How to Find Broken Links on Other Websites for Link Building

Broken link building is one of the most effective, scalable, and genuinely useful link building strategies available. It works by finding broken outbound links on other websites — links pointing to pages that no longer exist — and offering your content as a replacement. The webmaster fixes a real problem on their site, and you earn a backlink. Both parties benefit.

Unlike cold outreach asking for links with no clear reason, broken link building has a built-in value proposition: you are helping the site owner fix an actual error. Response rates are significantly higher than standard outreach, and the links you earn are genuine editorial links placed in context.

The Broken Link Building Process

Step 1 — Find relevant sites to scan. Identify authoritative websites in your niche that are likely to have broken outbound links. Good targets include resource pages, link roundups, informational guides, and educational content that links to external sources. These pages typically have many outbound links accumulated over years, and some will inevitably be broken.

Step 2 — Scan for broken outbound links. Use the free SEOLinkScan Broken Link Checker to scan any URL for broken outbound links. Enter the URL of a resource page or guide, and it will identify every outbound link that returns a 404 or other error. This gives you your opportunity list instantly.

Step 3 — Qualify the opportunity. Not every broken link is worth pursuing. The broken link should point to content similar to something you have or could create. The host page should be authoritative and topically relevant to your site. And the broken link should be genuinely accessible — if it is buried in a footer or appears only once across the site, the webmaster is unlikely to prioritise fixing it.

Step 4 — Create or identify your replacement content. You need a page on your site that genuinely replaces the broken resource. If the broken link pointed to a guide about anchor text strategy, your anchor text guide is a natural replacement. If you do not have matching content, this is an opportunity to create it — a piece written specifically to replace a category of broken resources in your niche.

Step 5 — Outreach. Contact the webmaster with a brief, direct email. Mention the specific broken link (include the URL and the text of the broken link), explain that it leads to a 404, and suggest your content as a replacement. Keep it short — webmasters are busy and respond better to concise, actionable emails than lengthy pitches.

Finding Broken Link Opportunities at Scale

Beyond scanning individual pages, you can find broken link opportunities at scale using several approaches. Use our Wayback Machine tool to find the original content that a broken URL pointed to — this tells you exactly what topic the replacement needs to cover. Search Google for resource pages in your niche: "your keyword" + "resources" or "your keyword" + "useful links". These pages typically have dozens of outbound links and a high density of broken ones on older pages.

Competitor backlink analysis also reveals broken link opportunities: use a backlink tool to find domains that link to competitors, then scan those domains for broken outbound links. As we discussed in our guide to finding competitor backlinks, sites that link to competitors are already proven to be interested in your topic area.

Strategic Action Plan: Mastering Broken Link Remediation

Broken link building works because it provides genuine value to the site owner while earning you a natural, contextual backlink. Use the free SEOLinkScan Broken Link Checker to find opportunities on any URL, create or identify replacement content that genuinely matches what was lost, and send concise, specific outreach emails. It is one of the few link building strategies where both parties benefit equally.

Missed the previous article? Read: What Is Guest Posting and Does It Still Work for SEO?