But, because of its popularity… now every publisher has seen all the common link building approaches<\/strong>\u00a0over and over.<\/p>\n In fact, speaking from personal experience at several websites, we see all the common approaches\u00a0daily<\/em>.<\/p>\n And that means… you’ve got to be extremely<\/em>\u00a0strategic to\u00a0get someone to take notice of your broken link email<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0take the time out of their day to swap in your link<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In this article, I’ll cover the broken link outreach techniques that no longer work<\/strong>.<\/p>\n And I’ll share the\u00a0#1 broken link email template that actually\u00a0<\/strong>will<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0work<\/strong>\u00a0in this era.<\/p>\n In short: You find websites with a broken link to a piece of content similar to yours. You reach out to the website, let them know about the broken link, and ask if they’ll replace it with your working link.<\/p>\n Broken link outreach is popular because, in theory,\u00a0this is a situation where\u00a0<\/strong>link building cold email<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0isn’t as self-serving as usual<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Most backlink outreach is decidedly one-sided \u2014 especially if you’re looking for free, not paid, backlinks.\u00a0You’ll<\/em>\u00a0get a ton of value out of the link… more value than the site that added your link.<\/p>\n That makes link building an anomaly in the cold email world.<\/strong>\u00a0In virtually all other uses, the\u00a0goal of a cold email<\/a>\u00a0is to provide a ton of irresistible value to a recipient.<\/p>\n Broken link building helps balance the scales (at least a little bit).\u00a0You’re providing a service<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 you helped a website find a broken link. So you’ve “earned” the right to request your link.<\/p>\n But it’s still a delicate art.<\/p>\n Here are common broken link templates and tactics that no longer work.<\/p>\n Subject: Broken link on your website<\/p>\n Hi Laura,<\/p>\n I just stumbled onto your article, 10 Winter Outdoor Activities Your Family Will Love (https:\/\/www.familyfun.net\/2012\/winter-outdoor-activities).<\/p>\n It’s great content but I noticed one thing: You have a broken link! You’re linking to U.S. Sledding (https:\/\/sledding.us)… and that no longer exists.<\/p>\n My website actually has a great article (https:\/\/www.activityhunters.co\/family-friendly-ski-resorts) you could swap in for the broken link.<\/p>\n Thanks and again, great job on your website!<\/p>\n Joe Michaels<\/p>\n Link Building Associate, Juice Agency<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Here’s what’s wrong with it…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n You didn’t “stumble” onto the article.<\/p>\n By this point, every publisher has received plenty of broken link emails.<\/p>\n They know it’s not a coincidence<\/strong>\u00a0you found their site and just so happened to have a great broken link replacement to recommend.<\/p>\n So this intro is an instant turn-off and\u00a0will likely make your broken link email dead on arrival<\/strong>.<\/p>\n (“Stumbling onto” a decade-old article is the equivalent of accidentally liking someone’s decade-old photo on Instagram. It doesn’t happen without stalking someone’s deep catalog.)<\/p>\n The URL here shows the article with the broken link is from 2012.<\/p>\n Publishers are often less concerned with their\u00a0deep<\/em>\u00a0back catalog that’s bringing in a trickle of long-tail traffic.<\/p>\n If you can point out a broken link in a recent article, that’s more impactful.<\/p>\n Or…\u00a0give them evidence that broken links can affect SEO<\/strong>. (I’ll cover that in the template that works later in this article.)<\/p>\n If you’re going to recommend replacing a broken link with your content, you should\u00a0offer a\u00a0<\/strong>real<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0replacement<\/strong>. Ideally:\u00a0An article that covers the same topic from the broken link, but does a better\/more thorough job<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Here, the link builder is suggesting a link about ski resorts to replace a link about sledding. The publisher couldn’t just swap in the new link; they’d have to change the content to match it.<\/p>\n And they’re not going to do that.<\/p>\n If this email hadn’t\u00a0already<\/em>\u00a0eroded all trust, the signature would land the death blow. It shows\u00a0this email isn’t from a hustling, well-intentioned blogger<\/strong>… it’s from a link building agency.<\/p>\n If your job title is something like “link builder” or “outreach specialist”… don’t include it.<\/p>\n Subject: Laura, broken link on Family Fun<\/p>\n Hey Laura,<\/p>\n I was browsing your site and noticed that you have a dead link :(. You can find it on https:\/\/www.familyfun.net\/2012\/winter-outdoor-activities, and it’s the link on sledding hills in the U.S.