Everyone has browsed online, clicked on a hyperlink in an article, and arrived at a 404-error page. Essentially, this is saying, “Oops, we cannot find the page you are searching for.” Officially, this is called a broken link. While they are frustrating, they are also an opportunity.
An internal, broken link can harm the experience visitors on your site have. If there are broken links on your site, you should clean them up by revitalizing or replacing them.
However, you may also find broken links offsite. The right type of broken links can become a white-hat opportunity to expand your efforts with strategic link building.
Broken Link Building Defined
Links are the internet’s version of highways, streets, and roads. With the use of clickable hyperlinks, it is possible to direct traffic from one site or web page to another.
Link building is when you accumulate strategic links that point from other websites back to yours. It is designed to encourage people to click on the most important pages of your site. However, more importantly, it is a method you can use to enhance your website’s SEO standing to climb the search rankings and establish authority.
Remember, link building is both resourceful and time intensive. This means you need to leverage the small strategies to help get ahead. This is when you can use broken link building. This is something that is done because of “link rot,” which is that all-natural links will eventually break down and no longer work. It is estimated that approximately 25% of all links will disappear every seven years. This is because web pages become obsolete, websites shut down, and bloggers do not maintain their content.
How You Can Use Broken Links to Your Advantage
Broken link building is a simple strategy you use to find broken links online that are relevant to your brand, niche, or industry and then contact the author of the content or webmaster to provide a working, new link to replace the broken one.
While broken link building can be time-intensive, it is also rewarding. Even better, it is mutually beneficial. The content’s owner receives a functional link, and readers have a useful resource. Also, you can generate a new backlink that helps you improve your site’s SEO efforts.
There is a four-step process you can follow to find and replace broken link:
Step 1: Find broken links using available tools.
Step 2: Contact the owner of the website and suggest your link.
Step 3: Have your link put on their site.
Step 4: Repeat.
Are You Ready to Create a Broken Link Strategy?
If you want to create your own broken link strategy, you need to use the steps above. If you do not have the time or ability to handle this labor-intensive process independently, the professionals can help. They will search for broken links relevant to your site on your behalf and make suggestions for link replacement. Being informed and knowing what to do are the best ways to take advantage of this strategy.