SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s a wide-ranging list of techniques you can use to push your website up the rankings. If you’re doing it correctly, you will see your site at the top of the search results for phrases and keywords having to do with your niche.
Different SEO strategies go in and out of style as the years pass. For instance, you can use link-building services these days that will build up your collection of backlinks, bolstering your site’s reputation. You might also add some compelling visual elements to your website, add some social media buttons to the landing page, etc.
In this article, though, we’re going to talk about link reclamation, an underutilized but powerful SEO technique. If you’re not engaging in it yet, once you read this article, you will understand why it’s worth your time and effort.
What is Link Reclamation?
Link reclamation is a process through which you locate, replace, or fix any broken links that are meant to lead to your website. Over the years, you’ve probably built up a collection of backlinks. That’s an enduring SEO strategy that has been around for quite some time.
The problem is that over the years, those links can break. When they do, they become useless to you. A part of your network has been fractured whenever you have a broken link that’s directed toward your site. It means that every time someone tries to use it, they don’t arrive at your website and potentially convert or learn about your company.
You Can Do Link Reclamation Within Your Own Site as Well
When most people hear about link reclamation, they assume the technique deals with links on other websites that are directed toward yours. It does, but that’s only half of it.
You can also use this technique to repair your internal link structure. If you have internal links that take you from one page on your site to a different one, and that link breaks, that harms your site from an SEO standpoint as well.
Repairing inbound links makes your site easier for users to navigate. Replacing inbound, nonfunctioning links with working ones can score you major points with the Google algorithm.
You Should Do This Periodically
You should make link reclamation a part of both your short and long-term SEO strategy. You can do it once, but who’s to say that some additional links might not be broken a year from now?
You should do link reclamation every few months, at a minimum. You can set a reminder on a calendar as a way of making sure you do it. Like adding new blogs to your website or posting new content on social media, it’s something that’s helpful for your ongoing optimization efforts.
Link reclamation is a little time-consuming, but it’s also something that you should be able to accomplish even if you’re not an SEO expert. It’s a basic technique but one that can pay big dividends for your website and brand.