Link Reclamation: How To Reclaim Lost Links?

Link reclamation is not just a task; it’s a powerful tool in your SEO arsenal. Its main goal is to restore lost and broken links that were once linked to your website, empowering you to take control of your site’s authority and ranking.

Why do existing links disappear in the first place? The primary reasons are website reorganization, URL updates, and content revisions.

These links disappear due to website reorganization, content modifications, or changes to the URL. To boost your website’s authority, proactively search for broken links and improve them one by one. This preparedness will also find your SERP ranking growing.

The link-building campaigns will yield a better return on investment (ROI) after fixing broken links on your website. Link reclamation also enhances link equity, improves user experience (UX), and boosts your overall site health.

This article offers a step-by-step guide for successful link reclamation. Keep reading.

Why Is Link Reclamation Indispensable For Good SEO Metrics? 

Once you learn how to reclaim lost links, it will help you to: 

• Regain link value
• Develop and/or consolidate your link profile
• Improve the SEO framework of your website and boost your overall authority

What makes link reclamation more effective is that you can initiate it at negligible to no cost.

What Is Link Reclamation?

It is the process of reestablishing broken links that were previously redirected to your website. These links result in external endorsement of your site, hence improving the site’s authority and ranking.

Link reclamation also attracts referral traffic.

Difference Between Unlinked Mentions And Link Reclamation

Unlinked mentions, on the other hand, are when your product, brand, or content is mentioned on another website, but there is no backlink pointing to your website.

It might be an online mention, image, citation, or even a simple reference to your company or personal brand. This is a different strategy from link reclamation, but both are necessary to maximize the link profile of your website.

The loss of broken links, also known as dead links, occurs when a website deletes pages. Similarly, a change of URL during a website redesign or business rebranding can also create multiple dead links.

Link reclamation seeks to restore the value of disrupted backlinks, whereas unlinked mentions seek to turn brand mentions into backlinks.

Although they target different types of link opportunities, both strategies are necessary to maximize the link profile of your website.

Why Is Link Reclamation Important?

Reclaiming links is crucial for preserving and enhancing both the user experience and SEO performance of your website.

1. Recover Lost Link Equity

Every backlink increases your website’s authority by acting as a recommendation. You lose this important SEO tool when links disappear because of URL changes or page removals.

Regaining these links helps restore lost credibility and preserves the value that each backlink contributes to your website’s authority and reliability.

2. Boost Search Rankings

For search engines like Google, backlinks are a crucial factor in ranking. Your site’s rankings may suffer if it loses backlinks. Conversely, your site’s link profile will be restored by recovering lost backlinks, which can improve your search engine results.

An increase in organic traffic from higher search engine rankings is vital to the expansion and success of your website.

3. Improve User Experience

Frustrated consumers have a worse experience with broken links, resulting in a higher bounce rate and a poorer user experience.

You can prevent customers from seeing 404 errors by repairing broken links and providing them with an uninterrupted and seamless surfing experience. This will increase user happiness and engagement.

4. Maximise ROI

Reclaiming links is not only effective but also an affordable way to maximize the benefits of your link-building efforts. This cost-effectiveness should give you confidence in the return on investment (ROI) of your SEO strategy.

By finding lost links, you can make the most of your current efforts and avoid constantly creating fresh links by gaining the most value from the backlinks you already have.

What Your Link Reclamation Strategy Should Look Like?

To establish a well-knit relationship with the website owners, you must develop or repair any broken links or unlinked mentions. It might be a valuable source of generating leads for future collaborations.

Follow the steps to launch a successful link reclamation:

Step 1: Scrutinize Your Backlink Profile Properly 

You can use Google Search Console to do a detailed audit of your backlink profile. Start by identifying backlinks that can be traced to the broken pages. Next, determine the backlinks that have already been removed. End your audit by discovering the “brand mentions”.

Step 2: Find Broken Or Missing Pages

Any reputable crawler tool may help you scan your web pages. Your primary goal is to detect pages that return an “Error 404” message.

Once you have pinned all such pages, all you need to do is cross-reference the pages you discovered with your backlink scrutiny results. It will help you to sort pages that require immediate attention.

Step 3: Create 301 Redirects

You have to create 301 redirects for all broken backlinks. Create a backlink from the fractured URLs on your website to a relevant live page.

This confirms that the link equity and site visitors are aiming at the right destination. An example will aid your understanding.

Imagine you deleted your website’s product page by mistake. However, there would still be backlinks that redirect users to it. However, users would see an “Error 404” notification when they click on it.

