What we measured ·
What Google shows for "broken link building" right now
Method: Live Google results (United States, desktop, English) for "broken link building" retrieved through DataForSEO's SERP API on 2026-10-22. Page types are our own classification of each ranking URL.
The top 8 organic results for "broken link building" were 7 guides or explainers, 1 product or service page. The first three were www.semrush.com, backlinko.com, ahrefs.com.
Google showed an AI Overview for this query, citing 9 source domains including www.semrush.com, ahrefs.com, www.frac.tl, www.stackmatix.com. Pages that state the answer directly and early are the ones an Overview can quote.
People Also Ask listed: "What is broken link building?"; "What does a broken link mean?"; "What should you avoid in link building?"; "Are backlinks still relevant in 2026?". The sections below answer the ones within this page's scope.
| Position | Domain | Page type |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | www.semrush.com | Guide or explainer |
| 2 | backlinko.com | Guide or explainer |
| 3 | ahrefs.com | Guide or explainer |
| 4 | www.frac.tl | Guide or explainer |
| 5 | brokenlinkbuilding.com | Product or service page |
| 6 | www.simpletiger.com | Guide or explainer |
Step 1: find dead pages with backlinks
Use a backlink tool's broken backlinks or best by links report on competitor and industry domains, filtered for 404 responses. Look for dead pages that had many referring domains, such as discontinued tools, deleted studies, or retired guides. You can also crawl resource pages in your niche and check outbound links for errors.
Step 2: understand what the page offered
Look up the dead URL in the Wayback Machine to see the content and why people linked to it: a statistic, a tool, a template, a definition. Your replacement must cover the same need, ideally better and more current. If you cannot match it honestly, move on.
Step 3: create or choose the replacement
Match the replacement to the reason for linking.
| Dead resource | Good replacement |
|---|---|
| Free tool that shut down | A working free tool for the same task |
| Outdated statistics page | A current study with method and date |
| Deleted guide | A thorough, current guide on the same topic |
| Retired template | A downloadable or copyable template |
| Glossary definition | A precise definition with examples |
Step 4: outreach
Export the pages linking to the dead URL and find the right contact for each. Send a short message: which page has the broken link, what it pointed to, and your working alternative, with one sentence on why it fits. Do not demand a link or send templates with no specifics. Follow up once at most. Track responses to learn which types of sites reply.
Quality and safety
Broken link building is safe when the replacement is genuinely useful and the link is editorial. It becomes risky if you pay for placements or create thin pages solely to collect links. Free tools and original data are natural fits, which is one reason serionflow.com maintains a set of free SEO tools and dated research. SerionFlow does not send outreach; you or a link-building specialist handle that part.
Clear answers
Frequently asked questions
Is broken link building still effective?
+
Yes, when targeted at relevant dead resources with real backlinks and paired with a genuinely good replacement. Response rates are modest, so quality of targeting matters.
What should you avoid in link building?
+
Buying links, link exchanges at scale, private blog networks, and thin pages made only to attract links, all of which Google's spam policies address.
About the author
Shadrack Kumi · Founder, SerionFlow
Shadrack builds SerionFlow's site research, page generation, and Search Console tooling, and runs the free tools these guides pair with. Search Console figures cited on these pages come from serionflow.com's own property.
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