<\/p>\n As a regular reader of your blog, I love reading what you write and what you link out to.<\/p>\n Sadly, I couldn’t find the article you meant to link to, but I happened to come across another good post on the same topic: https:\/\/www.activityhunters.co\/family-friendly-ski-resorts<\/p>\n You should check it out and if you find it helpful, you probably want to switch links.<\/p>\n I know you’re probably very busy and get many emails every single day, but I hope this was one of the helpful ones. I just wanted to help you out as your site has transformed my life.<\/p>\n I look forward to hearing from you soon.<\/p>\n Cheers, By the way, I didn’t make this template up and intentionally make it so over the top. It’s a suggested template on the top-ranking blog post on broken link outreach templates.<\/p>\n Here’s what’s wrong with it…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, any publisher with a decent website receives tons of link building emails. (Plus, odds are, anyone with a website has at least a little understanding of SEO and backlinking.)<\/p>\n Every publisher recognizes the broken link method of link building outreach. And cold email best practices.<\/p>\n So\u00a0this template where you pose as a fan isn’t going to fool anyone<\/strong>. Maybe it would’ve fooled someone in 2008.<\/p>\n The last line about how “your site has transformed my life” has no place in any outreach template. It’s disingenuous and most site owners, frankly, wouldn’t believe it.<\/p>\n Maybe they’d believe it if they run a website on self-help or other personal growth techniques. But in those situations, fans reach out with stories about how the site changed their life, not generic flattery at the end of a link building email.<\/p>\n The\u00a0ideal cold email<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0doesn’t waste any words<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 everything is valuable. This template is nothing but wasted words.<\/p>\n The worst offender is the line “I know you’re probably very busy and get many emails every single day, but I hope this was one of the helpful ones.” That line isn’t doing anything to help drive action.<\/p>\n “I look forward to hearing from you soon” is a destructive closing sentence. The goal of this email isn’t to start a dialogue, it’s to get the site to replace their broken link with your link.<\/p>\n Cold emails need a\u00a0singular focus<\/a>.<\/p>\n So\u00a0why make your final ask of the email a call to something other than the desired action?<\/strong><\/p>\n Some other strategies that won’t work are…<\/p>\n Most websites would rather have a broken link than a working link to a direct competitor.<\/p>\n Even assuming you could find the contact info for the person who wrote an article for the\u00a0Wall Street Journal<\/em>\u00a0or for an editor… they aren’t swapping in your link. Rather than outright asking to replace a broken link with your link, I’ve seen the approach where the sender asks for feedback on their article. The goal, then, is for the recipient to read it, become more invested in it, and ultimately link to it.<\/p>\n But no one has time for that.\u00a0This isn’t creating value for your recipient<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 it’s asking them to work for free. Why turn a link building email into an even\u00a0more<\/em>\u00a0burdensome ask?<\/p>\n The CEO of a company, even a small company, isn’t going to take the time to deal with a broken link replacement.\u00a0Your best bet is an editor, someone in the content department, or the article’s author<\/strong> (if they’re on staff).<\/p>\n You can try sending your email to a company’s general address (info@, contact@, support@, and so on)… but that adds another step of friction. You’re hoping the people who deal with those inboxes pass your message along to the right person.<\/p>\n You’re proud of your content \u2014 and you’re focused on getting backlinks. So if the person you’re sending to doesn’t want to replace their broken link with your suggestion… maybe they’d like some of your other content?<\/p>\n The answer is no. No they won’t.<\/p>\n They don’t want to take the time to look through your content and figure out places to link to it on their site.\u00a0<\/strong>There’s\u00a0so much<\/em> content online and most of it is aggressively generic.<\/p>\n If they weren’t into your replacement link, odds are they aren’t going to bend over backwards to find a different spot to link to you.<\/p>\n At best, it makes you look\u00a0greedy and\/or needy<\/strong>. At worst, it\u00a0obfuscates your call-to-action<\/strong>\u00a0and hurts your chances of getting\u00a0any<\/em>\u00a0positive result from your outreach effort.<\/p>\n Here’s an approach to broken link building that will work in today’s environment. One where publishers are savvier \u2014 and have seen all the standard broken link tactics over and over.<\/p>\n Our template is…<\/p>\n In other words… it builds links.