Link Reclamation: What Can You Do With Removed & Lost Links?

‍If there is one thing everyone knows about backlinks, it is that they are tough to get.

‍Now, imagine – you’ve worked so hard to earn your links, but then they simply disappeared, just like that.

‍We’re almost flooding the keyboard with our tears as we write this, but crying won’t save the day. What will, then? Link reclamation.

‍As you see, it is an important part of SEO. That’s why you have to understand this in detail.

‍In this guide, we’re going to see what this process is, how it works, and how you can both recover your links and prevent them from being removed or lost.

Let’s get the basics out of the way. So, what is this concept of reclaiming your links?

Link reclamation is a process of regaining backlinks that once led to your site but now don’t. Usually, they will be marked as ‘Lost’ or ‘Link removed’ in your SEO tool.

Don’t confuse this one with claiming unlinked mentions. Unlinked mentions never led to your website in the first place (they mentioned your brand, but there was no link).

Is It Even Important?

Link reclamation in SEO is a natural part of the link-building process. Most things have a period of wear and tear, and links are kind of the same. There are tons of things that can happen to cause your backlink to get lost or broken (more on this soon).

But that doesn’t mean you should lose all that hard work you put into building those links in the first place. If you ignore these lost links, you end up:

• Losing some of that link juice or equity, which can lower your domain authority.
• Your search rankings could take a hit, which means lower visibility and can lead to a whole other set of problems on its own.
• Your organic and referral traffic will be affected in a bad way because people will have fewer ways of finding you.
• Your credibility might also be affected since people (and search engines) rely on those backlinks to judge if your site is trustworthy or not.

Clearly, backlinks are a big deal. And whether you get them organically or pay for links, the last thing you want is to lose the ones you already have. But why does this happen in the first place?

There are several reasons why backlinks can be broken, deleted, or lost. Now, let’s see the most common scenarios that will cover pretty much 99.9% of all the possible cases.

Webmaster Removes Your Link

You might be surprised, but this is one of the most common scenarios. Usually, it works as follows – you reach some sort of agreement with a webmaster, you do your part, they do theirs, and everything seems fine.

But then, out of nowhere, you see your link being removed. Why does this happen? Well, mostly because website editors want to preserve the authority of their site. That’s why they try to link less to other pages, especially if those don’t have a high DA/DR.

Luckily, if you don’t work with some shady sites, this doesn’t happen too often. But if your arrangement seemed weird in the first place, then maybe it’s a logical outcome.

If you’re dealing with something like this, you can always try to reach out to the webmaster and try to find out what happened. Was it a mistake? If so, you will solve this issue easily.

Yet, in case the website editor deleted your link on purpose, there isn’t much you can do about it unless you got your backlink through an agency or some sort of platform.

Page Gets Deleted

Sometimes, webmasters decide to completely overhaul their website – like doing a spring cleaning for your home. Usually, they might declutter some pages, update some URL structures, and give their websites a fresh, new, and clean look.

The only issue is that if the redirects are not properly implemented during this process, it’s easy for some pages to get deleted accidentally. But sometimes, they get removed on purpose. For example, when you have a couple of blogs targeting the same keyword.

If your link was on any of the affected pages, then you already know what can happen. Anyone who tries to go there will end up with a “Page Not Found” error message — also called a 404 error.

If this is a mistake, you can get the webmaster to fix the problem by restoring the page that was deleted or inserting your link on another page.

Page Is Permanently Moved

Sometimes, you can get lost links even if the page wasn’t deleted. Usually, this happens with 301 redirects. Unlike temporary 307s, 301s mean a new permanent location.

While redirects themselves aren’t bad, there are way too many chances of doing something wrong. That’s why these can be valid occasions to pull out your link reclamation moves.

If there is a mistake in the URL, it can cause search engines and people to end up at a dead end when they try to access a particular page. And if search engines don’t ‘see’ the page itself, obviously, they can’t pass on link equity from the backlinks there.

In the end, this just means that your search rankings get tanked, except you resolve the issue quickly. Luckily, the solution in this case is quite simple.

All it takes to reclaim the link is to ask the webmaster to update the URL to point to the right address.

Page Isn’t Indexed

What if everything seems alright with the URL link, but somehow, there is no tangible benefit on your end?

If it’s a dofollow link, the problem might be a “noindex” tag. What this does is tell search bots to basically ignore your link. So, search engines won’t add your page to their index.

You already know the drill by now. If it’s a mistake, you can notify the webmaster, and they will fix it.

