When is the last time you checked your links?

No. We’re not talking about sausage or chains, but the hyperlinks within your website. Yes, you need to make sure they work.

If your goal is to have a website that is a wealth of information for parents and offers helpful resources, you need to verify that people can actually access the information you claim to provide.

The easiest way to check your hyperlinks is to simply go page by page within your website and click on everything that is hyperlinked; whether it’s a form, pdf attachment, or a link to another website or resource.

If you get an error message that the file is missing or the link is broken, make a note about which page of your website it was on and what was missing. Once you’ve gone through the website, you can go back into each page and fix the broken links yourself, or pass the information along to IT or the person/s responsible for updating your website.

Broken links and missing information happen for a number of reasons, some of which may be beyond your control. The website for homework tips may have been removed. The museum you linked to on your Local Attractions page may not have renewed their domain name. The reduced lunch form may have accidentally been attached to the student emergency form.

If parents and community members continue to click on links that don’t work, they’ll stop using your website to access information and start calling your office instead—which defeats the purpose of your website. An hour spent upfront checking your hyperlinks will save you many hours in the end, and will help you continue to provide a one-stop resource for parents.