Broken link building is an outreach tactic where you identify 404 pages or dead external links on relevant websites, then pitch your own content as a replacement. The premise is simple: webmasters want to fix broken links because they hurt user experience and SEO, so you're offering value by pointing out the problem and providing a ready solution. The process breaks down into four steps. First, you find broken links using tools like Ahrefs Site Explorer, Screaming Frog, or Check My Links browser extension. Target authority sites in your niche with resource pages, link roundups, or older blog posts that tend to accumulate dead links. Second, evaluate whether the broken page covered a topic you can match or improve on. If the broken link went to a 2015 guide on local SEO, you need comparable or better content. Third, create or identify existing content on your site that legitimately replaces what was lost. Fourth, reach out to the webmaster with a concise email noting the broken link by URL and anchor text, then suggesting your page as a replacement. Success rates sit around 5-12% when done properly, meaning you need volume. At Ottawa SEO, we've seen the best results on .edu and .gov resource pages, industry association lists, and older cornerstone content from 2010-2016 that still ranks but hasn't been updated. The key is relevance: if the broken link was about WordPress security and you pitch a general web design page, you'll get ignored. Common mistakes include pitching unrelated content, sending obvious templates, or not actually checking if the link is broken before outreach. Tools sometimes flag redirects or temporary server errors as broken when they're not. Also, don't expect this to scale endlessly. The tactic works best as part of a broader link strategy, not your only approach. We typically dedicate 10-15% of link building time to broken link prospecting because the conversion rate justifies the effort, but content-driven outreach and digital PR still drive more total links for our portfolio.