Broken Link Building Techniques for SEO: The Ultimate Playbook for 2026

Imagine earning backlinks from high-authority websites by doing them a favor. That is the premise of broken link building, and it is one of the most elegant and effective link building strategies in existence. You find dead links on other websites, create content that replaces the missing resource, and reach out to the site owner with a helpful suggestion. They fix their broken link, you earn a backlink. Everybody wins.

According to a comprehensive analysis by Ahrefs, the average web page loses approximately 5-10% of its outbound links per year to link rot. That means millions of broken links exist across the internet right now, each one representing a potential backlink opportunity for someone willing to put in the work.

The beauty of broken link building is that it is universally considered white hat. You are genuinely helping webmasters improve their sites. There is zero risk of Google penalties because the links you earn are editorial and earned through genuine value exchange.

In this guide, you will learn exactly how to find broken link opportunities at scale, create compelling replacement content, write outreach emails that convert, and build a sustainable broken link building campaign that delivers high-quality backlinks month after month.

How Broken Link Building Works: The Process

The broken link building process follows four core steps:

1. Find: Discover broken outbound links on relevant, authoritative websites in your niche.
2. Analyze: Check what content the broken link originally pointed to using the Wayback Machine.
3. Create: Produce content on your site that matches or exceeds the quality of the dead resource. Alternatively, identify existing content on your site that fits.
4. Outreach: Contact the site owner, inform them about the broken link, and suggest your content as a replacement.

Let us break each step down in detail.

Step 1: Finding Broken Link Opportunities

The first and most critical step is finding broken links on sites worth targeting. There are several proven methods:

Method 1: Resource Page Mining

Resource pages are curated lists of links on a specific topic. They tend to have a high density of outbound links, which means a higher probability of broken links. Find them with these Google searches:

• "your niche" + "resources"
• "your niche" + "useful links"
• "your niche" + "recommended sites"
• "your niche" + "helpful links"
• "your niche" + inurl:resources
• "your niche" + inurl:links

Once you find resource pages, use the Check My Links Chrome extension to instantly scan every outbound link on the page and highlight any 404 errors in red.

Method 2: Ahrefs Broken Pages Report

Ahrefs lets you find broken pages that still have backlinks pointing to them. This is incredibly powerful because these dead pages have proven link attractiveness.

1. Enter a competitor or industry site in Ahrefs Site Explorer
2. Go to Best by Links > filter by "404 Not Found" HTTP response
3. Sort by referring domains (most to least)
4. You now have a list of dead pages with verified backlinks, each one an opportunity

Method 3: Screaming Frog Crawl

Screaming Frog SEO Spider (free for up to 500 URLs) can crawl any website and identify broken outbound links. Crawl your target site, filter for "Client Error (4xx)" in the Response Codes tab, then switch to the Inlinks tab to see which pages contain those broken links.

Method 4: Wikipedia Dead Link Mining

Wikipedia is a goldmine for broken link building. The platform marks dead links with "[dead link]" tags, and because Wikipedia has extremely high domain authority, any replacement link you earn carries significant weight. Search Wikipedia for:

• site:en.wikipedia.org "your topic" "dead link"

Wikipedia links are nofollow, but the referral traffic and secondary link acquisition they drive make them valuable. Sites that cite Wikipedia references often link to the same sources, creating additional dofollow opportunities.

Method 5: Competitor 404 Analysis

When a competitor takes down content, any sites that linked to that content now have broken links. Use Ahrefs to find deleted pages on competitor sites that still have backlinks, then create replacement content and reach out to the linking sites.

Best Tools for Finding Broken Links

For additional SEO tools, explore our guides on 10 powerful free SEO tools and top free tools for beginners.

Step 2: Analyzing the Dead Content

Once you find a broken link, you need to understand what the original content was about. This step is crucial because your replacement content needs to match the original in topic and intent.

1. Use the Wayback Machine: Go to web.archive.org and paste the dead URL. View the most recent cached version to understand the original content.
2. Analyze the context: Read the text surrounding the broken link on the linking page. What was the link supposed to illustrate or support?
3. Check anchor text: The anchor text of the broken link tells you exactly what the linking site owner expected the resource to be about.
4. Evaluate link value: Check how many other sites linked to the dead page using Ahrefs. More referring domains means more outreach opportunities and higher value.

