Broken-link building, fresh discovery against the vertical's resource-page network.
Public broken-link lists are saturated. Check My Links against curated vertical resource pages with Wayback Machine for pitch context produces a list nobody else is working. 5 to 12 percent pitch-to-link conversion is the baseline.
Replacement-content fit on derelict URLs, courtesy-notification pitch shape.
The editor's reader-utility intent on a curated resource page is the lens. A pitch that fits the page's inclusion criteria lands. A pitch that asks to be added regardless of fit gets ignored. The conversion math sits at 5 to 12 percent on fresh prospect surfaces.
Wayback Machine + Check My Links workflow at the source.
Broken-link surfacing runs through Check My Links (browser-side crawler) against curated resource pages in the vertical, with Wayback Machine pulling the dead-link's historical content to inform the replacement angle. The agency does not rely on the public broken-link-prospect lists that circulate in the vendor market; those lists are saturated from prior outreach and the conversion math is collapsed. Fresh broken-link discovery against the campaign vertical's resource-page network is the durable surface.
Replacement-content fit is the pitch core.
Broken-link pitches lead with a replacement-content fit on the derelict URL. The pitch names the dead link, summarizes what the original content covered (per Wayback Machine), and proposes the agency's client content as a fitting replacement that maintains the editor's reader-utility intent. A 5 to 12 percent pitch-to-link conversion rate is the baseline, with vertical and outreach-list freshness driving the variance.
Resource-page criteria fit, not generic outreach.
The editor's reader-utility intent on a curated resource page is the lens. A pitch that fits the page's inclusion criteria (depth, specificity, recency, originality) lands. A pitch that asks to be added regardless of fit gets ignored. The agency vets resource-page candidates against the same DR + topical-relevance overlay + outbound-link density gate that runs across the other service lines.
Distinct from resource-page link acquisition.
Broken-link building targets dead outbound links on live resource pages. Resource-page acquisition targets live pages with inclusion gaps. The pitches are different. The recipient context is different. The conversion math is different (5-12% for broken-link, 8-15% for resource-page). The agency runs the two as separate workflows and tracks each separately in the campaign report.
A broken-link campaign, discovery to placement.
Inbound link profile segmented and scored.
We pull the full inbound profile (Ahrefs + Google Search Console + Majestic for triangulation), segment by anchor category and topical-cluster proximity, model the URL-level distribution against the per-vertical baseline, and identify the placements passing signal versus those discounted, neutral, or actively dragging. Disavow candidates flagged. Anti-Trust Rank exposure surfaced. Output is the diagnostic spec the campaign builds against.
Vetted prospects scoped to the campaign target.
Prospects sourced from competitor backlink analysis, vertical-citation layer (Avvo / Healthgrades / 1-800-Dentist depending on vertical), curated resource pages, broken-link surfacing via Wayback Machine and Check My Links, and HARO query streams across the Featured.com platform. Each prospect vetted on Domain Rating, traffic, topical-relevance overlap, outbound-link density, and SpamBrain footprint risk. The list typically runs 200-400 prospects per quarter.
Manual outreach paced against decay.
Outreach runs through segmented mailbox identity per campaign cohort. Cold outreach converts at 5 to 15 percent. Warm outreach to existing relationships converts at 30 to 50 percent. HARO pitches convert at 3 to 8 percent pitch-to-link. Resource-page acquisition runs 8 to 15 percent. Broken-link building runs 5 to 12 percent. Placements scoped against measured monthly decay, with anchor allocation handled at the URL level rather than the root-domain average.
Net placement target sustained.
10 to 20 percent annual decay tracked at the placement level. Quarterly review surfaces lost placements (publisher edits, page removals, dofollow-to-nofollow flips), refreshes the prospect list with new vertical-cluster surfaces, and re-models anchor distribution against the updated profile. Branded query volume tracked as the Panda-patent ratio input that supports inbound link velocity.
Methodology questions we get during the audit conversation.
Why do most broken-link lists not convert?
The public lists that circulate in the vendor market are saturated. Every link-builder running the same campaign pitches the same editors with the same replacement-content angles. The editors learn to ignore the pattern. Fresh broken-link discovery against the campaign vertical's resource-page network is the durable surface. Check My Links against curated vertical resource pages with Wayback Machine for context produces a list nobody else is pitching.
What's the pitch shape?
A broken-link pitch names the specific dead link, summarizes what the original content covered per Wayback Machine, and proposes the agency's client content as a fitting replacement that maintains the editor's reader-utility intent. The pitch is short. The replacement content is real. The pitch reads as a courtesy notification rather than a transactional ask. The editor either accepts the replacement on merit or ignores; the conversion math sits at 5 to 12 percent.
How is this different from niche edits?
Niche edits are paid insertions into existing publisher pages with a payment relationship the page does not disclose. SpamBrain detects the link-graph network of niche-edit inventory; FTC §255 requires disclosure on any paid placement carrying an endorsement element. Broken-link building is unpaid editorial replacement of dead outbound links on the publisher's own initiative. The two carry different compliance regimes and different algorithmic survival horizons.
What verticals does this work best in?
Verticals with mature curated-resource-page ecosystems convert best. Legal (state bar resource pages, law-firm-association links pages). Medical (medical-society resource pages, health-info aggregator outbound links). Education (university faculty resource lists, school-district external link pages). Real estate (state real-estate-commission resource pages). The verticals with weaker curated-resource-page network (high-churn SaaS categories, fashion ecommerce) get worked through digital PR and citation building instead.
The public broken-link list everyone pitches is the wrong surface.
The audit names the vertical's curated resource-page network, the fresh broken-link prospect set Check My Links surfaces against it, and the replacement-content angles per dead URL. Inside two weeks.