Broken Link Building for Beginners | Easy SEO Strategy

Published: 11/Jun/2025

If you want to grow your website, get more traffic, and improve your Google ranking, there’s one smart trick many beginners ignore. It’s called broken link building, and it’s one of the easiest ways to build backlinks without begging, paying, or writing endless guest posts.

broken link building is one of the best strategies

Let me walk you through everything step by step in plain English. No confusing terms. Just clear, helpful advice.

Let’s say you’re reading a blog, and you click on a link to learn more. But instead of a helpful page, you get an error message. That’s a broken link. It doesn’t work anymore. It’s gone, maybe deleted, or maybe the site moved the page.

Now here’s the smart part.

You find those broken links on other people’s websites. Then, you suggest they replace the broken link with a link to your content that covers the same topic. They fix their problem, and you get a backlink in return. That backlink helps your SEO.

This is what we call broken link building. It’s helpful. It’s ethical. And it works.

Search engines like Google care a lot about user experience. When a site has broken links, it tells Google that the site might be old or not taken care of. That hurts its ranking.

Broken links also annoy readers. Imagine clicking on something and getting an error. Not fun, right?

That’s why most website owners want to fix broken links. They just don’t have time to look for them. If you do it for them and offer a useful link, they’ll often thank you with a backlink.

And backlinks are one of the top ways to improve your SEO.

Why You Shouldn’t Ignore This Strategy

A lot of people skip broken link building because they think it’s technical or hard. But it’s very simple. You don’t need special skills or experience. You just need a little patience and a helpful mindset.

When you ignore broken link building, you miss out on easy backlinks. That means slower growth, lower rankings, and more effort creating new content that might not even rank.

Let’s be honest. Getting backlinks these days is hard. Cold emails are often ignored. Guest posting takes a lot of time. Buying links is risky and can even get you penalized by Google.

Broken link building is different. You’re helping someone. You’re solving a real problem. That’s why it works.

First, you need to find broken links. You can use free tools like Broken Link Checker or Check My Links (a browser extension). These tools scan pages and show you which links don’t work anymore.

If you want to go deeper, you can use paid tools like Ahrefs. The Ahrefs broken link building tool is powerful and shows you broken backlinks on any site.

Now, once you find a broken link, check what kind of content it used to lead to. You can do this using a tool called the Wayback Machine. It lets you see what the page looked like before it disappeared.

Next, either create new content that covers the same topic or find an old blog post on your site that already talks about it. Make sure your content is helpful, clear, and updated.

Then, reach out to the website owner or editor. Tell them politely that they have a broken link on their page. Share your content as a useful replacement.

Most people appreciate the help and will happily link to your page.

A Real Example

Let me tell you about Sarah. She runs a small health blog. She didn’t have much traffic and couldn’t afford to buy ads. She started using broken link building after reading about it online.

She used Ahrefs to find health-related sites with broken links. She created a few helpful blog posts and sent friendly emails to the site owners.

After just three weeks, she had 11 new backlinks. Two months later, her traffic had doubled. She didn’t spend a single dollar.

That’s the power of broken link building when you do it right.

Best Tools to Help You

Many tools make this process easier. Ahrefs is great if you want detailed reports. If you’re on a budget, use Broken Link Checker or Check My Links. You can even start by searching on Google for old resource pages and checking the links manually.

If you want to speed things up, some people use a broken link builder tool that automates the process. Or they hire a broken link-building service to handle it for them.

Just make sure you search around before choosing a service. Look for real results and good reviews. Some services offer custom packages if you’re in a specific niche, like health, tech, or education.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

One mistake beginners make is copying and pasting the same email to everyone. That never works. Always write a short, friendly message that feels personal.

Another mistake is trying to replace a broken link with poor content. If your blog post isn’t helpful or doesn’t match the topic, the site owner won’t use it.

Also, don’t rush. Take your time to find quality broken links and reach out to websites that are relevant to your niche. That’s how you get backlinks that truly help your SEO.

If you’re busy or don’t want to do it yourself, you can hire a broken link building service. These services find broken links, create content, and send outreach emails for you.

Some people prefer this option because it saves time. Just make sure the service is trusted. Always search around before paying anyone.

A good service will track the links they’ve built, show you real progress, and offer support. If they sound too good to be true, they probably are.

FAQs

Broken link building is an SEO strategy where you find dead or non-working links on other websites and suggest your content as a replacement. It helps the site owner fix their page, and you get a backlink in return. It’s a helpful way to grow your traffic and improve search rankings.

You can use free tools like Check My Links or Broken Link Checker to scan web pages. For more detailed results, tools like Ahrefs’ broken link building feature let you find broken backlinks on bigger websites. You can also use Google search tricks to look for broken links in your niche.

3. Do I need to create new content for broken link building?

Not always. If you already have content that matches the broken link topic, you can use it. But if not, it’s a good idea to create a helpful blog post that covers the same subject. Ensure your content is clear, useful, and up-to-date.

Yes, absolutely. Even now, many websites still have broken links. Search engines care about link quality, and site owners want to keep their pages working. That’s why broken link building is still a smart and easy SEO strategy that works.

Yes, beginners can start with free tools and simple Google searches. You don’t need to pay right away. But if you want faster results or detailed data, using tools like Ahrefs or a broken link builder service can save you time.

It depends on how often you do it and how many site owners respond. Some people see results in just a few weeks. If you stay consistent and keep offering value, your backlinks will grow, and you’ll notice better rankings and traffic over time.

Final Thoughts:

If you’re just starting in SEO, broken link building is one of the best strategies you can use. It’s simple, low-cost, and very effective.

You don’t need to be a pro. You just need to be helpful and consistent. Remember, every broken link is an opportunity. And the internet is full of them.

So take action today. Start by finding one broken link in your niche. Create or reuse a helpful blog post. Send one friendly email. That’s all it takes to begin.

Keep doing it. Be patient. And watch your backlinks grow.

Broken link building isn’t just a trick. It’s a strategy. And for beginners like you, it’s one of the smartest ways to build your site’s future.

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Khurram Shahzad Avatar
Khurram Shahzad

SEO Professional

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