In the ever-evolving world of SEO, the health of your backlinks can often make all the difference. The article “How Can I Identify And Fix Broken Backlinks?” presents straightforward guidance on how you can uncover and fix those disheartening broken links. What do you do when you find one, or even several of them lurking in your website’s architecture? Fear not, for this high-level walkthrough will equip you with the knowledge and practical solutions to track down and restore those healthy, organic links to your site.
Understanding the importance of backlinks
Backlinks, also known as inbound or incoming links, are a vital part of any SEO strategy. They are links from one website to another, and in the eyes of search engines, they act somewhat like a vote of confidence from one site to another. Think of it as another website vouching for your content’s quality or relevance.
The role of backlinks in SEO strategies
Backlinks play a critical part in search engine optimisation (SEO). Search engines like Google use complex algorithms to decipher the quality and relevance of your site, and backlinks are one of the signals they use. When other websites link to yours, it infers that your content is valuable and worth referencing. In other words, it’s so good that others want to direct their audience to your website for additional information.
How backlinks influence search engine rankings
It’s no secret that backlinks significantly influence search engine rankings. Sites with a high number of quality backlinks typically receive better rankings. This notion is centred on the idea that a backlink can be seen as a vote of quality from other websites, signifying that your site is reliable, valuable, or authoritative.
The difference between quality backlinks and broken backlinks
Not all backlinks are created equal, though. There are quality backlinks, and then there are broken or bad backlinks. Quality backlinks are from reputable sources related to your website’s topic or industry and contribute positively to your SEO efforts. Broken backlinks, on the other hand, are links that lead to pages that don’t exist anymore. These prove detrimental to the user experience and your site’s SEO efforts, causing missed opportunities for traffic, sales, and conversions.
Identifying broken backlinks
Broken backlinks can have adverse effects on your website’s SEO, so it’s essential to identify and fix them.
What entails a broken backlink
A broken backlink, as mentioned, is a link that directs users to a non-existent page, whether on your site or an external one. This could be due to multiple reasons, including a change in the targeted webpage’s URL, the targeted page has been removed, or the linking site has a technical error.
Tools for detecting broken backlinks
Luckily, multiple tools can help detect broken backlinks. Some of these include Google Search Console, SEMrush and Ahrefs. These tools crawl your website, much like a search engine, and identify any links that lead to non-existent pages.
Steps to identify broken backlinks on your website
Identifying broken backlinks involves setting up and utilising these tools to crawl and examine your website. Once done, these tools provide a list of pages with broken links or a list of broken links directly based on how each tool operates.
Analysing the impact of broken backlinks
Broken backlinks can negatively impact your website in various ways, making it important to understand and track their effect.
How broken backlinks affect your SEO
Broken backlinks disrupt the smooth navigation of your site, leading to a poor user experience, which search engines penalise. Furthermore, they waste your site’s crawl budget, meaning search engines may not crawl all your pages, leading to reduced visibility in search engine results.
Analysing the traffic reduction due to broken backlinks
With tools like Google Analytics, you can assess the impact of broken backlinks on your website traffic. By analysing data such as bounce rates or drops in traffic, you can gauge the impact of these broken links.
Understanding the correlation between broken backlinks and user experience
Broken links contribute to a poor user experience. When users encounter a 404 error due to a broken link, it’s frustrating, and it reduces their trust in your website. This leads to increased bounce rates and decreased dwell time, both of which can negatively impact your site’s SEO.
Contacting the website with broken backlinks
Once you’ve identified broken backlinks, it’s time to get in touch with the website that owns the problematic links.
Strategies for contacting webmasters or site owners
Contacting the site owner entails finding their contact details, which might be in the site’s Contact Us or About Us page or WHOIS data.
Composing a message to notify about the broken link
When notifying a webmaster about a broken link, be polite and provide as much context as possible. Indicate where the broken link is located and suggest a replacement link if possible.
Alternatives if the site owner is unresponsive
If the site owner does not respond, consider reaching out via other channels, such as social media or through a contact form on their website.
Fixing the broken backlinks
Next is the critical part: fixing the broken links. This process varies according to the type of backlink.
Methods to fix broken backlinks
Fixing broken backlinks requires different methods, such as updating the link if the page URL has changed, creating a redirect if the page permanently moved or deleting the link if the page no longer exists.
