Help Resurrecting Deadlinks - Web Site Redesign


Resurrecting Dead Links 2. Web Site Redesign Return to Resurrecting Dead links Main page
Many web designers are so eager to improve performance that they do not take the time to recognize what actually worked well on the original site. Many dead links are caused when the most popular pages of a site - those pages that were linked to by search engines as well as by other web sites and directories - are moved or removed. Oftentimes, the web redesign only changes file names or directories but leaves the content intact. In this case it is a matter of figuring out where the content was moved. If the root directory works (see Server resurrection), you will be taken to the home page of the source site. From there use their site search engine to find the files you are interested in or look for sections entitled "publications" or "research" or whatever else may be appropriate in your situation. Search not only for the web page/report title (as indicated in the link) but for the file name as well. The file name is the last part of a web address. It will generally end with .html, .htm or .pdf. For example in the web address above "QueryDeskHome.htm" is the file name. Sometimes however web design features such as frames and java scriptings can obfuscate file names. If the file name is not immediately clear move on to Go to the Source. Remember to be persistent when you are searching for a file name. You would be amazed at how deep some information can get buried! Other sections of this help file: Server resurrection Web Site redesign Go to the Source If none of the above options help you solve a dead link issue (or even if they do), please let us know and we will try to assist you in locating the file in question. Click here to report dead links. (NB: You will need to take down the reference ID Number of the dead link).