{"id":554,"date":"2023-04-10T09:00:05","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T09:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eye10.io\/en\/blog\/link-reclamation-how-to-recover-lost-links-and-boost-your-seo\/"},"modified":"2023-04-10T09:00:05","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T09:00:05","slug":"link-reclamation-how-to-recover-lost-links-and-boost-your-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/link-reclamation-how-to-recover-lost-links-and-boost-your-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"Link Reclamation: How to Recover Lost Links and Boost Your SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Link reclamation is finding and fixing lost or broken links to your website. These links are also known as \u201cdead\u201d and could include internal and external links.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reclaiming links helps you ensure link equity or link juice is retained and regained on your website. Then you can build upon this strategy to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/10-proven-strategies-for-improving-your-seo\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">improve your site\u2019s SEO rankings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and domain authority.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Continue reading to discover why link reclamation is important and how you can perform it to stop losing <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/how-link-placement-affects-the-flow-of-link-equity\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">link equity<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> due to broken links.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why is link reclamation important for SEO?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Link reclamation is important for SEO because it can help you:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regain link value. Link value, also called link juice, is the SEO value of interlinking, where <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/what-is-domain-rating-and-how-does-it-impact-seo\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">value and authority<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are passed from one page to another through links. By reclaiming lost links, you can maintain the SEO value of the links you\u2019ve built and acquired over time.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Build your link profile. Your link profile collects all the links pointing to your website. It affects your site\u2019s reputation, trustworthiness, and ranking potential. Reclaiming lost links can improve your link profile and avoid losing link equity to your competitors.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improve your site\u2019s usability and user experience. Broken links can lead to 404 error pages, frustrating your site visitors and increasing your bounce rate. By reclaiming lost links, you can ensure smooth navigation and a positive user experience on your site.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to find and fix lost or broken links?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are different reasons why links can be lost or broken, such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the author removes your link from the linking page.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The webpage no longer exists (404 error).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The content for that URL has been moved to another webpage, causing a 301 redirect.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google no longer indexes the URL.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The external site is no longer available, has gone offline, or has been permanently moved.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An external site links to your site using a wrong, misspelled, or outdated URL.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How you reclaim lost or broken links depends on why the situation is so in the first place, and that is what the following subsections will focus on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finding and fixing broken internal links<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Broken internal links are links on your site that point to non-existent pages. They can harm your site\u2019s usability and SEO performance. To find broken internal links, use the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/eye10.io\/backlink-monitor\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eye10 Backlink Monitor<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to crawl your site and identify pages that return 404 codes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/wsnonline.dk\/storage\/uploads\/external\/3596\/c36a1f0330135a11648d28146d3c5ebb9f8093e0.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/wsnonline.dk\/storage\/uploads\/external\/3596\/c36a1f0330135a11648d28146d3c5ebb9f8093e0.png\" type=\"image\/png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: 403px;\" src=\"https:\/\/wsnonline.dk\/storage\/uploads\/external\/3596\/c36a1f0330135a11648d28146d3c5ebb9f8093e0.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"586\" height=\"403\"><\/picture><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Broken internal links are the easiest to update or replace since they do not require you to interface with any outside party that might delay or refuse your request.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can take any of the following steps:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Replace the broken links with live links by updating the URLs to point to the correct page or resource on our site.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a page has been deleted by mistake, restore it from the backup or create a new page with relevant content.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you cannot create a new page, redirect the deleted page to another relevant page on your website.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pay attention to ensure that there aren\u2019t too many redirects. If you notice such, shorten the chain by redirecting users to the destination page.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remove the link and the URL altogether if it\u2019s no longer relevant.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finding and fixing broken external links<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Broken external links are links from other sites that point to non-existent pages on your site. They can cause you to lose link value and authority. The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/eye10.io\/backlink-checker\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eye10 Backlink Checker<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can be used here to show you all the backlinks pointing to your site and filter them by status (lost or broken).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/wsnonline.dk\/storage\/uploads\/external\/3596\/42f421dee53bc4a5d5e41356ea5f270c993a2f66.