Broken link building

Broken link building is one of the most durable, white-hat link-building tactics. You help someone fix their site (they appreciate it), and they link to you as the replacement. Everyone wins.

The workflow

1. Find a site in your niche with good authority
2. Identify broken outbound links on their site
3. Find a link that was pointing to content related to something you've produced (or could produce)
4. Reach out to the site owner. "Your link to X is broken; I have a resource on the same topic you might use instead"

Tools for finding broken links

Ahrefs. Site Explorer → Outbound Links → Broken

Enter a domain. See every broken outbound link. Filter by which target URLs are 404'd.

Check My Links (Chrome extension)

Highlights broken links on any page you visit. Useful for quick checks on resource pages.

Screaming Frog

Crawl a site, export outbound links, filter for 404 response codes.

Targeting strategy

Resource pages

Pages that exist to link out to resources ("Top 25 SEO Tools," "Insurance Industry Resources," "Tools for Founders"). These have many outbound links; some will be broken over time.

Old guides + evergreen content

Guides from 2015-2020 often link to tools that have shut down. Find these, offer your modern replacement.

Competitor-linking sites

Sites that link to your competitors are already inclined to link to your topic. Check their link profiles for broken outbounds.

The "Wayback Machine" trick

When you find a broken link, check Archive.org to see what the original content was. If it's similar to something you have (or could write), your pitch is much stronger. You can literally quote the original to show you know what was there.

The outreach email

Short, specific, and offer value.

Hi [Name],

Read your "Best SEO Tools of 2023" post, great list. Noticed the link to ToolX (section 4) is broken, looks like the site went offline.

I run an SEO tool directory that covers similar tools and is actively maintained: [your URL]. Might be a useful swap for the broken link.

Either way, thought you'd want to know the link is dead.

Best,
Samuel

Conversion rates

• Cold email with no context: <1%
• Broken link pitch, relevant replacement: 5-15%
• Same, with existing relationship: 20-40%

Why it works

• You're providing real value (fixing a broken link)
• The ask is clear and small (swap one link for another)
• Updating an old post is easier than deciding whether to link to something new
• Editors often appreciate the heads-up even when they don't use your replacement

Common pitfalls

• Pitching unrelated content. The replacement must be at least as relevant as the broken link.
• Spammy tone. Cold, obviously templated emails get ignored. Personalize.
• Over-asking. Don't ask for multiple link swaps in the same email. One win at a time.
• Ignoring the relationship. A successful link swap is a warm contact. Nurture it.

Scaling (carefully)

You can scale broken link building, but not infinitely. Sending 500 identical emails a day kills reply rates and flags you as a spammer. Aim for 20-50 personalized pitches a week, with a real research step on each.