---
title: "Broken link building"
url: https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/broken-link-building
type: Page
---

# Broken link building

Broken link building explained: why so many links on the web are dead, how to find them and offer a replacement page, and when the method works or fails.

Link building glossary

## Broken link building (BLB)

Broken link building is a link building method that finds links on other websites pointing to pages that no longer exist, then offers the site owner a working page to link to. The publisher fixes a dead link for its readers, and the replacement page earns a link if it covers the same topic well.

## Why are there so many broken links?

Web pages disappear faster than the links to them. In a study published on 17 May 2024, Pew Research Center found that 23% of news webpages and 21% of government webpages contained at least one broken link, and that 54% of Wikipedia pages had at least one reference link pointing to a page that no longer exists. It also found that 38% of webpages that existed in 2013 were no longer accessible a decade later.

## How does broken link building work?

The method depends on finding dead pages that many relevant sites still link to.

- Use a backlink tool to find pages in your niche that return 404 errors but still have many referring domains
- Check what the dead page covered, using an archived copy where one exists
- Publish or update a page that covers the same ground with current information
- Contact the sites still linking to the dead URL, naming the exact broken link and the replacement
- Record replies and check which links go live

## When does it work?

It works when the replacement is a genuine like-for-like fix, so the publisher's readers get what the original link promised. It fails when the pitch is generic or the replacement is a sales page. If a site asks for payment to swap the link, the result is a paid link and Google's spam policies require it to be marked sponsored or nofollow.

## Example

A UK charity closes its guide to energy grants for older homeowners, and 60 council and community sites still link to it. An insulation installer publishes an up-to-date guide covering the same grants and eligibility rules, then emails each site with the dead URL and the new page.

## Related terms

- [Link reclamation](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/link-reclamation)
- [Link building](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/link-building)
- [Backlinks](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/backlinks)
- [Referring domains](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/referring-domains)

## Further reading

- [Link Building for SaaS: 20 Strategies That Work](https://marketingsignals.com/insights/saas-link-building-guide)

Our [SaaS Link-Building Agency](https://marketingsignals.com/service/saas-link-building) service puts this into practice for brands in the UK and US.

## Sources

- [When Online Content Disappears, Pew Research Center (17 May 2024)](https://www.pewresearch.org/data-labs/2024/05/17/when-online-content-disappears/)
- [Spam policies for Google web search, Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies)

## Ready To Build Links That Actually Rank?