Are you experiencing broken links reported by SemRush and a link checker website after exporting your Webflow site? Although all the links work, you're still finding it strange. Have you encountered this issue before and found a solution? Thank you.

When you export your Webflow site and scan it with SEMrush or link checker tools, you might see broken link reports even though links seem to work manually. This can happen due to Webflow’s export structure or how your hosting environment serves assets.

1. Understand Why This Happens

• Relative Links: Webflow uses relative links (/page instead of https://domain.com/page) when exporting, which can confuse scanners if the site isn’t hosted properly.
• Folder vs File Structure: Exported pages like about.html serve as a file, but some link checkers look for a directory (/about/) by default and report missing resources.
• Hosting Server Settings: If your server doesn't automatically handle URL rewriting (like Apache’s .htaccess rules), relative links can appear broken to bots.
• Slow Response During Scan: Temporary server speed issues can cause false positives during link checking.

2. Immediate Checks You Can Perform

• Manually test the “broken links” and confirm whether they load in a private/incognito browser session.
• Review your exported structure to ensure that the paths match across your HTML and assets folders.
• Check file extensions: Links in the HTML should include .html if the server doesn't handle clean URLs automatically.

3. Best Practices to Resolve It

• Add .html extensions manually to internal links if your hosting doesn’t rewrite URLs automatically.
• Use absolute links during export if your destination server needs full URL paths.
• Deploy on proper hosting: Ensure your server settings (like Apache’s .htaccess or Netlify's redirect rules) properly handle clean URLs if you're not using Webflow Hosting.
• Rescan after adding rewrite rules to your hosting to better reflect correct routing for SEMrush.

4. Potential Configuration Fixes

• If self-hosting with Apache, make sure you include simple .htaccess rules like:
• Redirect /about/ to /about.html
• Force trailing slash removals/additions if needed.
• If using Netlify or Vercel, create a _redirects file to ensure proper routing.

Summary

Broken links reported after exporting a Webflow site typically result from how servers or scanning bots interpret relative links and file paths. Ensure your hosting handles URL rewrites properly and adjust exported links if necessary. Always manually verify links before trusting automated reports.