Validate all links on a page during your automated test
Ensuring links on a page work as expected is a fundamental part of end-to-end quality assurance. Whether a link leads to another part of your site, an external resource, or a download, broken or incorrect links can harm user experience and reduce the effectiveness of your product.
The Check Links step lets your automation quickly verify that all links on the current page are valid and functioning. This gives you confidence that navigation, outbound references, and internal pathways behave correctly across releases.
Why checking links matters
Links are everywhere in web applications:
Navigation menus
Footers and headers
Product listings
Download buttons
Resource references
Documentation redirects
CTA buttons
When these links break or point to the wrong location, users encounter dead ends or unwanted behaviour. This can lead to frustration and lost conversions.
By validating links automatically, you ensure that your product’s navigation structure stays intact.
How the step works
When you run Check Links, the step:
Identifies all link elements on the current page (for example <a> tags with an href attribute)
Visits or verifies each link destination
Confirms that the link returns a successful response (usually a 2xx HTTP status)
Reports failures if links are broken, incorrect, or lead to unexpected destinations
This gives your automation a comprehensive check on navigational integrity.
Common use cases
Link validation is useful in many contexts, such as:
Main navigation bars
Feature lists
Documentation links
User profile redirects
Support or contact links
Marketing referral links
Product category hierarchies
Automating this check captures linkage regressions early before they surface in customer environments.
Combine with other assertions
Link checking is often paired with other validation steps:
Check Title — confirm the destination page displays the correct title
Check Text — verify content after navigation
Visual regression — ensure layout hasn’t shifted
Browser Go To — navigate directly and validate content
Check SEO — validate destination page SEO signals
Together these checks provide both functional and structural assurance.
Coverage without maintenance headaches
Because Check Links runs through all detected links programmatically, you avoid brittle, handcrafted link assertions. This is particularly useful for pages with lots of links or dynamic navigation structures.
You get:
Fast validation
Broad coverage
Clear reporting
Reduced maintenance
By including link validation in your automation suite, you make sure your product’s connective tissue stays strong and reliable.
Validating links proactively catches errors before they reach your users, improving quality and confidence with every release.