The Guide to Fixing Broken Links
At one time or another we all find ourselves facing issues with broken links. The focus shouldn’t be on the fact that you have broken links but rather in that you know how to find and fix your broken links. Broken link building is sometimes called dead link building. This is a method where a link on another website is pointed out, that no longer works and also asks for a link your site. Many times the broken link will create a 404 page. The link will be found on a relevant page to your niche and it will appear to be an excellent fit for you to include on your site. You perform a service when you let a webmaster know about a broken link that you have found.
Why is Broken Link Building so Popular
- SEO Gurus feel like they are doing their part to make the web a much better place. They are assisting webmasters with the link rot problem. SEO Guru’s are actually concerned with the quality of the web. The fewer broken links there are, the better.
- It will provide the link builder a value add to their email. You are helping them prior to asking them to help you.
- It can lead to quick links. When a broken link building email is a success, you will generally get your link within a couple of days after sending the email.
- It’s a fairly fresh technique that has yielded excellent results for many link builders.
Broken Link Building Required Tools:
- Google Chrome with Check My Links Extension
- Open Site Explorer: Limited use for everyone if you register for a free account at SEOmoz
- Domain Hunter+ (Domain Hunter+ was recently featured on YouMoz)
Additional Tools for Increase Efficiency:
- Screaming Frog
- Xenu Link Sleuth
- W3C’s Link Checker
- Rapporative (Gmail plug in)
- Boomerang (Gmail plug in)
- Use Check My Links Extension on any page you visit and cross your fingers.
- Check the top pages tab competitors or sites which are in your niche and watch for 404 pages with external links pointing at them in the Top Pages tab.
How to Find Broken Links
Use Google search operators to locate any sites that are relevant. You should find yourself with hundreds of sites in your results, with plenty of links which are tied directly to your industry. You can switch search settings so that they will display the top 100 results and then go ahead and export them to a CSV using the MozBar’s SERP Control Panel. Then go ahead and sort by Domain or Page Authority and you are ready! Use search operators or advanced search queries to build more powerful link building opportunities.
Visit the sites and run a link checker extension.
intitle:KEYWORD inurl:links -exchange
intitle:KEYWORD inurl:resources
inurl:links KEYWORD -
Add exported lists of links to Screaming Frog to look for and locate 404 pages and then you can easily run them through OSE.
To locate broken links run a site through W3C’s Link Checker.

This is also true for users who are not signed in to their Google account when they search. When a user searches for the same phrase, the results might display the total number of +1’s a link has received, which is another validation that it’s a relevant link.




