Broken Link Building

Broken link building 

What is Broken Link Building? 

Broken link building (also known as dead link building) is the creation of backlinks by replacing links to 404 pages with a working link to a target website. Why does broken link building work so well? It's easy: Most outreach emails ask for something (a link, release, etc.) without offering anything for it. 

Outreach email But with Broken Link Building you turn the script over. Instead of just asking for something, offer help first. (In particular, a list of broken links on a person's website) I'll get straight to the point when I later send contact emails for broken link building. But to give you an idea of ​​how this differs from calling links directly, here is an example of an email for creating broken links that I recently sent: Faulty email for link building See how I first offer some help ... and then ask for a link? So this person was happy to add my link to their page. Link building error - answer Learn how to use Broken Link Building (BLB) to create many high quality backlinks to your website. Recommended Procedure Use Check My Links This is my focal point to find broken links. (And it's free) To use Check My Links, just install the Chrome extension. A small icon appears in the upper right corner of Chrome. Check My Links Icon And when you click this icon, Check My Links automatically checks all links on this page. And it reports which links are broken (404 pages) or have other errors: Results "Check my links" You can use Check My Links to search websites in your niche. This way you can uncover a handful of broken links. However, if you want to scale this process, you need to actively search for pages that are likely to have a lot of broken links. What us to ... Finds Pages with Many Links When it comes to BLB, you want to focus on pages with lots of external links. Why? It's simple: the more links a page has, the more likely one of them will break. For example, this page has 5 external links on my page: Five external links It is POSSIBLE that the page contains one or two broken links. But it is not very likely. On the other hand, this post has 192 external links. 192 external links This means that there is at least one dead link on a page with a 38-fold probability. The question is: 

How do you find pages with a lot of links? It's simple: Use Google to uncover "resource pages". As the name suggests, resource pages are pages that contain useful resources on a topic. Here's an example: Ultimate Paleo Guide And these sites tend to have a lot of links. 

You can use these search strings to search for resource pages in Google: "Keyword" + inurl: resources "Keyword" + intitle: links "Keyword" + "helpful resources" "Keyword" + "useful resources" Here is an example of the page type that You can use these search strings to find: Search Results If you find a solid looking resource page like this, run Check My Links. It doesn't work 100% of the time. But if you stay tuned, you will find a neglected page that rocks some dead links: Index Status Find all, that link to a broken link What happens next after you find a broken link? Well, you could turn to that one person and offer your link as a replacement. (More on that later) However, if you are serious about expanding this process, you don't want to stop with this one site. Instead, look for anyone else who links to this broken link. To do this, open the dead link to Ahrefs, Moz or another link analysis tool you use: Index Status - Ahrefs And you will get a list of people who refer to this dead link. Index status - refer domains sweet! Once you've created this list, you don't even need to run "Check My Links" on these pages. You already know, that they have at least one broken link. Use the "Dead Link" Wikipedia technique Wikipedia is another place to find tons of 404 pages. And not just any 404 pages ... dead links that a lot of people link to. (After all, if something makes it in Wikipedia, tons of people link to it) Here's how it works: First search Google with the following search term: site: wikipedia.org "keyword" intext: "dead link" Search for keywords not found Tip: Use a broad keyword in this search string (for example, search for "marketing" instead of "SEO"). In this way, Google calls up all Wikipedia entries that relate to your keyword from a distance. This shows you pages on Wikipedia, who have at least one faulty external link. Wikipedia - Dead Link Results Finally, visit the Wikipedia entry and scroll down to the "References" section. Wikipedia References Every link you see tagged with "Dead Link" is (obviously) broken. Wikipedia References - Dead Link What's Next? I do not recommend replacing the link on Wikipedia with a link to your site. Why? First of all, Wikipedia links are nofollow. Second, the Wikipedia editors are not playing around. If your link doesn't really deserve to be there, it will be removed within a few hours. Instead, place this dead link in a backlink analysis tool to find other websites that also link to this page: Wikipedia - Referral Domains Use Two Fantastic Ahrefs Features Designed To Build Broken Links There is nothing wrong with using Google search strings and "Check My Links" to find broken links. In fact, I still start my broken link building campaigns this way. However, if you want to find even more broken links, I recommend using two helpful Ahrefs functions: "Outgoing broken links" and "Best by Links (404)". Let me show you how these functions work in a real-world example ... First you need a competitor's website. If you don't have a keyword on hand, just search for a keyword you'd like to rank for. "SEO Tools" Results ... And add websites in your industry to a list. Next, add one of these sites to Ahrefs. Ahrefs - "moz.com" Search Go to "Outgoing Links" → "Broken Links". Moz - Outgoing Links This will show you all broken links on this entire website. Moz Broken Links (So you don't have to use Check My Links on a thousand different pages. This saves HUGE time.) Second, you can use Ahrefs to uncover broken pages on your competitor's website. And see who links to these 404 pages. To do this, insert a competing site in Ahrefs. Ahrefs - "moz.com" search and go to "Best by Links". This report shows you the pages with the most backlinks that link to them. Moz - Best by links By default, Ahrefs shows you live work pages. However, if you select "404" under "HTTP Code", a list of broken pages will be displayed, to which links point. Moz - Broken Pages Then just press "backlinks" and you can see everyone who still links to this broken page. Moz Broken Backlinks This is an SEO Double Whammy. 

