain is blocking trafficMissed clicks, zero tracking
404 Not FoundThe destination page is goneLost conversions
301/302 LoopsRedirect chains that never resolveBad UX, potential SEO harm
TimeoutsLink takes too long to respondUser drops off, no sale

Now imagine 15% of your blog’s links doing this silently. That’s not a minor leak—that’s a revenue flood.

Real-World Example: The Coupon Code Disaster

One blogger promoted a high-converting Black Friday deal through an affiliate network. Everything looked good. But during the campaign, the merchant switched to a new coupon landing page.

Result?

The original affiliate URL returned a 404 error.
The blogger only noticed it after the campaign ended.
She lost four figures in commissions.

Now she bulk-checks all her links before every promo. And so should you.

How to Fix It in Under a Minute (No Coding)

Here’s how to check hundreds of links in one go using our free tool:

Step 1: Go to Bulk HTTP Status Code Checker
Step 2: Paste in all your affiliate links
Step 3: Click “Check Status Codes”
Step 4: Scan the results – 200 = Good, everything else = needs fixing
Step 5: Replace, redirect, or update broken ones before your next promo blast

✅ No login
✅ No spreadsheet formulas
✅ No tech knowledge required

What to Watch Out For in Affiliate URLs

When scanning your list, pay close attention to these red flags:

  • Redirect Chains >3 hops — could trigger browser blocks or drop tracking
  • 403 on Tracking Domains — your affiliate network might be geoblocking bots
  • Soft 404s — visually look like real pages, but return 404 in headers
  • HTTPS Downgrades — links that redirect from https to http may be insecure

Always check from a clean browser or third-party service—some merchants cloak or filter based on location or device.

Why Affiliate Managers Love This Trick

Affiliate program managers often audit links during Q4. If they spot bad links on your site, they may:

  • Pause your account
  • Drop your commission rate
  • Flag your content as non-compliant

Pre-checking all your affiliate links puts you ahead of their quality control teams—and gives you leverage to ask for better rates.

Broken links creep in over time. Automate your cleanup:

  • Export all affiliate links from your CMS or spreadsheet
  • Run the bulk checker every 30 days
  • Add it to your content calendar or outreach checklist
  • Track recurring offenders (some networks are more prone than others)

This small habit protects your passive income like nothing else.

Final Thought

You’ve already done the hard work—wrote the content, built the traffic, earned the trust. Don’t let a dead URL ruin all of that.

With one free tool and 30 seconds, you can clean up your entire affiliate strategy and stop leaking sales.

👉 Run your links now and catch the broken ones before your audience does.

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