But if it was done on purpose, which can happen sometimes with scammy link placement sites, then there is really nothing that can be done.

The good news is that thanks to all the recent tech advances, it is easier now than ever to find lost and broken links using any of the link reclamation tools available.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs has a special feature called Site Explorer that lets you see all the lost links from the last 30 days. To use it:

• Sign up for Ahrefs paid plans to get access to the tool.
• Go to Site Explorer from your dashboard.
• Enter your domain > Backlinks > Lost.
• Use filters to narrow down the links to those with a specific DR and traffic volume. You can also choose a particular status of the backlink (e.g., link removed, not found, noindex, etc.).

Source: Ahrefs

You can also check the HTML of the page where the link was once published to find the cause of the backlink removal. Then, you can send the report to the webmaster along with your email, asking them to fix the issue.

Yet, remember, if the link is from a spammy site, think twice – it might be best just to let it go.

Semrush

Semrush’s Link Building Tool lets you monitor your links and quickly find those that might be lost or broken. So, create an account or log in and

• Choose Link Building Tool from the menu on the left.
• Enter your domain > configure the tool (this will take a few minutes the first time).
• Go to the Prospects tab and select Lost Backlinks.

Source: Semrush

Alternatively, you can use Semrush’s Backlink Audit tool, set it up, and go to the “Lost & Found” tab at the top.

Source: Semrush

Specialized Tools

Apart from the two tools listed above, you also have the option of using a special link reclamation software built for just that purpose. Here are a few options you can check out:

1. Link Checker Pro: This backlink monitoring tool has a very user-friendly interface. It sends out real-time alerts whenever a link goes missing, gets changed, or becomes broken. It also gives you timely updates on the current status of your links (redirect, nofollow errors, indexation status, etc).

Source: YouTube

2. Linkody: This is a tool that lets you keep track of your link-building campaigns and sends timely alerts whenever something changes the status of your links. So, you get notified when a link goes offline, and you can quickly check the cause and fix it

Source: Linkody

3. Link Research Tools: Here, you can find a specific tool called Link Recover Tool (LJR) that will help you find all the issues you have with your backlinks.

Source: Link Research Tools

At this point, you know almost everything there is to know about how links get lost or broken and what that means for your site.

But how about making sure it never happens or at least fixing the problem when it does? Here are the 3 most straightforward tactics to use:

#1 Contact Website Editors & Create a Link Reclamation Email Template

When you find a removed or lost link, the best course of action is to track down the contact details of the webmaster and write them to draw their attention to the issue.

If you have a lot of links like this, you have to write a personalized email to each one of them.

While you can’t shoot off the same email, you can also move things faster by creating a link reclamation email template that you can then customize a bit for each webmaster. It can look like this:

Subject Line: Lost (broken or removed) link

Hello (first name),

I noticed that the link to my blog (your webpage) in one of your articles (add article link) is no longer working.

I took a look, and it appears that it is (has been removed or moved to a new location, etc). I was wondering if you could fix this. Here is the link I’m talking about (add your URL).

Please let me know if this is something you can fix.

Thank you,

(your name)

(website, optional)

#2 Discuss the Terms of Your Link Placement Beforehand

Of course, there are moments when we can’t control whether our links will stay safe and sound. Yet, there are others where we can do a little extra to avoid dealing with these issues.

It is particularly true when you buy links or get some sort of a different arrangement with the webmaster.

The best solution to this is to choose your publisher (website) wisely and discuss everything upfront. Don’t hesitate to double-check whether the link is permanent and dofollow.

Besides, you can try to find any reviews for the publisher you’re choosing. If scams are their second skin, someone has probably already mentioned that on forums or Reddit.

Yet, it isn’t always possible, so another possible way is to add your conditions (e.g., stating that the link you’re paying for is permanent) to your payment notes.

#3 Consider Advanced Link Reclamation Methods (If Needed)

Advanced link reclamation is like everything you have been doing so far but on a higher, more sophisticated level – like link reclamation on steroids.

Not only are you using tools but maybe you can even hire an SEO specialist to help you monitor and manage your backlink profile.

This way, you get the maximum benefits from your link building campaigns. They will know when reclaiming a lost or broken link is the right call and when it isn’t by doing thorough link assessments.

Congratulations! Now, you’re one step closer to being a link building pro.

While link reclamation seems like a bit of a hassle, it is actually quite a straightforward process when you know the exact steps to follow. And after reading this guide, you do.

Try to test different link reclamation tools and procedures to see which one is a better fit for you. And you’ll be surprised how it will become an easy-peasy process for you in no time.