Broken link building means finding dead links on other websites, choosing or creating a working page that replaces what was lost, and asking the site owner to swap the link. The steps are find, vet, replace and pitch. It is slow, depends on your replacement page, and no source publishes reliable success rates.
- Broken link building replaces a dead link on someone else’s site with a link to a relevant working page on yours
- The five steps are finding dead pages with backlinks, vetting prospects, building a replacement, finding the right contact and sending a short pitch
- The Wayback Machine shows what a dead page used to say, which tells you what to write
- Tailored outreach converts better than mass emails, and mass emails can get your domain blocked
- No major guide publishes a real success rate, so treat promises of results with caution
- Never use dead links as an excuse to buy expired domains or push paid placements
Table of Contents
What broken link building is and why it can work
Our guide to how SEO backlinks work lists broken link outreach as one tactic among several, and this walkthrough goes deeper. Broken link building starts from a simple fact: websites link to pages that later disappear. Site owners rarely want dead links, so a helpful replacement can be welcome.
Ahrefs describes the process as finding dead pages that have backlinks, then asking the sites linking to them to swap in a working replacement from your site. It also reports that, according to Aira’s annual state of link building report, the tactic is the fifth most widely used, though that report crowdsources opinions from over 250 marketing professionals.
Broken link building step by step
Our post on how backlinks work behind the scenes explains why a link from a relevant page carries weight, and these five steps aim to earn exactly that.
1. Find dead pages that still have backlinks
You are looking for pages that return a 404 error but still attract links. Ahrefs suggests four routes: your competitors’ 404 pages sorted by referring domains, broken pages on a topic you cover, broken outbound links on competitor sites, and broken links on resource pages found through Google search operators.
Semrush adds a fifth, which is checking your own site first. Its walkthrough starts with your own broken backlinks, meaning old URLs that other sites still link to. These are the easiest wins, because the link already points at you.
2. Vet the link prospects
Our guide to choosing a white hat link building agency stresses relevance and quality, and the same filter applies here. Ahrefs suggests checking link quality and the reason each page linked. It separates general links, which recommend a resource without saying why, from deep links that state a specific reason you can use in your pitch.
Use the Wayback Machine to see what the dead page covered. Ahrefs also advises skipping opportunities you cannot match, such as pages that earned links through original research. Semrush adds that you should skip sponsored, partner and user generated links, and any page where linking to you would be a conflict of interest.
3. Build or choose the replacement page
Our digital PR guide explains why genuinely useful content earns attention, and the same applies here. Your replacement should serve the same purpose as the dead page, without copying it, and ideally improve on it with clearer writing, visuals or updated facts.
Choose an existing page if one fits. Semrush says to weigh the expected benefit against the effort. If you have nothing suitable, write something new, and use what you learned from the deep links to decide what it must cover.
4. Find the right person to contact
Contact details are easy to skip, yet they decide whether your email gets read. Semrush recommends finding the staff writer’s byline, an author page or a social profile, and writing to a named person instead of a generic inbox.
5. Send a short pitch and follow up
Our guide to guest posting covers outreach etiquette, and the principles carry over. Mention the broken link early, say where it appears, and explain briefly why your page is a good replacement.
Ahrefs describes a hybrid approach: segment prospects, then write a tailored template for each group. Deep linkers get a message that references their reason for linking, while general linkers get a pitch that highlights your improvements. Semrush suggests following up in the same thread after three working days, which is advice, not research.
Free and paid tools
Our SEO backlinks service uses a mix of tools, and you can start with free ones. Check My Links is a browser extension that scans a page for dead links, and the Wayback Machine is free. Google search operators help you find resource pages in your topic.
Paid tools speed up the discovery step. Ahrefs says you need its tools for about three quarters of the tactics in its guide, and Semrush’s walkthrough relies on its own products, so both are promotional sources.
Mistakes that sink broken link building
Our post on whether you should buy backlinks covers the link schemes Google dislikes, and several apply here. Google’s spam policies describe expired domain abuse as buying a lapsed domain to manipulate rankings, so do not buy dead domains just to capture their backlinks.
Other common mistakes include copying the old page word for word and pitching pages that are not a genuine fit. Ahrefs warns that mass outreach is a numbers game with low conversion and risks getting your domain blocked. Google also defines hacked content as material placed on a site without permission, so check a target page is not spam before you pitch it.
Is the tactic worth the effort?
Our breakdown of link building pricing in the UK helps you weigh effort against cost, and the honest answer here is mixed. Ahrefs quotes one practitioner calling the tactic almost pointless, while arguing the problem is usually execution. Semrush says it can have a higher success rate than other tactics but offers no data.
Many links to dead pages are general links, which are harder to win because you cannot tailor the pitch. Treat broken link building as one slow, steady tactic within a wider plan, not a shortcut.
Examples
These are illustrative scenarios rather than client case studies, but they show how broken link building tends to play out.
A UK accountancy firm found a local business blog linking to a dead guide on a competitor’s site. It wrote a current, clearer guide, then sent one short email to the blog owner explaining the dead link and offering the replacement.
A garden centre redesigned its site and left old product pages returning 404 errors. Checking its own broken backlinks showed several sites still linking to them, so it redirected those URLs to the closest matching pages.
A marketer sent the same template to hundreds of resource page owners without checking relevance. Few replied, and some marked the emails as spam, which is the risk Ahrefs describes for mass outreach.
Ready to start broken link building
Broken link building rewards patience and relevance, not volume. At Atomic Artisans we earn editorial links through our SEO backlinks service. Take a look at our pricing, book a call with our team, or get in touch through our contact page to get started.