Step 3: Creating Replacement Content

Your replacement content should not just match the dead resource. It should exceed it. Here is how to create content that makes site owners eager to update their link:

• Cover the same topic comprehensively: Address everything the original page covered plus additional insights.
• Update with current data: If the original was published years ago, include updated statistics and examples for 2026.
• Improve the format: Add tables, visuals, infographics, or interactive elements that the original lacked.
• Optimize for SEO: Follow the on-page SEO checklist to ensure your replacement page ranks well.
• Make it genuinely useful: The content should provide real value to readers, not just exist as a link building prop.

Pro tip: Sometimes you already have existing content that matches the dead resource. Check your content library first before creating something new. Use your blog optimization skills to ensure the page is in top form.

Step 4: Crafting Outreach Emails That Convert

Your outreach email is the bridge between finding the opportunity and earning the link. Here is a proven email framework with high conversion rates:

Outreach Best Practices

• Personalize every email: Reference the specific page and broken link. Mass templates get ignored.
• Lead with the problem, not the ask: Your primary message is "you have a broken link," not "please link to me."
• Keep it short: Under 150 words is ideal. Busy webmasters scan emails quickly.
• Provide the exact location: Tell them which page has the broken link and what the anchor text is.
• Make the replacement suggestion natural: Present your link as a helpful suggestion, not a demand.
• Find the right contact: Use Hunter.io to find the webmaster or content manager's email address.
• Follow up once: Send a polite follow-up email 5-7 days after your initial outreach.

Advanced Broken Link Building Techniques

Technique 1: The Moving Man Method

Popularized by Brian Dean of Backlinko, this technique focuses on finding websites, companies, or resources that have rebranded, moved, or shut down. All the sites that linked to the old URL now have broken or outdated links. Create content that serves the same purpose and reach out to every site that linked to the defunct resource.

This method is powerful because the linking sites have already demonstrated a willingness to link to content on that exact topic.

Technique 2: Expired Domain Content Recreation

When domains expire, all their content disappears, but their backlinks remain in other sites' code as broken links. Use ExpiredDomains.net to find recently expired domains in your niche. Check their backlink profiles using Ahrefs. If the expired domain had quality backlinks, use the Wayback Machine to see what content attracted those links, recreate something similar on your site, and reach out to the linking sites.

Technique 3: Broken Redirect Chains

Sometimes a link is not technically dead but goes through a chain of redirects that eventually lands on a 404 or irrelevant page. These redirect chains are just as much a problem for webmasters as dead links. Tools like Screaming Frog can identify redirect chains on target sites.

Technique 4: Image and Resource Link Recovery

Broken links are not limited to text pages. Images, PDFs, tools, and other resources also go offline. If you can create a replacement resource, like an updated infographic, a new version of a template, or a working tool, you can pitch it as a replacement for the dead resource. Use BrightSEOTools Image Compressor to optimize any visual assets.

Scaling Your Broken Link Building Campaign

To build a sustainable campaign that produces results month after month:

Use spreadsheets or outreach tools like BuzzStream or Pitchbox to track prospects, outreach status, and conversion rates.

Broken Link Building Success Rates by Approach

Common Mistakes in Broken Link Building

Avoid these alongside the broader SEO blunders that crush conversions and mistakes killing your rankings.

Combining Broken Link Building With Other Strategies

Broken link building works best when integrated into a broader link building and content strategy:

• Content marketing: Create comprehensive resources that serve as replacement content for broken links and attract organic links simultaneously. Follow content marketing best practices.
• Competitor analysis: When competitors delete or restructure content, their lost backlinks become your broken link building opportunities.
• Internal link fixing: While doing broken link building externally, also fix any broken links on your own site.
• SEO auditing: Include broken link analysis as part of your regular SEO audit process.

Conclusion: Start Finding Broken Links Today

Broken link building is one of the safest, most reliable link building strategies available in 2026. It requires no budget beyond your time investment, carries zero penalty risk, and produces genuine win-win outcomes for both you and the site owners you reach out to.

Start by picking 10 resource pages in your niche and scanning them for broken links using the free Check My Links extension. Check what those dead links used to point to using the Wayback Machine. If you have matching content, start your outreach. If not, create something better than the original.

With consistent effort, broken link building can earn you 5-15 high-quality backlinks per month from authoritative websites. Combine it with other off-page strategies, and monitor your progress using BrightSEOTools SEO Checker. For more link building tactics, explore our 8 powerful SEO moves and proven tips to skyrocket traffic.

Frequently Asked Questions About Broken Link Building