GlossarySEO
What is link reclamation?
Also called: backlink reclamation, lost link recovery
Definition
Link reclamation is recovering links you have lost or should already have, by redirecting old URLs that still have backlinks, asking for broken or removed links to be fixed, and turning unlinked mentions into links.
Link reclamation, explained
Most link building is about earning new links. Reclamation is about not wasting the ones you already earned, and it's usually the easiest link work you'll ever do because the other site already wanted to reference you.
Start at home. Sites change URLs during redesigns and migrations, and old URLs with backlinks start returning 404. Every one of those links now points at nothing. An SEO tool's list of your pages with backlinks, filtered to broken status, shows which old URLs to 301-redirect to their closest live equivalent. Google's documentation treats permanent redirects as a strong signal that the new URL should replace the old one.
Next, lost links. Backlink tools report links that disappeared. Some were removed deliberately, but many vanish because the page linking to you was edited, your URL changed, or the link broke. A short, friendly note to the site owner fixes a surprising share of these.
Then unlinked mentions: articles, lists and posts that name your product without linking. If the context is genuinely about you and a link would help readers, a polite request often works. Don't push when the mention is critical or incidental.
Finally, check for misspelled or malformed links, such as a missing letter in your domain or a link to a staging URL. Those are easy fixes that site owners are usually happy to make.
Make it a quarterly routine. On a site that has been through a redesign or rebrand, the first pass alone can recover links worth more than months of outreach.
Why it matters for founders
Links you already earned are the cheapest ones to keep. Reclamation recovers their value with redirects and short emails, with no new content or cold pitching.
Example
After a redesign, a startup's old "/pricing-plans" URL returns 404 but still has links from 30 domains. A single 301 redirect to "/pricing" puts those links back to work.
Common mistakes
- Redesigning or migrating without redirecting old URLs.
- Redirecting every broken URL to the homepage instead of the closest match.
- Pushing for links on mentions that are critical of you.
Related terms
- Unlinked mentionAn unlinked mention is a web page that names your company or product without linking to your site. Where a link would help readers, it's an easy opportunity to ask for one.
- Broken link buildingBroken link building is finding links on other websites that point to dead pages, then contacting the site owner to suggest a working, relevant page of yours as a replacement.
- 301 vs 302 redirectA 301 redirect says a page has moved permanently, so search engines should treat the new URL as canonical. A 302 says the move is temporary, so they keep showing the original URL.
- BacklinkA backlink is a link from another website to yours. Search engines use backlinks to discover pages and as one signal of which pages are trusted and worth ranking.