Broken Link Building: How It Works, Strategy, Tools & Services

Broken link building is a link-building method where you find third-party pages that still link to resources that are no longer available and suggest a relevant working resource as a replacement.

The method involves three main elements: the unavailable resource, the live page that still links to it, and the replacement resource you want the publisher to consider.

The unavailable resource creates the opportunity, but the live referring page is the actual potential backlink source.

For example, suppose an industry article cites an old SaaS benchmark report that has been removed. If you have current research covering the same data, you can contact the publisher and suggest your report as a replacement.

The replacement must serve the same purpose as the original resource.

A dead statistics report should normally be replaced with current statistics or equivalent research. A broken calculator should be replaced with a functioning calculator. A missing template should be replaced with a usable template.

Simply covering the same broad topic is not enough.

For example, a cybersecurity consulting page would not be an appropriate replacement for a broken password generator even though both relate to cybersecurity.

Broken link building also gives the publisher a practical reason to consider the update. Their article currently sends readers to a resource that no longer works. A suitable replacement restores access to the information, data, tool, or functionality the original link was meant to provide.

The publisher still decides whether to make the change. They may use your suggested resource, choose another source, remove the broken link, rewrite the section, or leave the page unchanged.

Broken link building can support off-page SEO by earning relevant backlinks and new referring domains. It can also generate referral traffic and create relationships with publishers. However, finding or replacing a broken link does not guarantee higher rankings.

Broken resources are also not limited to pages returning a 404 error. A resource can become unusable because it returns a 410 status, the domain has expired, a file has been removed, the destination continually fails, or the original content is no longer accessible.

You also do not always need to recreate the missing page.

If you already have a resource that satisfies the same need, you can use it. If an existing resource is close but incomplete, you can improve it. If no suitable resource exists, creating a new one can make sense when enough worthwhile opportunities exist.

Broken link building should also be separated from several related SEO activities.

Fixing broken links on your own site is technical maintenance. You are repairing internal or external links on a website you control.

Backlink reclamation involves recovering links that were already pointing to your website before one of your URLs became unavailable.

Niche edits add a new reference to an existing article. A broken link does not need to exist first.

Guest posting involves creating a new article for another website rather than updating an existing article with a replacement resource.

A complete broken link building campaign usually involves finding relevant unavailable resources, checking which useful pages still reference them, understanding why those publishers originally linked, matching or creating an appropriate replacement, contacting the publishers, and verifying the updates that go live.

Several tools can support this process. Ahrefs and Semrush can help identify broken resources and the pages linking to them. Screaming Frog and Check My Links can help confirm broken links. The Wayback Machine can help determine what an unavailable page originally contained. Hunter can assist with contact research, while BuzzStream, Pitchbox, and Semrush's Link Building Tool can help manage outreach.

Businesses that do not want to run the campaign internally can also use link-building providers. Some providers run dedicated broken-link campaigns, while others use broken link building as one tactic within a broader link-building strategy.

The important point is that broken link building is not simply about finding 404 pages. The real opportunity exists when a relevant publisher still needs the type of resource that disappeared and your resource can genuinely replace it.

How Do You Build a Broken Link Building Strategy?

A broken link building strategy starts by focusing on subjects where your website can provide credible replacement resources, then finding unavailable resources within those subjects and evaluating the live pages that still reference them.

Among broader link building strategies, broken link building is distinguished by starting with an existing but unavailable reference and matching it with a resource that can genuinely satisfy the same need.

1. Choose Relevant Topics and Resource Types

Start with areas where you can genuinely provide useful information or functionality.

Examples include:

• SaaS research
• Industry statistics
• Templates
• Technical guides
• Calculators
• Tutorials
• Glossaries
• Original studies

This keeps the campaign focused on opportunities your website can realistically satisfy.

2. Find Unavailable Resources

Broken resources can be discovered through competitor research, industry articles, resource pages, backlink databases, and web crawlers.

At this stage, treat every broken URL as a possible opportunity rather than an automatic target.

3. Confirm That the Resource Is Actually Unavailable

Backlink databases and crawlers can contain outdated information.

Check the URL manually to determine whether it has been restored, redirected, moved elsewhere, or is only temporarily unavailable.

Only confirmed unavailable resources should move deeper into the campaign.

4. Review the Pages Still Linking to It

A dead resource can have dozens or hundreds of historical backlinks, but many of those links may no longer represent useful opportunities.

