The Win-Win-Win of Link Building
Broken link building is one of the few link building strategies where literally everyone wins.
The webmaster fixes a broken link on their site. Their readers get a working resource. And you get a backlink.
No sleazy tactics. No manipulation. Just helpfulness.
Step 1: Find Broken Links
Method A: Resource page hunting. Find resource pages in your niche (search "[your niche] + resources" or "[your niche] + useful links"). Then run them through a broken link checker like Check My Links (Chrome extension) or Ahrefs.
Method B: Dead competitor analysis. Has a competitor or industry site shut down? All their inbound links are now pointing to a 404 page. Those linking sites need a replacement. This is essentially a targeted competitor backlink analysis.
Method C: Ahrefs Content Explorer. Search for your topic, filter for pages with high referring domains, then check which ones are dead (404/410). The Ahrefs backlink checker makes this process fast.
Step 2: Create (or Find) Replacement Content
If you already have content that covers the same topic as the dead resource, perfect.
If not, create it. You know exactly what it needs to cover — you've seen the dead content via the Wayback Machine.
Make your version better than the original. This is your chance to shine.
Step 3: Outreach
Email the webmaster:
"Hey [Name], I was checking out your resource page on [topic] and noticed the link to [dead resource] is returning a 404. I actually have a similar resource that covers [topic]: [your URL]. Might be a good replacement! Either way, just wanted to flag the broken link."
Notice: you're leading with THEIR problem (broken link), not your want (backlink).
Step 4: Follow Up
Not everyone replies immediately. Follow up once after 5-7 days. Be brief and friendly. Our outreach follow-up strategy guide has the exact cadence.
Success Rates
Expect a 5-15% conversion rate. That might sound low, but broken link building scales well because the pitches are fast to write and the reasoning is clear.
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Everybody wins. That's why this strategy works.