Not only do you get links to your website, you also "steal" links from your competitors. Offer a VERY close replacement There are two ways to use broken link building: The first approach is to use the broken link to get your foot in the door. So instead of saying, "Are you going to link to me?" You say, "Here are a few broken links that I found ... Here's an example of it in action: close the replacement email and as you can see, it REALLY converts well. Conversion Email Reply Recreate Dead Content If you want to take things to the next level, you can actually create some of the content that is a 1: 1 replacement for the dead link. For example, when I ran Check My Links on this page, I found this dead link: "..content to spread" broken link Well, I have a blog entry on my page that is a bit similar: Viral content page But it's not a slam dunk replacement. So I paste the dead URL into Archive.org. Broken link archive And see what this page was: The social media scientist Some people copy exactly the same content on their website. But that's shady. So I don't recommend it. Instead, use the old content as a template. Create similar resources that are better and more current based on this template. Be SUPER helpful in your public relations work. Pointing out in a contact email that someone's link doesn't work is nice and good. (After all, they still offer some value) But if you want to take your reach to the next level, point out all broken links on a page ... and details about the dead links. Here's a real example: Super Helpful Email I can tell you from experience that this will blow people away and make it much more likely that they will add your link. Super helpful answer This takes more work than just saying, "I found a broken link. Is there a replacement on my side here? ". For sure. However, the enormous increase in the conversion rate can make this type of contact worthwhile. Jumping over dead sites Every now and then you come across a broken link on a website that has been completely abandoned. Here is an example: Dead Link Site Example I used to send contact emails to these websites. But I almost never heard back. (If you are not interested in maintaining your website, then why are you interested in some broken links?) So if you come across a site that has not been touched in years, I recommend saving time and the next Aim to continue on your list. Don't be pushy idiot Being pushy doesn't help with any kind of reach. This applies in particular to the broken link building. I therefore recommend touching the person gently without asking directly for a link. Here's a recent example from a contact email I sent some time ago: Gentle nudging of emails As you can see, not intrusive from a distance.

Find the right person One of the great lessons I've learned from sending over 10,000 contact emails is that your email needs to get to the right person. Otherwise, your email will go to the trash (or worse, the spam folder). And when it comes to this strategy, the "right" person is the one who is responsible for maintaining this site. In this way, you contact someone who has the option to replace the dead link with a link to your site. For example, for a blog with only one author like Backlinko, you might want to use a contact form. It is easy. But what about a blog with over 100 authors? Or a university campus with over 50 departments? You have to dig there to find the right person. I recommend searching a site’s human resources page: Site Personnel Page You will normally find someone listed as an "Editor", "Blog Manager", "Webmaster" or "Web Administrator" who is responsible for fixing broken links. Blog Manager Yes, this takes extra work compared to sending your email to a general "contact @" email address or contact form. But in my experience it's worth it. Learn more advanced SEO strategy, the results achieved: A video that guides you step by step through the "Moving Man Method", which is similar to broken link building. Broken link building in action (strategies, emails and statistics are published): Helpful guide that shows you how to find countless ways to build broken links.