Some pages may have been removed. Others may be scraped copies, directories, outdated articles, or irrelevant sources.

Open the live referring pages and determine which ones are still worth pursuing.

5. Understand Why the Original Resource Was Cited

Before creating or choosing a replacement, determine what the old resource provided.

Look at the anchor text, surrounding sentence, paragraph, section heading, and overall article.

The original resource may have been used as:

• A definition
• A statistic
• A tutorial
• A tool
• A template
• Research evidence
• A supporting resource

This tells you what the replacement needs to provide.

6. Check the Historical Resource When Necessary

If the surrounding text does not provide enough context, archived versions of the old page can help.

Review what the page originally offered, such as its data, functionality, format, audience, and purpose.

The goal is to understand the original resource, not copy it.

7. Evaluate the Exact Placement

Review the sentence or paragraph containing the broken link.

Ask whether your resource could replace the old destination without making the sentence inaccurate or awkward.

This is more important than whether both websites belong to the same broad niche.

8. Evaluate the Publisher

Check whether the source is a legitimate publication with useful content and a real audience.

Relevant considerations include:

• Editorial quality
• Publishing activity
• Audience relevance
• Author or editor information
• Current usefulness of the article

Third-party metrics can help prioritize research, but they should not decide whether an opportunity is suitable.

9. Remove Duplicate and Low-Value Opportunities

Several links can come from the same publisher or from pages that provide little practical value.

Group duplicate sources and remove irrelevant or low-quality pages before outreach.

This leaves a smaller but more meaningful list of publishers.

10. Decide Whether You Already Have the Right Replacement

You may already have a suitable page.

If not, determine whether an existing resource can be improved.

Create something new only when the opportunity justifies the additional work.

11. Make the Replacement Fit the Original Need

A replacement should be better in a specific way.

For example, it may provide:

• More current statistics
• Primary research
• Better sourcing
• Restored functionality
• More complete information
• Clearer instructions

Avoid creating a generic article simply because the dead URL had many backlinks.

12. Find the Correct Publisher Contact

The appropriate person may be the author, editor, content manager, webmaster, or site owner.

Choose the person most likely to be able to review and update the article rather than simply using the first email address you can find.

13. Contact the Publisher About the Broken Resource

The outreach should focus on the issue in their article.

Mention the page, the broken resource, and why your replacement is relevant.

The publisher should be able to verify the problem quickly.

Avoid framing the request simply as a request for a backlink.

14. Explain Why Your Resource Is a Suitable Replacement

Be specific.

For example, explain that your report contains updated 2026 data, that your calculator provides the same function as the discontinued tool, or that your guide covers the process the original tutorial explained.

This is stronger than saying your content is “better.”

15. Let the Publisher Decide How to Update the Article

The publisher may change the wording, select a different anchor, use another source, or decide not to make the update.

That editorial control is part of the process.

16. Follow Up Where Appropriate

A limited follow-up can be useful if the opportunity is strong and the publisher has not responded.

There is no universal follow-up schedule that fits every campaign.

17. Verify Every Successful Placement

Do not count a backlink simply because a publisher says the article has been updated.

Open the page and confirm:

• The link is live
• The correct page is linked
• The surrounding context makes sense
• The article remains accessible

18. Monitor Important Placements

Links can later disappear or change.

Monitoring helps identify when a publisher has removed the reference, changed the destination, or updated the article again.

Example of a Strong Broken Link Building Opportunity

Suppose a discontinued SaaS benchmark report still has links from several B2B articles.

You discover that seven relevant articles still cite the old benchmark because they need evidence about SaaS retention rates.

You already have a current benchmark report covering the same subject.

Those seven pages represent much stronger opportunities than simply treating every historical backlink to the old report as an outreach prospect.

Example of a Poor Replacement

Suppose a resource page links to a discontinued password generator.

You own a cybersecurity consulting service.

Both resources relate broadly to cybersecurity, but they serve completely different purposes.

The consulting page is therefore not a suitable replacement.

This illustrates the most important rule in broken link building: the replacement must satisfy the original reference need, not simply belong to the same topic.

Which Tools Can You Use for Broken Link Building?

