What is broken link building?
Broken link building is a link acquisition strategy in which you find dead or outdated links on other websites, identify the content those links pointed to, and offer your own high-quality page as a replacement. Webmasters receive a working solution, and you earn a relevant backlink.
Why broken link building works
It is a genuine win-win: the target site removes a broken link that hurts user experience, and you gain editorial backlinks from relevant, authoritative pages. Because the link is contextually relevant, it carries more value than many purchased or directory links.
How to run a broken link building campaign
- Find candidate pages with tools like Check My Links or a crawler.
- Check the target’s domain authority and topical relevance.
- Confirm the broken URL is truly dead and has no redirect.
- Create or prepare content that matches the original resource.
- Email the webmaster with a short, helpful pitch and the replacement.
Common mistakes
- Pitching irrelevant content that does not fit the original context.
- Targeting low-quality or spammy sites.
- Sending generic, templated outreach emails.
Related terms
How Social SEO Team can help
We run full-service link building, including broken link campaigns. Explore our link building packages.