Find broken links on authoritative sites, create matching content, suggest your page as a replacement.
Focus on broken links to popular dead resources, not random 404s. When a well-known tool, blog, or resource shuts down, dozens of sites still link to it. Create a replacement resource and email all of those sites at once for a big link haul.
Search Google for: "[your niche] resources", "[your niche] useful links", "[your niche] recommended tools". Resource pages are curated link lists — they're maintained by people who actively add links, making them receptive to outreach.
Install "Check My Links" from the Chrome Web Store. Visit a resource page and click the extension icon. It highlights broken links in red. Note the broken URLs and what content they were linking to — this tells you what replacement content to offer.
In Ahrefs: enter a competitor domain > Backlink profile > Broken. This shows pages linking to dead competitor pages. If you have equivalent content, you can suggest your page as the replacement. More scalable than manual checking.
Check what the dead page used to contain using the Wayback Machine (web.archive.org). Create a similar (but better) resource on your site. Or identify an existing page on your site that covers the same topic. The closer the match, the higher your success rate.
Email the site owner: "Hi [Name], I was reading your [topic] resource page and noticed a broken link to [dead URL]. I have a similar resource at [your URL] that might be a good replacement. Either way, thought you'd want to know about the broken link!"
Help me execute a broken link building campaign: My niche: [INDUSTRY] Content I already have: [LIST KEY PAGES/TOPICS] Generate: 1. Search queries to find resource pages with broken links in my niche 2. How to use Ahrefs/Check My Links to find broken links efficiently 3. An outreach email template that's helpful, not spammy 4. Criteria for evaluating if a broken link opportunity is worth pursuing 5. How to quickly create matching replacement content
Track your progress and get guided through every step.
Open Interactive Tool