Recovering Lost Links And Strengthening Your Firm’s SEO

October 11 , 2024 | BY Matthew Stark

backlinks

Link Reclamation

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a highly involved marketing strategy. One of the most overlooked yet critical aspects of building a law firm’s online presence is link reclamation. If your law firm has invested in SEO, you’ve likely already put in considerable effort to build a strong backlink profile. However, what many law firms fail to consider is the eventual erosion of these backlinks. Over time, links may break, change, or be removed entirely, causing you to lose valuable SEO equity that was once boosting your rankings. Link reclamation is the process of identifying and recovering these lost or broken backlinks, which can significantly improve your law firm’s SEO.

Competition is rife in the legal world, and law firms need to grasp any opportunity handed to them to keep them ahead. Link reclamation provides an affordable yet effective way to boost your search rankings without necessarily having to begin fresh link-building work from scratch. Spend your resources on lost link reclamation to regain the authority that you once had while strengthening SEO on your site. This will not only strengthen your website’s trustworthiness and domain authority, but it will also offer you a more sustainable path to long-term SEO success. Now, let’s talk about how link reclamation can benefit your law firm and delve into the process to ensure that you actually recover those lost opportunities efficiently.

Why Backlinks Are Crucial In Law Firm SEO 

Backlinks are among the most important ranking signals in Google’s algorithm. When reputable and high-quality websites link to your law firm’s website, they give a thumbs-up of approval to the search engines about your authority in the legal space. That endorsement gives the search engine clear cause to believe your website is a trustworthy and valuable resource for potential clients. With every quality backlink, the chances increase to rank well in very competitive search engine results.

But backlink profiles are not static: many issues can cause links to break or disappear, such as everything from website redesigns and server errors to changes in the web pages where links previously lived. Such outcomes mean that your law firm may gradually lose some of its search engine rankings while the backlink profile diminishes. That’s where link reclamation saves the day and helps gain back that lost SEO equity and authority which those backlinks were providing. 

While you might be tempted to move straight to new link-building campaigns, failing to address broken or lost links results in missed opportunities to restore valuable authority that can significantly impact your ranking in search results. Reclaiming lost backlinks can be more efficient than building new ones because the hard work of earning those links has already been done.

How To Identify Lost Links

To recover lost links, the first step is identifying which backlinks are no longer linking to your website as they should.Several technical tools are available to help you in this process. These tools will crawl your backlink profile and analyze any broken or removed links that need your attention.

Google Search Console

This free tool from Google offers one of the best insights into your website’s link health. It allows you to view your website’s backlinks and identify any issues related to crawl errors or broken pages. If your law firm has changed its URL structure or removed certain pages without implementing redirects, Google Search Console will flag these errors.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is one of the industry’s leading tools for SEO auditing, including backlink analysis. By running a link audit through Ahrefs, you can see not only how many links are pointing to your site but also which of those links are broken. The tool also allows you to track lost or removed links over time, giving you a clear picture of which areas need your attention.

Screaming Frog

This powerful website crawler tool helps you identify broken links across your entire site. You can use it to crawl specific pages of your website where you suspect there might be broken links or to perform a complete site audit to find all broken links in one go.

Semrush

Another excellent tool, SEMrush provides a detailed report on your backlink profile, highlighting lost, broken, or removed links. With this data, you can pinpoint precisely which websites you need to reach out to in order to reclaim lost backlinks.

Once you’ve identified broken or lost links, the next step is to take action to reclaim them. However, it’s not just about fixing broken URLs on your site; the process often requires outreach and negotiation with webmasters and editors to have your lost links restored.

Reclaiming Lost Links

Once you’ve identified the lost or broken links, it’s time to reclaim them. The approach to link reclamation depends on the nature of the issue. In some cases, it’s as simple as fixing a broken link or implementing a redirect. In others, you’ll need to reach out to the webmaster or editor of the linking site to ask that they reinstate your link.