Broken link building usually requires several types of tools because research, validation, historical analysis, contact discovery, and outreach are different tasks. The top link building software covers these broader workflow needs, while broken-link campaigns use the specific tools required for dead-page discovery, validation, contact research, outreach, and monitoring.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is useful for finding dead competitor resources and seeing which pages still link to them.

Relevant data can include:

• Referring pages
• Referring domains
• Anchor text
• Broken backlinks
• Broken outgoing links

This information helps identify potential opportunities.

You still need to open the source page and determine whether your replacement actually fits.

Semrush

Semrush can support three different broken-link tasks.

You can use its backlink data to research competitor pages that are no longer available.

You can use Site Audit to identify broken internal or external links on a website you control.

You can use Backlink Audit to find external backlinks pointing to dead pages on your own website.

These three tasks should not be confused because only the first is directly focused on finding new broken link building opportunities.

Screaming Frog

Screaming Frog can crawl a website or list of URLs and identify broken outbound links and the pages containing them.

This is useful when researching:

• Resource pages
• Industry websites
• Prospect lists
• Specific sections of a site

It is particularly helpful for validating links across a known set of pages.

Check My Links

Check My Links is useful for quickly checking a single article or resource page.

It works best when you are manually reviewing a small number of pages rather than researching thousands of backlinks.

Wayback Machine

The Wayback Machine can show archived versions of an unavailable resource.

This can help you understand whether the original page was a:

• Study
• Calculator
• Guide
• Template
• Tool
• Data resource

That historical context makes it easier to determine what type of replacement would actually fit.

Hunter

Hunter can help find professional email addresses for authors, editors, publishers, or other relevant contacts.

It should be used after you have already decided that the page represents a legitimate opportunity.

BuzzStream

BuzzStream can help organize publisher information, outreach history, follow-ups, campaign status, and team activity.

It is useful when a campaign contains enough prospects that email and spreadsheet management becomes difficult.

Pitchbox

Pitchbox can support prospecting, contact discovery, outreach sequences, follow-up management, and campaign tracking.

It is primarily useful for operating larger outreach campaigns.

Semrush Link Building Tool

Semrush's Link Building Tool can help organize prospects and outreach after the broken-link opportunities themselves have been researched and qualified.

It should not be confused with Semrush's backlink research or technical Site Audit functions.

The tools make research and campaign management faster, but they do not determine whether a replacement is appropriate.

That still requires reviewing the exact publisher, article, broken-reference context, and proposed destination.

How to Find Broken Links With Semrush?

To find broken link building opportunities with Semrush, research a relevant competitor's backlinks, review its indexed pages, filter for broken pages, and then inspect the external pages that still link to those unavailable URLs.

This is different from using Semrush to fix broken links on your own website.

1. Choose a Relevant Competitor

Select a competitor that publishes resources similar to those your website could realistically replace.

Do not choose competitors only because they have high authority metrics.

2. Open the Competitor in Semrush Backlinks

Analyze the competitor domain in Semrush's backlink research section.

3. Open Indexed Pages

Review the competitor's indexed pages and their backlink information.

4. Filter for Broken Pages

Use the Broken Pages filter to identify URLs that Semrush reports as unavailable.

Treat these as candidates rather than confirmed dead resources.

5. Review Their Backlinks and Referring Domains

Pages with several referring domains can be worth investigating because more live publishers may still reference them.

However, the page with the largest backlink count is not automatically the best opportunity.

6. Check the Dead URL Manually

Open the URL yourself.

Confirm whether it is actually unavailable, has moved, redirects somewhere else, or has been restored.

7. Review the Referring Pages

Open the backlinks associated with the dead page.

Focus on pages where the broken reference is still active.

8. Check the Current Article

Confirm that:

• The referring page still exists
• The broken link is still present
• The surrounding section is still relevant
• The reference still serves the same purpose

9. Determine Why the Old Page Was Linked

Review the anchor text and surrounding paragraph.

Determine whether the publisher needed statistics, a definition, research, a tool, a template, or another type of resource.

10. Decide Whether You Have a Suitable Replacement

Use an existing resource if it fits.

Improve an existing resource if necessary.

Create a new resource only if enough worthwhile opportunities justify it.

11. Export the Useful Opportunities

Useful fields can include:

• Dead URL
• Referring page
• Publisher
• Anchor
• Backlink status

Then manually add information such as:

• Whether the dead URL was verified
• Whether the broken link is still present
• Why the publisher originally linked
• Whether your replacement fits
• Whether the opportunity has been approved for outreach

Do Not Confuse Three Semrush Use Cases

The first is broken link building.