ENGLISH

Faulty email for link building See how I first offer some help ... and then ask for a link? So this person was happy to add my link to their page. Link building error - answer Learn how to use Broken Link Building (BLB) to create many high quality backlinks to your website. Recommended Procedure Use Check My Links This is my point of contact for finding broken links. (And it's free) To use Check My Links, just install the Chrome extension. A small icon appears in the upper right corner of Chrome. Check My Links Icon And when you click this icon, Check My Links automatically checks all links on this page. And it is reported which links are broken (404 pages) or have other errors: Check My Links Results You can use Check My Links to search websites in your niche. This way you can uncover a handful of broken links. However, if you want to scale this process, you need to actively search for pages that are likely to have a lot of broken links. What leads us to ... Find pages with lots of links When it comes to BLB, you want to focus on pages with lots of external links. Why? It's simple: the more links a page has, the more likely one of them will break. For example, this page has 5 external links on my page: Five external links It is POSSIBLE that the page contains one or two broken links. But it is not very likely. On the other hand, this post has 192 external links. 192 external links This means that there is at least one dead link on a page with a 38-fold probability. The question is: How do you find pages with a lot of links? It's simple: Use Google to uncover "resource pages". As the name suggests, resource pages are pages that contain useful resources on a topic. Here's an example: Ultimate Paleo Guide And these sites tend to have a lot of links. You can use these search strings to search for resource pages in Google: "Keyword" + inurl: resources "Keyword" + intitle: links "Keyword" + "helpful resources" "Keyword" + "useful resources" Here is an example of the page type, that you can find using these search strings: Search Results If you find a solid looking resource page like this, run Check My Links. It doesn't work 100% of the time. But if you stay tuned, you will find a neglected page that rocks some dead links: Index Status Find all who link to a broken link What happens next after you find a broken link? Well, you could turn to that one person and offer your link as a replacement. (More on that later) However, if you are serious about expanding this process, you don't want to stop with this one site. Instead, look for anyone else who links to this broken link. To do this, open the dead link to Ahrefs, Moz or any other link analysis tool you use: Index Status - Ahrefs And you will get a list of people who refer to this dead link. Index status - refer domains sweet! Once you've created this list, you don't even need to run "Check My Links" on these pages. You already know that you have at least one broken link. Use the "Dead Link" Wikipedia technique Wikipedia is another place to find tons of 404 pages. And not just any 404 pages ... dead links that a lot of people link to. (After all, if something makes it in Wikipedia, tons of people link to it) Here's how it works: First search Google with the following search term: site: wikipedia.org "keyword" intext: "dead link" Search for keywords not found Pro tip: Use a broad keyword in this search string (for example, search for "marketing" instead of "SEO"). In this way, Google calls up all Wikipedia entries that relate to your keyword from a distance. This will show you pages on Wikipedia that have at least one broken external link. Wikipedia - Dead Link Results Finally, visit the Wikipedia entry and scroll down to the "References" section. Wikipedia References Every link you see tagged with "Dead Link" is (obviously) broken. Wikipedia References - Dead Link What's Next? I do not recommend replacing the link on Wikipedia with a link to your site. Why? First of all, Wikipedia links are nofollow. Second, the Wikipedia editors are not playing around. If your link doesn't really deserve to be there, it will be removed within a few hours. Instead, place this dead link in a backlink analysis tool to find other websites that link to this page as well: Wikipedia - referring domains Use two awesome Ahrefs features designed to build broken links There is nothing wrong with that , Google search strings and "Check my links" to find broken links. In fact, I still start my broken link building campaigns this way. However, if you want to find even more broken links, I recommend using two helpful Ahrefs functions: "Outgoing broken links" and "Best by Links (404)". Let me show you how these functions work in a real-world example ... First you need a competitor's website. If you don't have a keyword on hand, just search for a keyword you'd like to rank for. "SEO Tools" Results… And add websites in your industry to a list. Next, add one of these sites to Ahrefs. Ahrefs - "moz.com" Search Go to "Outgoing Links" → "Broken Links". Moz - Outgoing Links This will show you all broken links on this entire website. Moz - Broken Links (So you don't have to use Check My Links on a thousand different pages. This saves HUGE time.) Second, you can use Ahrefs to uncover broken pages on your competitor's website. And see who links to these 404 pages. To do this, insert a competing site in Ahrefs. Ahrefs - "moz.com" search and go to "Best by Links". This report shows you the pages with the most backlinks that link to them. Moz - Best by links By default, Ahrefs shows you live work pages. However, if you select "404" under "HTTP Code", a list of broken pages will be displayed, to which links point. Moz - Broken Pages Then just press "backlinks" and you can see everyone who still links to this broken page. Moz Broken Backlinks This is an SEO Double Whammy. Not only do you get links to your website, you also "steal" links from your competitors. Offer a VERY close replacement There are two ways to use broken link building: The first approach is to use the broken link to get your foot in the door. So instead of saying, "Are you going to link to me?", Are you saying, "Here are a few broken links I found ... will you link to me?" There is nothing wrong with this approach. In fact, here's a contact email I sent recently: Reach right outside your door As you can see, it's basically the approach I just described. However, if you want to double, triple, or even quintuple your conversion rate, you want to offer users a replacement for the dead link. In this way, the decision whether you add your link or not, a NO BRAINER. After all, they have a broken link on their page. There is obviously a reason why they have a link there. But this link doesn't work now. 

