Conversion funnel has no broken links or dead ends
Why it matters
Placeholder href="#" values, empty onClick={() => {}} handlers, and form submissions pointing at API routes that were never created are among the most common defects in AI-built projects — the surface looks finished but the conversion path is mechanically broken. Every dead CTA silently swallows interested visitors, and because the failure happens after the click, analytics often do not flag it until manual testing or a customer complaint surfaces the gap.
Severity rationale
Medium because placeholder links and missing API routes silently abort conversions without any visible error to the visitor.
Remediation
Grep the codebase for href="#", href="", and onClick={() => {}} on CTA elements, then replace each with the real destination route. Verify that every signup form's submission target has a corresponding app/api/**/route.ts file and that post-success redirects point at pages that exist. Search with:
rg 'href="#"|href=""|onClick=\{\(\) => \{\}\}' src/
Create placeholder pages for any referenced route that does not yet exist rather than leaving dead links live.
DetectionPro
The detection method for this pattern is part of AuditBuffet Pro.
The full method (what to look for, pass and fail conditions, and how results get reported) ships inside the Conversion Optimization Audit. The pattern definition, severity rationale, and remediation remain openly licensed under CC-BY-4.0.
Taxons
History
- 2026-04-18·v1.0.0·Initial import from marketing-conversion·automated