<\/p>\n Subject line: Broken link on your winter activities article<\/p>\n Hi Laura,<\/p>\n Wanted to let you know there’s a broken link in your article 10 Winter Outdoor Activities Your Family Will Love (https:\/\/www.familyfun.net\/2012\/winter-outdoor-activities).<\/p>\n You’re linking to U.S. Sledding (https:\/\/sledding.us) in point #3… and that no longer exists.<\/p>\n Never fear! I run a website that has an even more comprehensive guide to sledding all around the U.S. (https:\/\/www.americasledding.com\/). You could swap in for the broken link.<\/p>\n And we’d love to include it in our weekly newsletter to our 30,000+ subscribers!<\/p>\n I know that article is older but it still ranks pretty well for some strong search terms (e.g., “winter outdoor activities”), so Google’s probably still paying attention to it… and that broken link could have a negative SEO effect.<\/p>\n Joe Michaels<\/p>\n Founder, American Sledding<\/p>\n P.S. Let me know if you’re ever interested in collaborating for an article or other content!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Here’s why this is the ideal template…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Notice how the subject line refers to the “winter activities article” and not “10 Winter Outdoor Activities Your Family Will Love”.<\/p>\n The phrasing\u00a0sends a subtle but powerful signal that the email is highly personal and individualized<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This doesn’t look like someone just dumping an article title or URL from a spreadsheet into a\u00a0mail merge field<\/a>…\u00a0they summarized the article the way someone would if this were a one-on-one email<\/strong>.<\/p>\n That subject line has now\u00a0set the tone that this is a one-on-one, personal message<\/strong>\u00a0from someone who’s actually invested in this specific link.<\/p>\n This email doesn’t insult the recipient’s intelligence by suggesting the sender found the broken link by pure coincidence.<\/p>\n It’s annoying and often time consuming to find a broken link in piece of old content, especially a longer piece. In this email, the sender makes it as easy as possible by pointing out\u00a0<\/strong>where<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0in the article they found the broken link<\/strong>. (“point #3”)<\/p>\n That lets the publisher know this will be an easy fix for them.<\/p>\n The suggested replacement link here\u00a0is<\/em> a direct replacement for the broken link. And the sender sells their content as “even more comprehensive.”<\/p>\n Publishers ideally want to replace a broken link with a working version of the same link. In lieu of that,\u00a0they want a 1:1 replacement<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 not something semi-related to the original.<\/p>\n Content people want others to share their content.<\/strong>\u00a0This\u00a0is<\/em> a desirable value proposition \u2014 and comes without the stigma of offering a link swap.<\/p>\n That makes an offer to share the article in a targeted newsletter compelling. And the social proof of “30,000+ subscribers” shows the promotion could lead to some legit traffic.<\/p>\n This sender makes a\u00a0brief but compelling case<\/strong>\u00a0by pointing out the value in updating the broken link \u2014 even on a piece of content more than 10 years old.<\/p>\n Even though there’s a P.S. with a different call-to-action, the body of the email all drives toward one action: Swapping in your link.<\/p>\n There’s\u00a0no need to ask the person to reply<\/strong>. You’ve offered your value (newsletter plug) so they’ll\u00a0want<\/em>\u00a0to reply when they’ve swapped the link.<\/p>\n The signature shows this email is from a founder, not someone paid to build links.<\/p>\n Rather than making this backlink outreach attempt a one-time thing, the sender uses the P.S. to potentially establish a relationship with the recipient. It stands to reason they’d want to connect: They have similar, but not competing, websites. The P.S. section\u00a0makes the email feel less cold and transactional and more like the first step in a networking relationship<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Cold emails need to be brief. This email does\u00a0a lot<\/em>\u00a0of different things \u2014 but wraps up in 139 words.<\/p>\n While this template hits all the right notes, you should modify it based on your specific value proposition.<\/p>\n Avoid the pitfalls I’ve discussed earlier (false flattery and so on) and consider these enhancements.<\/p>\n There’s a long-standing debate in the cold email world about whether to make a big “ask” in your first message.<\/p>\n And\u00a0you may prefer to use the cold email to get a dialogue going, then use the next email to ask for the broken link replacement<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In that case, rather than sharing your link in this email, let them know you have a great replacement link if they’re interested.<\/p>\n Here’s an example…<\/p>\n Subject: Broken link on your winter activities article<\/p>\n Hi Laura,<\/p>\n Wanted to let you know there’s a broken link in your article 10 Winter Outdoor Activities Your Family Will Love (https:\/\/www.familyfun.net\/2012\/winter-outdoor-activities).