And if you drop by with a close exchange, it's a simple task: replace the dead link with a similar content. Here's an example of it in action: close the replacement email and as you can see, it REALLY converts well. Conversion Email Reply Recreate Dead Content If you want to take things to the next level, you can actually create some of the content that is a 1: 1 replacement for the dead link. For example, when I ran Check My Links on this page, I found this dead link: "..content to spread" broken link Well, I have a blog entry on my page that is a bit similar: Viral content page But it's not a slam dunk replacement. So I paste the dead URL into Archive.org. Broken link archive And see, what this page was: the social media scientist Some people copy exactly the same content on their website. But that's shady. 

So I don't recommend it. Instead, use the old content as a template. Create similar resources that are better and more current based on this template. Be SUPER helpful in your public relations work. Pointing out in a contact email that someone's link doesn't work is nice and good. (After all, they still offer some value) But if you want to take your reach to the next level, point out all broken links on a page ... and details about the dead links. Here's a real example: Super Helpful Email I can tell you from experience that this will blow people away and make it much more likely that they will add your link. Super helpful answer This takes more work than just saying, "I found a broken link. Is there a replacement on my side here? ". For sure. However, the enormous increase in the conversion rate can make this type of contact worthwhile. Jumping over dead sites Every now and then you come across a broken link on a website that has been completely abandoned. Here is an example: Dead Link Site Example I used to send contact emails to these websites. But I almost never heard back. (If you are not interested in maintaining your website, then why are you interested in some broken links?) So if you come across a site that has not been touched in years, I recommend saving time and the next Aim to continue on your list. Don't be pushy idiot Being pushy doesn't help with any kind of reach. This applies in particular to the broken link building. I therefore recommend touching the person gently without asking directly for a link. Here's a recent example from a contact email I sent some time ago: Gentle nudging of emails As you can see, not intrusive from a distance. Find the right person One of the great lessons I've learned from sending over 10,000 contact emails is that your email needs to get to the right person. 

Otherwise, your email will go to the trash (or worse, the spam folder). And when it comes to this strategy, the "right" person is the one who is responsible for maintaining this site. In this way, you contact someone who has the option to replace the dead link with a link to your site. For example, for a blog with only one author like Backlinko, you might want to use a contact form. 

It is easy. But what about a blog with over 100 authors? Or a university campus with over 50 departments? You have to dig there to find the right person. I recommend searching a site’s human resources page: Site Personnel Page You will normally find someone listed as an "Editor", "Blog Manager", "Webmaster" or "Web Administrator" who is responsible for fixing broken links. Blog Manager Yes, this takes extra work compared to sending your email to a general "contact @" email address or contact form. But in my experience it's worth it. Learn More Advanced SEO Strategy That Gets Results: A Video That Guides You Step By Step Through The Moving Man Method