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/wsnonline.dk\/storage\/uploads\/external\/3596\/42f421dee53bc4a5d5e41356ea5f270c993a2f66.png\" type=\"image\/png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: 213px;\" src=\"https:\/\/wsnonline.dk\/storage\/uploads\/external\/3596\/42f421dee53bc4a5d5e41356ea5f270c993a2f66.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"707\" height=\"301\"><\/picture><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/how-to-recover-from-the-negative-effects-of-bad-backlinks\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fix broken external links<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, you can follow the steps highlighted above (for internal links) by redirecting users to the correct URL or creating a new page with the same or similar content and URL.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alternatively, you could also reach out to the webmaster or editor of the site with the broken backlink and politely request them to fix it. Removing the link altogether is an option, but that would make you lose even more. Instead, provide them with the correct URL or suggest an alternative page if the original one is unavailable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is how such an email to the site owner could be expressed:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hi [Name],<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I hope this email finds you well.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019m [Your name], the [Your position] at [Your company]. I was browsing your site and came across this page: [Page URL with the broken link].<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I noticed that you have a link to one of our pages: [Broken link URL]. Unfortunately, this link is broken because we have moved the page to a new URL: [New link URL].<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019m writing to kindly ask you to update the link on your page with the new URL. This will help your readers find the information they\u2019re looking for and avoid any 404 errors.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I appreciate your time and attention to this matter. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any assistance.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thank you,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[Your name]<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finding and converting unlinked mentions<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlinked mentions are online references to your brand or company that are not linked to your site. They present an opportunity to claim new links.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One easy way to monitor unlinked mentions is to use Google Alerts. It\u2019s straightforward; set up email alerts to notify you whenever someone mentions your brand name, whether it is linked or not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To convert unlinked mentions, contact the webmasters of the sites that mention you and ask them to add a link to your site. Here are some steps you might take:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thank them for mentioning you and politely requesting a link.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Offer them something of value in exchange for a link, such as a testimonial, a discount, or a free trial.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Suggest a relevant page on your site that they can link to for more information.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conclusion<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Link reclamation is not a one-time activity but an ongoing process that requires regular monitoring and maintenance. You should always keep an eye on your links and ensure they work properly and point to relevant pages. You should also always look for new opportunities to claim links from online mentions of your brand or company.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you try to do this, let the twin tools of the Backlink Monitor and Backlink Checker by Eye10 be your close pals. They will help you identify where you might be missing important link juice, and then you can take steps to reclaim it. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/eye10.io\/start-trial\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Start your trial for just $3 here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"schema-faq-wrapper\">\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center; margin-bottom: 20px;\"><span style=\"border: 1px solid black; padding: 10px 50px;\">FAQ<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/h2>\n<div itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/FAQPage\" style=\"border: 1px solid black; padding: 20px;\">\n<div itemscope itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\">\n<h3><span itemprop=\"name\">How can I avoid creating broken links in the future?<\/span><\/h3>\n<div itemscope itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\">\n<div itemprop=\"text\">The following tips are highly instructive:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Don\u2019t delete or move pages on your site without setting up proper redirects.<br \/>\n&#8211; Monitor your site and backlinks regularly for broken or lost links using Eye10 SEO tools.<br \/>\n&#8211; Keep your content fresh and relevant. Replace outdated links with better content.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div itemscope itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\">\n<h3><span itemprop=\"name\">How do I leverage link reclamation for link building?<\/span><\/h3>\n<div itemscope itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\">\n<div itemprop=\"text\">After successfully reclaiming hitherto lost links, build relationships with the site owners you contact. Thank them for fixing the link and offering them something valuable, such as a testimonial, social share, or guest post opportunity. This relationship can blossom into future link-building opportunities.<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div itemscope itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\">\n<h3><span itemprop=\"name\">What are the signals to know if I need to reclaim lost links?<\/span><\/h3>\n<div itemscope itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\">\n<div itemprop=\"text\">You should consider reclaiming lost links if you have experienced a significant drop in your website&#039;s search engine rankings or noticed a decrease in organic traffic. Additionally, you may want to reclaim lost links if you have recently redesigned your website or changed your website&#039;s URL structure, which can cause links to break.<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Link reclamation is finding and fixing lost or broken links to your website. These links are also known as \u201cdead\u201d and could include internal and external links. Reclaiming links helps you ensure link equity or link juice is retained and regained on your website. Then you can build upon this strategy to improve your site\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-link-building"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}