<\/p>\n You’re linking to U.S. Sledding (https:\/\/sledding.us) in point #3… and that no longer exists.<\/p>\n Never fear! I run a website that has an even more comprehensive guide to sledding all around the U.S. (https:\/\/www.americasledding.com\/). You could swap it in for the broken link.<\/p>\n Let me know if you’re interested and I can send it over,<\/p>\n Joe Michaels<\/p>\n Founder, American Sledding<\/p>\n P.S. I’d also love to talk about sharing your site in our weekly newsletter. It’s perfect for our 30,000+ subscribers!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In this version of the template, we start the dialogue about the possibility of a replacement link. And we use the P.S. section for the newsletter plug.<\/p>\n It’s implied \u2014 but not in an oft-putting or aggressive way \u2014 that they’ll need to get in touch about the link if they also want to talk about the newsletter promo.<\/p>\n The dream of broken link building is to get backlinks for free. But as publishers are getting flooded with backlink requests… more and more are seeing the opportunity to create a brand new revenue stream with paid links.<\/p>\n Of course,\u00a0Google is fully against the practice of paid backlinks<\/strong>. And Google’s\u00a0December 2022 search algorithm update<\/a> is focused on making paid links worthless.<\/p>\n So I’d never tell you to pay for links.<\/p>\n But three-quarters of link builders do it, according to an Authority Hacker\u00a0survey<\/a> from late 2022.<\/p>\n And broken link replacement links\u00a0do<\/em> feel more organic than a link in, say, a low-quality, AI-written, paid guest post on a no-name blog.<\/p>\n So if you\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0going to offer money… here’s how to do it.<\/p>\n Subject: Broken link replacement suggestion (paid!) for 10 Winter Outdoor Activities Your Family Will Love<\/p>\n Hi Laura,<\/p>\n Wanted to let you know there’s a broken link in your article 10 Winter Outdoor Activities Your Family Will Love (https:\/\/www.familyfun.net\/2012\/winter-outdoor-activities).<\/p>\n You’re linking to U.S. Sledding (https:\/\/sledding.us) in point #3… and that no longer exists.<\/p>\n Never fear! I run a website that has an even more comprehensive guide to sledding all around the U.S. (https:\/\/www.americasledding.com\/). You could swap it in for the broken link. I’d be happy to compensate you for doing so.<\/p>\n Please let me know if you’re interested and the cost for the link.<\/p>\n Joe Michaels<\/p>\n Founder, American Sledding<\/p><\/blockquote>\n We\u00a0mention payment in the subject line<\/strong>\u00a0to improve the chances the person opens the email. (Also, notice I didn’t bother to take the time to write a summary of the article “winter activities” in this subject. Since we’re offering money for the link, I feel less compelled to make this email feel intimate.)<\/p>\n Then I mention the payment later in the article in the classiest way possible: “I’d be happy to compensate you for doing so.”<\/p>\n And the\u00a0call-to-action is asking them to reply with the cost<\/strong>\u00a0if they’re interested.<\/p>\n Now that I’ve covered the best broken link email template, I’ll walk you through how to set it up in Gmail using GMass.<\/p>\n This template is quite mail merge-heavy but is pretty easy to set up.<\/p>\n You need a well-built\u00a0Google Sheet to feed your mail merge<\/a>\u00a0campaign. Here’s how I\u00a0set up my sheet<\/strong>\u00a0to handle the template.<\/p>\n (Note: I don’t necessarily need the last two columns with the broken website title and URL, since those are the same in every email. But I set up this spreadsheet to be versatile, in case I want to use it for multiple broken link replacements in one shot.)<\/p>\n Open a\u00a0new compose window<\/strong>\u00a0in Gmail. Click into the\u00a0To field<\/strong>, then click on the\u00a0GMass icon<\/strong>\u00a0on the right side.<\/p>\n Choose “From a Google Sheet” and then\u00a0connect to your sheet<\/strong>. I chose to “Update Sheet with reporting data” so\u00a0GMass will write open, click, and reply results back to the Google Sheet<\/a>.<\/p>\n Paste in the template from this website and make any of your alterations.<\/p>\n Now in every mail merge spot, delete what’s currently there.<\/p>\n Then\u00a0type a left curly brace<\/strong>, which will bring up the list of possible\u00a0mail merge tags<\/a>\u00a0from the Google Sheet. Choose the correct one for the correct spot.<\/p>\n Continue to make replacements throughout the article.<\/p>\n So here’s how this would look to one of the recipients when you send…<\/p>\n I haven’t discussed\u00a0auto follow-ups<\/a>\u00a0in this article. But it likely\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0worthwhile to send a few automated follow-ups here.<\/p>\n Much like our original email, we’re going to keep them honest, direct, and close simulations of one-on-one messages.<\/p>\n Open the\u00a0GMass settings<\/strong>\u00a0for the campaigns and go to the\u00a0Auto Follow-up<\/strong>\u00a0section.