The second is technical SEO maintenance.

The third is backlink reclamation.

SaaS Example

Suppose Semrush shows that a competitor's old SaaS benchmark has 47 referring domains.

After reviewing those links, you discover that only 12 articles still contain the broken reference.

After checking their context, only seven are still relevant to your current benchmark research.

Your realistic opportunity set is seven publishers, not 47.

This is why backlink databases should be used for discovery rather than as ready-made outreach lists.

What Are The Top Broken Link Building Services?

Broken link building providers worth evaluating include those of top link building services such as BuildSaaSLinks, Page One Power, LinkBuilder.io, SEO Discovery, and SERP Forge. Their delivery models differ, so the right choice depends on whether you need SaaS-specific link acquisition, a dedicated broken-link campaign, broader managed link building, white-label fulfillment, or a combination of services.

BuildSaaSLinks

BuildSaaSLinks is a SaaS-focused link-building provider.

For broken-link campaigns, its relevant advantage is the ability to work within SaaS and B2B publisher environments where resources such as software research, benchmarks, technical guides, statistics, and industry content are common.

Broken link building should be treated as one potential acquisition method within a SaaS-focused campaign where suitable opportunities exist rather than automatically assuming every campaign will use it.

Its broader service model can also include site filtering, reporting, and placement protection.

This can make it relevant for:

• SaaS companies
• In-house SEO teams
• SEO agencies
• White-label SaaS link fulfillment

The main point to confirm before starting is whether broken-link research will actually form part of the campaign.

Page One Power

Page One Power offers managed link-building campaigns and includes broken link building among its link-acquisition approaches.

Its model is more customized than simply selling a fixed number of broken-link placements.

A typical engagement can involve finding relevant broken resources, matching them with useful client assets, and contacting publishers about the replacement.

This can suit businesses looking for a managed and relationship-focused approach.

LinkBuilder.io

LinkBuilder.io uses broken link building as one method within broader managed link-building campaigns.

The provider also uses other acquisition methods depending on the client, available assets, market, and campaign objective.

This model can suit businesses that do not specifically want a standalone broken-link campaign but want the tactic used when appropriate.

SEO Discovery

SEO Discovery offers dedicated broken link building services that can include research, replacement-resource matching, content support, outreach, and reporting.

It can also fit agencies looking for white-label execution.

As with any provider, the important question is how the exact broken references and referring pages are identified and qualified.

SERP Forge

SERP Forge offers broken-link campaigns focused on finding niche-relevant unavailable resources and contacting the pages that still reference them.

Its positioning makes it relevant for businesses specifically looking for a dedicated broken-link campaign rather than a broader general link-building engagement.

Broken Link Building Provider Comparison

How Should You Evaluate a Broken Link Building Service?

Start by asking how the provider finds opportunities.

A genuine broken link building campaign should begin with unavailable resources that relevant publishers are still referencing.

Then ask how the provider evaluates the live referring pages.

The source page should still be relevant, useful, and legitimate.

Next, ask how replacement fit is determined.

The provider should understand why the old page was linked and determine whether your existing resource serves the same purpose.

If no appropriate resource exists, clarify whether the service can help improve or create one.

You should also understand how outreach is handled.

Effective broken-link outreach should refer to the actual broken resource and explain why the proposed replacement fits the publisher's article.

Ask how successful placements are verified and reported.

Useful reporting should show information such as:

• Source page
• Replaced resource
• New destination
• Placement date
• Current link status

Agencies should also confirm whether white-label reporting is available.

Finally, understand what happens when an acquired link later disappears.

Some providers offer restoration, replacement, or refund protection as part of their commercial service.

These guarantees protect the buyer financially. They do not make the backlink inherently more valuable for SEO.

The strongest broken link building providers are therefore not simply the companies promising the most links. They should be able to show that each campaign begins with a real broken resource, identifies relevant live publishers still referencing it, understands why the resource was originally cited, proposes a suitable replacement, and verifies the resulting update.

BuildSaaSLinks can provide a SaaS-focused option where broken-reference opportunities fit the campaign, while Page One Power, LinkBuilder.io, SEO Discovery, and SERP Forge offer different combinations of dedicated broken-link execution, managed link building, content support, outreach, and white-label fulfillment.