When pages move or sites are restructured, links break. This is a natural effect of changing content on websites known as link rot, and in most cases does not need to be addressed since new users do not navigate directly to destination pages, and returning users expect some level of site structure changes over the years.

In cases where a high-traffic, critical page changes position and there is a high likelihood that users frequently return to it via their browser history, broken link redirects can help keep traffic flowing. These will detect users arriving at the now-abandoned URL and point them to a new one of your choice.

In cases where entire sites move between subdomains, like in some department name changes, broken link redirects are not available due to technical limitations--a subdomain redirect can be requested instead since every link at the original subdomain will be broken.

Before requesting a broken link redirect, you need the following things:

• Your name, email, and department name
  These will be used to track your request and contact you when the redirect is ready
• The URL that is broken
  This will be a page on your site, starting with https:// and ending in a path (e.g. https://example.mst.edu/broken/page/here)
• The URL that visitor should be forwarded to
  This will be either a new page on your site, or a page on another mst.edu site if the content has moved to a different department

1. Broken link redirects are available to official departments and groups within Missouri S&T's org chart such as academic departments, colleges, and offices. You will be requesting a broken link redirect on behalf of your department.
2. Broken link redirects are only available to sites hosted on S&T's primary Content Management System (CMS) for official department sites, TerminalFour. These redirects are not available to sites hosted on any other CMS like S&T Sites.
3. Broken link redirects should point to an address on the mst.edu domain.
4. Broken link redirects are meant as a stopgap traffic flow adjustment for high-traffic pages where returning users are highly likely to have bookmarked the page or are expected to repeatedly return to it via their browser history. Broken link redirects will not be used to redirect every page that changes location after structural updates.
5. Broken link redirect requests will be reviewed by Marketing and may be rejected. Common reasons for rejection include:
   • Excessive broken link requests
   • Untargeted broken link requests (not high-traffic pages with significant returning users)
   • Redirecting to a page off the mst.edu domain
   • Renewal of existing broken link redirects that have expired
6. It is not Marketing's responsibility to ensure users continue to flow to a page after it is moved or renamed. Content authors must understand that moving pages' locations and/or changing their names breaks traffic flows, and that this is a situation in which the pros and cons must be weighed before moving or renaming a page.
7. Broken link redirects expire after one year and will not be renewed.

To request a broken link redirect, gather the required materials from What you need above, then submit the form linked below. The redirect request will be reviewed by digital marketing. You will be contacted when the redirect is approved and functioning, generally in 1-2 business days.

Request a broken link redirect