<\/p>\n Check the box for\u00a0Stage 1<\/strong>. Since you’ll be gauging this campaign on replies, we want to send these follow-ups if we haven’t received one.<\/p>\n I’m going to send this first follow-up after\u00a0three days<\/strong>\u00a0if they haven’t replied.<\/p>\n And I’m choosing to “Send text above original.” That\u00a0sends this follow-up as a reply<\/strong>\u00a0to the first email in the same thread \u2014 which closely mimics one-on-one email behavior.<\/p>\n You can send unlimited auto follow-up stages<\/a> with GMass. But for broken link campaigns, it’s probably<\/em>\u00a0best to keep it around three or four follow-ups<\/strong>\u00a0max. You’re looking to build a relationship, not become a burden.<\/p>\n You can set any other GMass features you might want…<\/p>\nBroken Link Outreach Template: Table of Contents<\/h2>\n
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What Is Broken Link Outreach?<\/h2>\n
Broken Link Templates That No Longer Work<\/h2>\n
I randomly stumbled onto your link and, oh, look at that, I happen to have a perfect replacement<\/h3>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/brokenlink-badtemplate1-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe intro is a blatant lie<\/h4>\n
The article is too old for the publisher to (probably) care<\/h4>\n
The suggested link isn’t a direct replacement<\/h4>\n
The signature shows you’re from a link building agency<\/h4>\n
I’m not a link builder, I’m just a regular old fan of your blog taking the time to send you this email<\/h3>\n
![\"Another](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/brokenlink-badtemplate2-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\nJoe<\/p><\/blockquote>\nIt’s embarrassingly transparent<\/h4>\n
The flattery is absurd<\/h4>\n
There are so many wasted words<\/h4>\n
There’s an extraneous second call-to-action<\/h4>\n
Other strategies that won’t work for broken link building<\/h3>\n
Asking a direct competitor for a link<\/h4>\n
Reaching out to giant publications<\/h4>\n
\nThey\u00a0aren’t concerned with broken links affecting their SEO<\/strong>\u00a0(they’re big enough that it won’t). And there’s no incentive you can offer to pique their interest.
\nAllocate your\u00a0prospect researching<\/a>\u00a0effort elsewhere.<\/p>\nAsking for feedback on your suggested article<\/h4>\n
Reaching out to the wrong person<\/h4>\n
Getting greedy and offering multiple links<\/h4>\n
The #1 Broken Link Template That Will Work<\/h2>\n
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The broken link outreach template to use<\/h3>\n
![\"Today's](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/brokenlink-templatein-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe subject line has “subtly casual” personalization<\/h4>\n
The intro jumps right to the topic and doesn’t mess around with a fake “I stumbled onto your link” scenario<\/h4>\n
It makes updating the broken link as easy as possible on the publisher<\/h4>\n
It shares a targeted link replacement<\/h4>\n
It offers value in exchange for the link<\/h4>\n
It closes the deal by justifying the swap<\/h4>\n
It stays focused<\/h4>\n
It comes from a founder, not a link builder<\/h4>\n
The P.S. shows a desire to build a relationship<\/h4>\n
Even with all this, the email is still well under 150 words<\/h4>\n
Alterations you can make to this template<\/h3>\n
Make this a two-step process<\/h4>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/brokenlink-twostep-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOffer to pay<\/h4>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/brokenlink-paid-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHow to Set Up This Mail Merge Cold Email Campaign in Gmail<\/h2>\n
Prepare your Google Sheet with data<\/h3>\n
![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/brokenlink-googlesheet2-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nConnect your Google Sheet to a new campaign<\/h3>\n
![\"Click](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/brokenlink-connectsheet-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Connection](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/brokenlink-connectsettings-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAdd mail merge tags to the template<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Mail](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/brokenlink-curlybrace-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Merge](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/brokenlink-finalmerge-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/brokenlink-mergetest-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSetting up auto follow-ups<\/h3>\n
![\"Setting](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/brokenlink-autofollowupsettings-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Follow-up](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/brokenlink-1stfollowup-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSend your campaign<\/h3>\n
\n