Broken Link Building Guide: From Noob to Novice

Howdy Mozzers,

My name is Anthony and I’m from Fargo, ND. First-time YouMozzer here. After reading this post, I hope you (in?)voluntarily scroll back up to the top to follow me on twitter (@anthonydnelson) and check out my blogNorthside SEO.

Today’s post is about broken link building. It’s been a popular topic in the industry, but I also noticed that SEOmoz didn’t have a lot on the subject, so I thought it would be nice to write a kick-ass piece for the large SEOmoz community. Now, on to the post.

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BROKEN LINK BUILDING: From Noob to Novice

Broken [broh-kuhn] adjective: not functioning properly; out of working order

Link [lingk] noun: anything serving to connect one part or thing with another

Building [bil-ding] verb (used with object): to construct (especially something complex) by assembling and joining parts

Definitions taken from dictionary.com.

Broken Link Building [lingk bil-ding gohld] verb: the act of acquiring a link to your website by pointing out a broken link on someone else’s website

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What is Broken Link Building?

Broken link building (sometimes called dead link building) is a technique that involves pointing out a link on another website that is no longer working and also asking for a link to your website. Often the broken link leads to a 404 page. The link will be on a page that is relevant to your niche and appears to be a good fit for inclusion of your site. You perform a solid by pointing out the broken link to the webmaster and in return, suggest that your link be added or be used as a replacement.

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Why has Broken Link Building been so Popular Lately?

1. SEOs feel like they are making the web a better place. They are helping webmaster’s deal with the problem of link rot. SEOs care about the quality of the web. The fewer broken links, the better.
2. It gives the link builder an easy value add to their email. You are helping them out, before asking them to help you out.
3. It can result in quick links. When broken link building emails are successful, you usually get your link within a day or two of sending the email. Much quicker then allowing a site owner to try and review a product or spending time making a connection and pitching a guest blog post.
4. It’s a relatively new technique that has already yielded good results for numerous link builders.

Source: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/broken-link-building-guide-from-noob-to-novice