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SEO experts often recommend building backlinks as one of the most reliable strategies to improve your long-term results. With more authoritative backlinks and a greater number of authoritative backlinks, your domain authority and page authority will increase, ultimately ranking you higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).
As optimization professionals, it’s easy for us to think of backlinks as permanent assets. As long as they continue to exist and as long as Google continues to recognize them, they will continue to provide authority benefits (as well as brand visibility, referral traffic, and other fringe benefits).
Related: SEO isn’t just about link building. Don’t overlook these expert strategies.
But the reality is that backlinks are not necessarily permanent. There are a few different ways you can “lose” a backlink, removing it completely from your backlink profile.
Are these lost backlinks gone for good? Or is there a way to recover them?
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What is a lost backlink?
Let’s talk about the types of lost backlinks out there.
I generally see these in two different forms:
- Broken links. Broken links are links that are still visible to users, but no longer work as intended. When a user clicks on the link, they land on a 404 error page or something similar. There are many reasons why this could happen. For example, you could have deleted the page or made it private. You could have moved the page to a new URL. You may also experience certain technical issues on your website that prevent many of your pages from loading as intended. The point is, there’s something wrong or different with your site — and it’s preventing people (and Google bots) from using the link correctly.
- Removed or changed links. Your links may also be lost if they are removed or changed from your external content. After publishing, a publisher may choose to remove a link pointing to your website for a number of reasons, including quality issues, relevancy issues, or a publisher policy regarding these types of links.
Backlink Profile Analysis
The good news is that it is possible to recover most of your lost backlinks. However, to do this effectively, you must first: understand which links are lost.
The best way to do this is with a backlink profile analysis. Using a backlink checker tool, you can quickly generate a list of all the links currently pointing to your website, including the specific pages those links point to and the referring domains that host those links. Depending on the tool you use, you can probably generate a list of all the links that are currently not working as intended.
To find out which of your links have been removed, compare your existing list of existing links with links you have created in the past.
Fix broken links
Once you identify broken links, you can use one of several strategies to fix them:
- Restore an old page/URL. One option is to restore the old page or restore the old URL for that old page. This simple replacement method is quick and straightforward, especially if you still have access to the old content that used to live here.
- Set up a 301 redirect. If you moved the content to a new URL and you want to keep that new URL, your best option is probably: set up a 301 redirect. 301 redirects are perfectly acceptable to Google and other search engines, and they can help you maintain the authority and traffic you previously benefited from.
- Correct any errors in the existing link. Is there a problem with the URL as it exists in your current content? In that case, contact the editor or webmaster and let them know so they can fix the link.
- Update the link to a new target. Another option is to replace the broken link with a new link pointing to a new destination. Again, you must contact the editor or webmaster to make this change.
Replace deleted or changed links
If you notice deleted or changed links, these are your best options:
- Ask for more information. If you suspect that your link has been removed due to quality or relevance issues, please ask for more information about why the link was removed. This could give you a step forward for link replacement, but at the very least you should walk away with more context and understanding of the types of links this publisher will accept.
- Request a replacement (if applicable). If it’s a relevance issue, consider recommending a replacement link for the piece. Is there a better, more relevant piece of content to target?
- Find an alternative publisher. If that doesn’t work, consider removing the piece and republishing it with a different publisher.
Do you just need to build new links?
Restoring lost links can be very time consuming, especially if you have to deal with multiple problematic links. In many cases, it’s just not worth it; after hours of analysis and petitions from publishers, you may still have a lost link. That’s why it’s often better to just build a new link rather than replace an old one – but it depends on your unique goals and circumstances.
Related: Do you, like most people, spend too much on a website?
It is wise for any search engine marketer to keep abreast of links that are broken or removed for various reasons. And in many cases, it is not only possible, but worth the effort to restore or replace those lost links. That said, sometimes it’s better to let those lost links go and focus your efforts on more positive, efficient activities.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.