Link building is HARD.
If you’ve ever tried cold outreach for backlinks, you probably got ignored more times than you’d like to admit. Most website owners are bombarded with link requests every day.
But what if there was a way to get links without being annoying?
That is exactly what a broken link building strategy or technique does. Instead of asking for a favor, you are actually helping website owners, making it way easier to land high-quality backlinks.
Even, I used the same strategy and made 1,500+ backlinks so far.
Let’s find out how you can build backlinks like me.
Why Is Broken Link Building So Powerful?
Most backlinks tricks such as best of lists strategy involve cold outreach where you are essentially asking owners for favors. But with a broken link building strategy, you are helping them first.
Instead of just asking for a backlink, you are fixing their website by pointing out broken links and offering a replacement. You can easily call this a win-win situation that will benefit both parties.
So, how does it work?
Follow these five simple steps.
Step 1: Install Check My Links Extension
First things first, you need an online or web tool that can quickly scan a website page and highlight broken links. That’s where the Check My Links Google Chrome extension comes in.
It’s free, easy to use, and does all the heavy lifting for you.
How to install it:
- Go to the Google Chrome Extension website.
- Search for Check My Links Chrome extension.
- Click Add to Chrome.
Done.
Once installed, you can scan any webpage with just one click.
Broken links will show up in red, making them super easy to spot.
Step 2: Find Pages With Lots of Outbound Links
Now that you have your tool ready, it’s time to find the best pages to scan for broken links. The more links a page has, the higher the chances that at least one of them is broken.
That’s why resource pages (also known as “link roundups”) are GOLD for this method.
How to find them?
Use these Google search strings to find resource pages in your niche:
- [keyword] + inurl:resources
- [keyword] + inurl:links
- [keyword] + “best resources”
- [keyword] + “helpful links”
Example: If you’re in the fitness niche, you can search for:
- fitness + inurl:resources
Google will show you tons of pages packed with links.
Now, it’s time to check for broken ones.
Step 3: Scan the Page for Broken Links
Here’s where the magic happens.
- Open one of the resource pages you found in the previous step.
- Click on the Check My Links extension.
- It will instantly scan all links on the page and highlight:
- Green = Working links ✅
- Red = Broken links ❌
An example:
Now you have valuable information and links that are broken and need replacing.
Real example,
I recently found a digital marketing resource page that had 4 broken links.
One of them was about Content Formats.
Guess what?
I already had a great SEO case study on my website.
So, I used that opportunity to get a backlink.
Step 4: Email the Website Owner
Now that you’ve found broken links.
It’s time to reach out to the website owner.
Your goal?
- Help them fix their broken links
- Suggest your content as a replacement
Here’s an email template you can use:
Subject: Problem with [Their Site’s Name]
Hi [Name],
Are you still updating your site?
I was searching for content on [Topic] when I came across your excellent page: [Page Title or URL].
However, I noticed a few links didn’t seem to be working:
[URLs of broken links]
Also, I recently published [Brief Content Pitch]. It may make a good replacement for the [Point Out a Specific Broken Link].
Either way, I hope this helped you out.
Thanks,
[Your Name]
Step 5: Use iGrowthful Strategies Bundle
I already built 1,500+ links using the broken link building strategy.
But if you want to go even further, check the iGrowthful Strategies, packed with 250+ SEO and other marketing tricks to help you build more links, drive traffic, and grow your business.
Even I use them for my own and client’s websites.
Final Part
Broken link building strategy is one of the most effective ways to get quality backlinks.
- It is free (no need to pay for backlinks).
- It is scalable (you can repeat this for hundreds of pages).
- It actually helps website owners (so they’re happy to add your link).
So, what are you waiting for?
Start building high-quality backlinks now.
More Strategies:
- I Built 304 Links Using Feeler Emails Trick
- 4 SEO Techniques Brought 11.9M Visitors To My Website
- 32,000+/m Visitors Using Comparison Keywords Trick