Despite your best efforts to keep your website error-free, encountering 404 errors for discontinued pages or incorrectly typed URLs is inevitable. These errors can disrupt search engine indexing and lead to potential inbound links being lost. However, you can reclaim these broken links using the following techniques.
Reclaiming Broken Links with Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a widely-used, free tool that provides website link information. However, as Russ Jones from Moz highlighted, its linking data’s accuracy can be questionable. This is partly due to the varying speed at which Google indexes pages containing links. Also, Google Search Console only shows a sample of the site’s indexed links. Nonetheless, it’s a great starting point.
Begin by exploring the "Crawl Errors" report under "Crawl." Look through likely broken links to identify potential recoveries. For example, if a link leads to a discontinued blog post, it might be due to a mistyped URL.
If the blog post is still indexed, you can correct the incorrect URL on the linking site. Use an .htaccess file for 301 redirects, such as:
Redirect 301 /incorrect-url https://www.yoursite.com/correct-urlThis redirect method helps users find the correct information and reclaims your inbound link.
Reclaiming Broken Links with Ahrefs
Ahrefs is an alternative SEO tool that often provides more detailed link data than Google Search Console. It offers a "Broken Backlinks" report to help identify potential links to reclaim. You can even filter to show only "dofollow" backlinks, optimizing your effort for ranking benefits.
For example, if a link contains a space or another typographical error, it might break the redirect for an inbound link. You can fix this by editing the .htaccess file to remove the error:
Redirect 301 /resources/%20 https://www.yoursite.com/resources/This strategy helps regain inbound dofollow links.
Link building represents a significant investment, requiring a substantial amount of time to perform effectively. By addressing 404 errors and reclaiming lost links, you can protect and enhance the links you’ve worked hard to earn.
Join us in March at the SMX West for the Link Building Fundamentals presentation, where we’ll delve deeper into these strategies!
