Quick answer: Broken link building means finding links on other websites that point to pages which no longer exist, then offering the site owner a working page of yours as a replacement. The process is: find relevant pages with dead links (resource pages are the best source), check which dead pages had many links, create or adapt content that covers the same topic well, and email the site owners politely with the exact location of the broken link and your suggested replacement.
It works because it offers something useful before asking for anything. Site owners do not like broken links on their pages. You point one out, and you happen to have a good replacement. Compared with cold requests for links, this approach gets far more positive replies. It does take time, though, and it rewards people who are organised.
If you are new to earning links in general, start with our overview of link building, which explains why links matter and which tactics to avoid.
Why broken links exist everywhere
Websites change constantly. Businesses close, sites are redesigned without redirects, articles are deleted and domains expire. Every time that happens, links pointing to those pages break. Resource pages, lists of useful tools and older blog posts are full of them, because nobody goes back to check.
That gives you two opportunities:
- Individual broken links on relevant pages, which you can offer to replace.
- Dead pages with many backlinks, where every linking site is a potential prospect for the same replacement content.
The second is where broken link building can earn a lot of links from one piece of content.
Tools you will need
You can do this with a mix of free and paid tools:
- Check My Links: a free Chrome extension that highlights broken links on any page you are viewing.
- Ahrefs, Majestic or Moz Open Site Explorer: backlink tools that show which sites link to a given URL, and can report broken pages on a domain that still have links.
- The Wayback Machine: archive.org’s archive shows what a dead page used to contain.
- Google search operators: for finding resource pages in your niche.
- A spreadsheet: to track prospects, contacts and replies.
Step 1: Find relevant pages full of links
Start with pages that exist to link out. Resource pages, link roundups and “useful tools” lists are ideal. Use Google searches such as:
your topic + "useful links"your topic + "resources"your topic + inurl:linksyour topic + intitle:resourcesyour topic + "recommended sites"
Replace “your topic” with subjects relevant to your business. A heating engineer might use “energy saving”, “home heating” or “boiler maintenance”. A software company might use its main industry terms.
Focus on relevance. A link from a page about your topic is worth far more than a link from an unrelated list, and site owners are only likely to accept a replacement that fits their page.
Step 2: Check those pages for broken links
Open each page with Check My Links running. It marks working links in green and broken links in red. Note every broken link that relates to your topic, along with the page it appears on.
Record in your spreadsheet:
- The page URL with the broken link.
- The broken URL itself.
- The anchor text used.
- What the dead page was about.
Step 3: Find out what the dead page contained
Paste the broken URL into the Wayback Machine to see older snapshots. This tells you exactly what content was there and why people linked to it. Was it a guide, a checklist, a tool, a list of suppliers or a research page?
Understanding the original content is essential. Your replacement needs to serve the same purpose, or the site owner has no reason to use it.
Step 4: Check how many sites linked to the dead page
Put the broken URL into Ahrefs, Majestic or Open Site Explorer to see how many other sites link to it. A dead page with one link is a single opportunity. A dead page with fifty links from relevant sites is a campaign.
You can also go the other way. Pick a competitor or a big site in your niche that has closed or reorganised, run it through a backlink tool, and look for its pages returning 404 errors that still have links. Ahrefs has a broken backlinks report that makes this quicker.
Step 5: Create or adapt the replacement
Now decide what you will offer. Options, in order of effort:
- An existing page on your site that already covers the topic well.
- An improved version of an existing page, updated to cover what the dead page did.
- A new page written specifically to replace the dead resource, if the opportunity is big enough.
Whichever you choose, the replacement must genuinely be good. Cover the same ground as the original, bring it up to date, and make it easy to read. If the original was a list of suppliers, yours should be a thorough, current list. If it was a guide, write a better guide.
Do not create a thin page purely to catch links. Site owners will look at it, and they will not link to something weak.
Step 6: Find the right contact
Look for the person responsible for the page. On smaller sites that is usually the owner. On larger sites it may be an editor, a librarian, a content manager or the author of the article. Check the about page, contact page, author bio and social profiles. A named person is far better than a generic info@ address.
Step 7: Send helpful outreach
Keep your email short, specific and friendly. Lead with the help, not the ask. Something like:
Hi Sarah,
I was reading your home heating resources page and noticed the link to the “Boiler Efficiency Guide” in the third section goes to a page that no longer exists.
In case you are looking for a replacement, we published a guide on the same topic recently, which covers efficiency ratings and maintenance tips: [URL]
Either way, thought you would want to know about the broken link.
Thanks, Tom
What makes this work:
- It shows you actually looked at their page.
- It tells them exactly where the broken link is, saving them time.
- It offers the replacement without pressure.
- It is short.
Avoid templates that read like templates. Personalise the opening and the details for every email.
Step 8: Follow up once, then move on
People are busy. If you hear nothing after a week, send one polite follow-up. After that, leave it. Repeated chasing damages your reputation and gets your emails marked as spam.
Track outcomes in your spreadsheet: sent, replied, link added, declined. Over time you will see which types of pages and messages get the best response.
How many links should you expect?
Response rates vary widely depending on your niche, how relevant your replacement is and how personal your outreach is. Rather than chasing a number, aim for consistency: a set number of prospects researched and emails sent every week. Broken link building is steady work that compounds over months.
Mistakes to avoid
- Irrelevant replacements. Offering a page that does not match the original content will be ignored.
- Weak content. The replacement has to be worth linking to.
- Mass emailing. Sending the same message to hundreds of sites gets you marked as spam.
- Asking for payment or offering payment. Paid links break Google’s guidelines and put your site at risk.
- Not checking your own site. Run a crawl on your own site too. Broken internal links waste the value of links you already have.
FAQ
Is broken link building allowed by Google?
Yes. You are helping site owners fix their pages and offering a relevant resource. As long as you are not paying for links, it is a legitimate way to earn them.
How long does broken link building take?
Researching and contacting a batch of prospects takes a few hours. Results come over weeks as people reply and update pages.
Does it work for local businesses?
Yes, especially with local resource pages, community sites, councils, schools and trade associations, which often have outdated link lists.
Earn links that last
Broken link building is one of the cleanest ways to earn relevant links, and it gets better as your content improves. If you want help planning link building and content that brings steady search traffic, see how we help businesses get found.