Inbound and outbound links restoration
Restoring inbound links involves contacting the site owner, who points to your site with a broken link and ask them to update it. To restore outbound links, you need to replace the broken link with a valid one on your site.
Utilising link management software for fixing broken backlinks
Link management software, such as SEMrush or Ahrefs, can simplify backlink restoration. These tools aid in quickly identifying and updating broken backlinks, increasing efficiency and effectiveness.
Redirecting broken backlinks
Redirecting is another way to handle broken backlinks. In such cases, users are directed to a different but relevant page, preserving the user experience and minimising disruption to SEO efforts.
Understanding 301 redirects
A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect from one URL to another. This sends users and search engines to a different URL than the one they originally requested.
How to implement a 301 redirect
Implementing a 301 redirect involves editing your website’s .htaccess file or using a plugin if your website uses a content management system like WordPress.
Impact of redirecting a broken backlink on SEO
Using 301 redirects retains most of the ranking power of the original page, ensuring minimal impact on your website’s SEO. However, it’s essential to ensure that the new page is as relevant as possible to the original to provide value to users and search engines.
Avoiding the recurrence of broken backlinks
While some degree of link breakage is unavoidable due to factors beyond your control, following prudent practices can minimise these occurrences.
Best practices for backlink management
Regular audits of your website to identify and fix broken links, keeping your site structure as static as possible, and regularly updating your content all contribute to sound backlink management.
Regular check-ups and maintenance of backlinks
Regularly monitoring your backlinks using SEO tools will allow you to quickly identify and rectify any broken links. Proactive detection and remediation of broken backlinks are essential to maintaining a positive user experience and good SEO performance.
Using tools for tracking backlink functionality
Tools like Google Search Console and SEMrush can help monitor your backlinks’ functionality, helping you stay on top of any changes and promptly address any issues.
Engaging a professional SEO service
There may come a time when you might consider engaging a professional SEO service to manage your backlinks.
When to consider hiring a professional SEO service
If your site has a significant number of backlinks, or if you find the task of managing your backlinks too time-consuming or complex, it might be time to consider hiring a professional service.
Choosing the right SEO agency for backlink management
Choosing the right agency involves assessing their experience, expertise, customer service, and the cost of their services. Look for an agency that has a good understanding of your industry and the ability to provide tailored solutions.
Comparing costs and benefits of DIY vs professional service
While managing your backlinks yourself is cost-effective, it can be time-consuming and may not yield optimal results if you’re not entirely versed in SEO. Hiring a professional service, while more expensive, could be more beneficial in the long run.
The legal side of backlinks
There are also legal aspects to consider when dealing with backlinks.
Understanding link schemes and their risks
Link schemes involve techniques to manipulate a site’s ranking in search results via links, which violates Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Unnatural links, reciprocal link exchanges, and paid links are all examples of link schemes that carry the risk of a Google penalty.
Guidelines for ethical backlinking
Ethical backlinking involves creating valuable content that others naturally want to link to, starting relationships with other website owners, and following Google’s Webmaster Guidelines to avoid penalties.
Penalties for link schemes and how to avoid them
Penalties for link schemes can involve a significant drop in search rankings or even removal from search results. To avoid these penalties, it’s essential to follow ethical backlinking practices and regularly monitor your backlinks for any unnatural activity.
Case studies on managing and fixing broken backlinks
Case studies provide real-world examples of how businesses have successfully managed and fixed their broken backlinks, providing a practical guide and insights.
Sharing successful backlink restoration experiences
Stories of successful backlink restoration can illuminate techniques and strategies that have worked, providing a roadmap for your backlink management efforts.
Identifying lessons and strategies from these case studies
By dissecting these case studies, you can identify effective strategies, common pitfalls and formulate your own approach to managing and fixing your backlinks.
Actionable tips for managing your own backlinks
Drawing from these case studies, some actionable tips include performing regular backlink audits, fixing broken backlinks as soon as they’re identified, and creating valuable content that naturally attracts backlinks. Effective backlink management is a continuous process that requires vigilance and effort, but the results are well worth it.
Hi, I’m Nicholas Bortoluzzi (but people often call me Nico).
I am the Founder and Director at SEO Lynx, an internet marketing agency operating in the UK and servicing clients worldwide.
The article on this page was written and curated by myself.