Backlinks are a crucial aspect of SEO, impacting your site’s visibility and authority. But what happens when valuable links are lost? Link reclamation offers a solution. Identifying and recovering these links can restore their benefits and strengthen your site’s online presence. 

Whether it’s due to a 404 error, a removed page, or an unaddressed redirect, reclaiming links is a practical way to regain lost value. In this blog, we will walk you through the process. It will ensure your SEO health while boosting credibility and referral traffic.

Let’s continue reading!

What is Link Reclamation?

Link reclamation is the process of identifying and recovering broken or lost backlinks that once pointed to your website. These could be links on your own site to internal pages or external links other people are using on their sites. 

It is essentially finding and fixing links that are no longer active, allowing you to regain lost link equity and improve your search engine ranking by restoring those connections.

Common Causes of Losing Backlinks

Here’s why you might lose a link:

1. Link Removal: Webmasters or site owners may intentionally remove links pointing to your site. This can happen when a page is updated, restructured, or content is irrelevant. In such cases, your backlinks are lost, reducing the value they bring to your website.
2. 404 Error: When a webpage is deleted, or its URL is changed without proper redirection, it results in a 404 error. Backlinks pointing to these non-existent pages become broken, leading to lost traffic and link equity.
3. 301 Redirect: Improper or incomplete 301 redirects can cause backlinks to lose their value. If the redirected page doesn’t properly pass the link equity to the new destination, the backlink’s benefits are diminished or lost altogether.

The Importance of Claiming Lost Links

Each reclaimed link restores the benefits of the original backlink, ensuring your site remains competitive in search rankings. Here’s why it matters:

1) Improves SEO and Page Rank

Lost links mean lost link equity, directly impacting your website’s search engine ranking. Reclaiming these links, you regain their contribution to your domain authority and page rank. This strengthens your overall SEO strategy and helps maintain or improve your position on search engine results pages (SERPs).

2) Regaining Lost Referral Traffic

Backlinks not only boost rankings but also drive referral traffic from other websites. When a link is lost, the opportunity to attract visitors from that source is also lost. Reclaiming those links allows you to restore this valuable traffic, helping you re-engage with audiences who may have otherwise missed your content.

3) Better User Experience

Lost links, when reclaimed, can significantly improve user experience. Fixing broken or outdated links ensures visitors are directed to the correct and relevant pages. This creates a smoother navigation experience, reduces frustration, and keeps users engaged on your site. Additionally, it helps maintain the credibility and trustworthiness of your content.

4) Boosting Credibility

High-quality backlinks act as endorsements from other sites, signaling trust and authority. Losing these links can weaken your credibility in the eyes of users and search engines alike. Reclaiming lost links reinforces your reputation, showing that your content is still relevant and valuable within your niche.

Steps to Find and Reclaim “External Links”

Reclaiming external links involves a structured process to identify and recover lost backlinks effectively. Here is the link reclamation technique that should be followed:

1) Finding Lost Links

Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify backlinks that are no longer active. Look for links pointing to pages that result in 404 errors, removed content, or improperly redirected URLs. 

Here’s how you can do it:

• Step 1: Create an account on Semrush. You might need a paid version for full analysis.
• Step 2: Click on the “Backlink Analytics” button and then click on the “Backlinks” as shown in the picture.
• Step 3: Here, you will see a filter option. Click on the Lost Links option to get the results.
• Step 4: You will get a list of all the lost backlinks to your website with the date when they were removed.

The next step is to priortize linking domains. Let’s know how to do it properly.

2) Priortize Links

Not all lost links are equally valuable. Focus on recovering high-authority and high-traffic links that contribute the most to your website’s SEO and visibility. Sorting links by domain authority, relevance, and traffic potential helps maximize the impact of your reclamation efforts.

3) Reach Out to the Webmaster

Once you’ve identified the lost links to reclaim, contact the webmasters of the linking sites. Provide a polite, concise email explaining the issue and requesting the link be updated to point to the correct URL. Make it easy for them by including the original and updated links.

Here’s a template to do so:

4) Follow Up

Webmasters may not respond immediately. Send a follow-up email if you don’t hear back within a week or two. Be professional and courteous, emphasizing the mutual benefit of fixing the link. Persistence often pays off when securing your lost backlinks.

Here’s an email template for follow up:

Finding and Reclaiming “Internal Links”

Internal links are crucial in guiding users and search engines through your website. When these links break or lead to outdated pages, they disrupt navigation, frustrate visitors, and weaken your SEO. Here’s how you can identify and fix these issues to keep your site running smoothly:

1) Audit Your Website

Start with a thorough site audit using tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, or SEMrush. These tools can scan your website and flag broken links, outdated redirects, or internal links leading to irrelevant pages. This step helps you pinpoint where fixes are needed.

Here’s how you can do it:

• Step 1: Click on the “Site Audit” option on Semrush and then create a project for your website.
• Step 2: Click on the “Internal Linking” button to get a detailed report of your internal links.
• Step 3: Here, you will see all the issues related to linking on your website. Click on the internal link issues to know which pages have the issue.
• Step 4: You can look for the web pages that have 404 errors and can fix them accordingly.

2) Fix Broken Links

If internal links lead to 404 errors or missing pages, update them to point to active, relevant pages. If the original content no longer exists, redirect users to a similar resource that meets their needs. This ensures a seamless browsing experience.

3) Review Redirects

Check your 301 and 302 redirects to ensure they lead to the right destinations. Avoid redirect chains or loops, which slow navigation down and dilute link value. A clean, direct path keeps both users and search engines happy.

4) Improve Anchor Text

As you fix internal links, look at the anchor text. Make sure it’s clear, descriptive, and relevant to the linked page. This not only improves SEO but also helps users understand what to expect when they click.

5) Stay Proactive 

Internal link issues can creep up over time as your site grows. Schedule regular audits to catch and fix problems early. Keeping your internal link structure healthy ensures your site remains easy to navigate and optimized for search engines.

Conclusion

Link reclamation is vital for maintaining your website’s authority and SEO health. By reclaiming lost links, you recover valuable benefits and enhance user experience. Addressing broken backlinks, both internal and external, ensures your site stays competitive. 

This is not just about fixing. It’s about maximizing opportunities to grow traffic and influence. With regular monitoring, you can safeguard your backlink profile and keep your site thriving.

Frequently Asked Questions