broken-link-building

name	broken-link-building
description	Use when systematically prospecting for backlinks. Broken link building = find broken links on relevant sites, offer your content as replacement.

Broken Link Building

Find broken (404'd) links on relevant sites. Email site owner: 'Here's a broken link → here's my equivalent content.' Conversion rate 5-15%.

Finding broken links

Tools:

1. Ahrefs > Broken Backlinks — competitor's broken inbound links
2. Check My Links (Chrome extension) — scans current page
3. Screaming Frog — site-wide broken link scan
4. Manual search in your niche — Wayback Machine reveals lost content
5. Reverse search — find 404 URLs cited in articles

Outreach email template

Subject: 'Broken link on [page name]'

'Hi [name],

I was reading your [article title] and noticed a broken link to [old URL]. The page returns 404.

I wrote something similar that might be a good replacement: [your URL]. It covers [specific topic relevant to context].

Up to you, of course! Either way, just wanted to flag the broken link.

Thanks, [Your name]'

Conversion: 5-15% if relevance is strong.

Scaling the strategy

1. Build prospect list (100+ broken links on relevant sites)
2. Match each broken link to your content (or create if needed)
3. Personalize each email
4. Send 20-30/week (don't blast)
5. Track responses + backlinks earned
6. Follow up once politely if no reply

Where this fits in the X3 empire

Outreach playbook for CardPrepAI link-building.