Your primary goal is to redirect those backlinks to another product page, a category page, or a subcategory page with content that is relatable.

Step 4: Now, Ring The Webmasters 

For broken links caused by issues related to the linking website, please contact the webmaster promptly. However, ensure that you provide the correct URL this time and discuss the significance of linking to the updated page.

Step 5: Monitor All Brand Mentions

Readily available tools on the internet can help you quickly track brand mentions. If you notice any unlinked mentions, please contact your site owner promptly. Then, request a replacement link.

For example, you find your brand’s mention in a new piece. However, the link placed there doesn’t revert to your homepage. In this situation, you can reach out and request a link to upgrade SEO and referral traffic.

Step 6: Stabilize Your URLs 

To avoid losing links, you can leverage high-quality link-worthy content. High-quality content improves user experience. You can also use consistent naming conventions to improve URL health.

However, you can ward off broken links or similar issues by regularly auditing the website for broken links.

How To Promote The Repaired Link?

Promote your content vigorously throughout social media channels. This is a reliable way to appeal to a broader segment of the audience. As you fix the broken links, you will gain renewed traction for your website. But why choose social media above others?

Experts say social media is a promising window where you can create a promotional network at zero cost. Hence, improving your brand and website’s visibility.

Options like email outreach can also rope in potential agencies to promote your updated content with fresh links. You can also rely on personal emails and send targeted newsletters to grab the attention of influencers.

You can easily engage with your content and updated links. Your website now has the potential to reach a larger audience.

Best Ways To Reclaim Links

Check out the best strategies you should undertake to reclaim links:

1. Keep An Eye On Your Backlink Profile

Utilise tools like Ahrefs, Google Search Console, and SEMrush to review your backlink profile regularly. Create notifications for broken or missing backlinks so you can quickly identify and resolve issues.

Maintaining your website’s SEO strength requires regular monitoring to keep an eye on the health of your backlink profile and react fast to any changes.

2. Keep Your Link Profile Healthy

Avoid low-quality or spammy backlinks, as they may undermine your SEO efforts. Concentrate on obtaining pertinent, high-quality backlinks from reputable websites.

A robust, well-maintained link profile increases your website’s legitimacy, boosts its ranking potential, and fortifies it against changes in search engine algorithms.

3. Using Internal Linking

Internal linking helps search engines understand the structure of your website and distribute link equity efficiently.

Ensure that all your internal links are functional and up-to-date. Audit your internal links regularly to ensure smooth user navigation and effective search engine indexing, which will enhance your website’s overall speed.

4. With Reverse Image Search 

One of the usual sources of backlinks is images. Simultaneously, images may also cause broken backlinks and account for unclaimed mentions.

As an SEO professional, your role is to claim links using reverse image search options, such as Google Images.

Source: Google 

With Google Images, you must manually check each page in the results section. The first thing to check is whether the image accurately links back to your website.

Once you find a link is established, you can stop there. Congrats! You have found a valuable backlink. However, the problem arises when the image is not linked back to your site. Or the link is broken.

If you encounter such dead ends, please contact the website’s owner. Provide them a link to sync with your image.

5. Conduct Regular Audits

Conduct routine audits of your website to find and resolve broken links. Crawl your website with tools like Screaming Frog to identify issues.

Frequent audits also contribute to maintaining your website’s link profile, ensuring error-free navigation for both visitors and search engines.

Common Challenges And How To Avoid Them?

Here are some of the common challenges faced in reclaiming links:

1. Unresponsive Webmasters

If you don’t hear back from them promptly, follow up with a cordial.

Try using alternative communication channels, such as social media or contact forms. Being persistent and kind may increase your chances of receiving a favourable response, which will enable you to recover lost backlinks successfully.

2. Outdated Contact Information

Utilize resources like Hunter.io to obtain the most up-to-date contact details of web administrators.

For up-to-date contact information, visit LinkedIn or the website’s contact page. Reclaiming lost links becomes easier when outreach efforts are directed toward the appropriate individual with accurate contact information.

3. Content No Longer Available

If the original content is no longer relevant, create new content that serves the same purpose. Use 301 redirects to lead readers to the updated content.

This strategy provides consumers with current, relevant information, preserves link equity, and maintains the value of the backlink.

The Future Of Link Reclamation

All updated sites must have a strong backlinking profile. It becomes increasingly pivotal as search engines continue to change their ranking norms.

Link reclamation is also a critical SEO strategy. An aggressive link resurrection strategy is pivotal for building a better brand.