As we know, backlinks are the link that connects one webpage to another website. Broken backlinks happen when the external link directs users to the non-existent page. This happens when the page URL is changed or an incorrect URL was added.
There is a term known as a link rot, which means link/page becomes non-existent after a significant amount of time. Research shows that 12.2% of eCommerce website’s backlinks pointed to error 404 pages.
This article will help you reclaim broken backlinks and how you can use them for your benefit.
The difference between reclamation and building
There are two major differences between reclamation and building. First, link reclamation will literally regain the value of broken backlinks, wherein link building, you need to create the content to replace the backlinks.
Although these approaches are different, they’ll both help you gain more control than standard link-building methods.
How can you reclaim your backlinks?
- Analyze your site’s backlinks
The first thing you need to do is to examine how many backlinks are broken. This will help you determine your strategy to fix them.
- Organize broken backlinks
Once you find out the number of broken backlinks, organize them in neat order. You can use the Ahrefs analysis tool to find out the broken links. You can use their broken link feature to see all the broken backlinks for the website.
You can organize these links via the Domain Rating column and place the highest-ranking backlinks on the top.
- Decide which links need to get fixed up.
The organized data will give you every detail about the backlinks, such as its origin, anchor text, and which site they are redirecting it to. You can analyze the external domain and decide whether these backlinks are worth pursuing or not.
You can categorize them by spam, low authority, or irrelevant. Finally, you can choose the backlinks that have originated from authoritative sites and have relevant anchor text.
- Regain the value
Once you decide which backlinks you need to reclaim, you can proceed for the next step.
There are two ways you can regain your backlink’s value.
- Reach out to website owners and inform them that their URL is broken. Ask them to update their links and provide them relevant links if needed. Normally, the website owner will be leased that you acknowledge the issue and drew their attention.
- If the website owner doesn’t respond, set up a 301 redirect link to your website. This will not only let you regain the broken link value but also help users to land on the live page.
Broken backlink building using the rival’s data
- Analyze your rival’s data.
First, choose your rival and analyze their backlinks with Ahrefs, as mentioned before.
- Find the broken links.
Organize your backlinks relatively and determine if your site has similar content. This link will the link that you need to replace on their website.
- Replace the backlinks by providing relevant content.
Once you find the link, recreate the relevant content. But if your content is ready, you can directly reach out to the website owners.
- Reach out to the owners
The final step is to reach out to the owners and let them know about their website’s issue. Then, you can offer them your content as a replacement and show them the relevance. The majority of the owner will be supportive and take you seriously, as they do not want to publish articles with errors.
Broken backlinks affect the majority of websites at some points. Pay attention to the backlinks, and you can improve your digital marketing without any issues.
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