Link reclamation is the work of recovering link value that already belongs to you. It covers fixing links that point to broken URLs on your site, restoring links that were removed by accident, and turning brand mentions into links. Because the other site has already chosen to reference you, reclamation is usually faster and easier than earning new links.
The main sources
Reclamation opportunities fall into a few groups, ordered roughly from easiest to hardest.
- Links to your own 404 pages, fixed with redirects on your side
- Links that go through redirect chains or to the wrong protocol or domain
- Links lost in a partner's or publisher's redesign
- Unlinked mentions of your brand, product or people
- Images, data or quotes of yours used without credit
How to run it
Start with what you control. Crawl your backlink data for target URLs that return errors and redirect them. Then review lost links for high-value pages and contact sites where the loss looks accidental. Finally, monitor brand mentions and ask, politely and only where it helps the reader, for a link.
Making it routine
Reclamation is ongoing because sites change constantly. A monthly review of new 404s with backlinks, lost referring domains and new unlinked mentions keeps the backlog small.
Example
Three quick wins
An illustrative product analytics vendor, Funnelbrook, spends an afternoon on reclamation. It redirects an old integration guide URL that several developer blogs still link to, asks a partner to restore a link lost in a directory redesign, and emails a newsletter that quoted its CEO without a link. Two of the three requests succeed, and the redirect needs no one's help.
Common mistakes
Skipping the fixes you control
Teams often start with outreach when the biggest wins are 404 URLs on their own site.
Demanding links for every mention
Some mentions do not need a link, and pushy requests damage relationships.
Questions
Link building earns new links. Reclamation recovers value from links or mentions you already have or recently lost.
