Link Checker
Cassian Sentinel™ validates every link on your store and tells you exactly what's broken — and what isn't.
Cassian Sentinel™ systematically tests every link on your store pages — internal links to other pages on your own store, and external links to third-party sites — and classifies each one so you know exactly what needs attention.
Broken links hurt two things: the shopping experience for real visitors who click them and hit a dead end, and your store's credibility with search engines. Cassian Sentinel™ finds them before your customers do.
Link Classifications
| Status | What it means | Affects your score? |
|---|---|---|
| Working (200) | Link is valid. The destination loads correctly. | No — positive signal |
| Redirect (301/302) | Link redirects to another URL. Informational — not necessarily a problem, but worth reviewing for internal links. | Minor deduction for internal redirects |
| Blocked (403/429) | The destination is refusing Cassian's request. Common for social networks that block automated checkers. | No — zero score impact |
| Broken (404) | Link goes nowhere. The destination page doesn't exist. | Yes — deducts from Technical Health |
| Server error (500+) | The destination is experiencing errors. May resolve itself. | Partial deduction |
A Note on Blocked Links
Cassian Sentinel™ maintains an internal list of domains known to block automated link checkers — including major social networks and certain media platforms. Links to these domains are classified as Blocked, not broken. They do not affect your Cassian Score™ and do not appear as issues requiring action.
If you see 50 blocked links in your report, that's normal. It does not mean there's a problem with your store.
Blocked links have zero score impact. You can safely ignore them — Cassian Sentinel™ already has.
What Gets Checked by Plan
Pages are prioritised from your sitemap, starting with the highest-traffic and most important pages.
| Plan | Pages checked | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Inspector | Homepage only | Weekly |
| Analyst | 20 pages | Weekly |
| Protector | 100 pages | Daily |
| Guardian | 200 pages | Daily |
| Prime | 500 pages | Daily |
| Enterprise | 500 pages | Daily |
Link checking also runs automatically after every scan to keep results fresh.
How to Enable Link Checker
Go to Sites in the sidebar and select your store.
Click Setup.
Toggle Link Checker to ON.
The first link check runs within 24 hours, or after your next scan.
How It Affects Your Cassian Score™
Broken internal links (404s on pages within your own store domain) deduct from the Technical Health category of your Cassian Score™. These are the highest priority to fix — a visitor clicking an internal product or collection link and landing on a 404 page is a direct conversion killer.
External broken links are flagged and weighted less heavily. They're worth fixing for professionalism and trust, but they carry a smaller score penalty.
Blocked links carry no score penalty whatsoever.
Where to See Link Data
Sidebar → Links shows the full link checker dashboard:
- KPI cards: total links checked, working, broken, redirecting, blocked
- A filterable results table with: link URL, status, source page, and destination URL
- Filter by status to focus on what needs action
Main dashboard → Links card shows a compact summary with broken link count and last check time.
If your Links card shows broken internal links, go to Sidebar → Links, filter by Broken, and check the Source Page column to find which page contains each broken link.
Frequently Asked Questions
I see 300 blocked links — should I worry? No. Blocked links mean those destinations (typically social networks like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X/Twitter) refused Cassian's request. This is their normal behaviour for automated checkers. Your store links are not broken, and your score is not affected.
Why is my Instagram link showing as blocked? Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and most other social platforms actively block automated link checking. Cassian Sentinel™ knows this and classifies those links as Blocked rather than Broken. No action needed.
A link shows as broken but it loads fine when I click it. Why? This can happen when a page is temporarily unavailable at the exact moment Cassian checks it. Trigger a manual scan to re-check. If the link consistently shows as working when you click it but broken in Cassian, it's possible the destination requires a specific browser header or login state that automated checking can't replicate — treat it as informational.
Does Cassian check links in my footer, navigation, and product descriptions? Yes — all links found during the crawl are checked, regardless of where they appear on the page. Navigation links, footer links, inline content links in product descriptions and blog posts, and image links are all included.
How do I know which page a broken link is on? The Links table shows a Source Page column for every link, identifying the exact page where the broken link was found. Click the source page URL to open it directly.
I fixed a broken link. When will the status update? The next link check run will pick up the fix. On Protector+ plans, this happens daily and also after your next scan. On Analyst, the next weekly check will reflect the update. You can also trigger a manual scan to accelerate this.
My store has 800 products — will Cassian check every product page? Pages are checked based on your plan limit and prioritisation from your sitemap. On Guardian (200 pages), Cassian prioritises the most important pages from your sitemap. Not every product page will be checked on every run, but your homepage, collection pages, and top products will be.
Can I see a history of link check results? The Links page shows the most recent check results. Historical trend data (e.g., "how many broken links did I have last month?") is on the roadmap.
What does a redirect (301/302) on an internal link mean — should I fix it? Internal redirects add a small amount of latency for visitors and can confuse search engines if chained. For external links, redirects are usually fine (the destination site has moved its content). For internal links, it's worth updating the source link to point directly to the final destination URL when practical.