Question about Crawl Diagnostics - 4xx (Client Error) report

[fablau]

Hi here,

I was wondering if there is a way to find out the originating page where a broken link is found from the 4xx (Client Error) report. I can't find a way to know that, and without that information is very difficult for me to fix any possible 404 related issues on my website.

Any thoughts are very welcome! Thank you in advance.

[jesse-landry]

Google Webmaster Tools reports where 404 links originate from. I don't think the SEOmoz bundle can help you. GWMT will for sure.

[MikeRoberts]

I've actually wondered this too because my SEOmoz report shows 404s that Google Webmaster Tools does not and I'd like to know how mozbot found it while googlebot didn't.

[ThompsonPaul]

Unfortunately the report page doesn't explain it, Fabrizio, but the information you are looking for is available if you download the full report as a CSV. Once you open the spreadsheet, you'll find that the very last column is titled "Referrer" and lists the page the broken link is found on so you go and fix it.

That what you were looking for?

Paul

[fablau]

Yes, thank you Paul, that's actually what I didn't know! I think SEOmoz should make that clear somewhere... I spent almost 1 hour trying to find that information around the site!

Thank you again very much.

[ThompsonPaul]

I've created a Feature Request indicating this kind of info needs better documentation, Fabrizo. Would you go to the request I made, add your vote, and perhaps leave a comment describing how much time you lost trying to find your solution?

https://seomoz.zendesk.com/entries/23715458-Better-documentation-of-features-on-tool-report-pages

I've suggested this a number of times to staff while answering this question in the past but in fairness, I can see how requests here in Q&A might not get passed to the folks responsible for considering these kinds of changes. So if we help them by using the Feature Request, we can make it easier for them and hopefully other users in the future.

Paul

[fablau]

Thank you Paul, I have just voted and left a comment! Let's cross our fingers! That tool is great, but can be much improved

Thank you again.