1. Fixing Internal Errors

If your law firm has undergone a website redesign or changed its URL structure, you could have inadvertently created broken links. In this situation, your webmaster should implement 301 redirects to make sure that any links pointing toyour old pages automatically lead users to the new ones. 301 redirects preserve your website’s SEO equity and makes sure Google recognizes the link as valid.

2. Contacting Webmasters For Link Reinstatement

For lost backlinks that originate from external websites, you will need to engage in outreach to the website owners. This process involves contacting the site’s webmaster and informing them of the broken link. You can kindly request that they restore the link or update the URL to reflect your current page structure. When reaching out, ensure you’re polite and concise and provide all necessary details (such as the broken link and the correct URL). A well-constructed email increases the likelihood of getting your link reinstated.

3. Claiming Unlinked Mentions

In some cases, your law firm might be mentioned in articles or blog posts but without an actual link to your site. Using tools like Google Alerts or Ahrefs’ Content Explorer, you can identify these unlinked mentions. Once found, you can reach out to the author or editor and request that they turn the mention into a backlink to your law firm’s website.

The Long-Term Benefits of Link Reclamation

Recovering lost backlinks is not only an immediate win for your law firm’s SEO but also a long-term strategy for maintaining a strong backlink profile. When done effectively, link reclamation can provide numerous benefits:

  • Restored Authority: By recovering lost links, you regain the authority and SEO equity that those links originally provided. This improves your site’s overall search engine ranking, making it easier for potential clients to find you.
  • Improved User Experience: Fixing broken links ensures that users landing on your site have a seamless experience without encountering 404 errors. This improves user engagement, which is also a positive ranking signal to search engines.
  • Cost-Effectiveness: Link reclamation is more cost-effective than building new links from scratch. You are essentially capitalizing on the efforts you’ve already made, maximizing your return on investment.
  • Strengthened Relationships: When you reach out to webmasters to fix broken links, you also strengthen relationships within the legal and professional communities. This can lead to future collaboration opportunities.

Why Outsourcing Link Reclamation Makes Sense 

While the benefits of link reclamation are clear, this is all too often a time-consuming process, necessitating a fair degree of technical knowledge. Being a law firm, you must focus your time on clients and cases, without getting caught up in minute details of SEO maintenance. That is where partnering with a law firm marketing company becomes invaluable.

By outsourcing link reclamation to a dedicated team, you can be certain that your backlink profile stays healthy and strong, as you go about your legal practice. A professional marketing agency will be prepared with the relevant knowledge, tools, and resources for periodic auditing of one’s backlink profile in the search for problems and effectively outreach in recovering lost links. In such a way, your law firm will keep pace with the competition in the search rankings without tying up your own resources.

Link Reclamation Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What Is Link Reclamation, And How Does It Help Law Firm SEO? 

Link reclamation is the process of identifying and recovering lost or broken backlinks to your law firm’s website. It helps strengthen your site’s authority by restoring valuable links that contribute to higher search engine rankings.

How Can I Identify Lost Backlinks?

Using tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Screaming Frog, you can perform backlink audits to discover lost or broken links. These tools provide comprehensive reports on which links need to be reclaimed. 

What Is The Difference Between New Link-Building And Link Reclamation? 

New link-building involves creating fresh backlinks from other sites, whereas link reclamation focuses on recovering links that were previously established but are now broken or missing. Reclaiming links is often more cost-effective than building new ones. 

Why Should I Outsource Link Reclamation?

Link reclamation can be complex and time-consuming. Outsourcing this service to a law firm marketing company ensures that your link profile remains healthy without consuming your firm’s resources. Our legal marketing experts have the tools and expertise to take corrective action.

How Long Does It Take To See Results From Link Reclamation?

Once broken or lost links are reclaimed, search engines may take a few weeks to recognize the improvements. However, restoring these links typically leads to a quicker impact on rankings compared to building new links from scratch.

Call FORWARD Lawyer Marketing For Forward-Thinking SEO

At FORWARD Lawyer Marketing, we understand the importance of a strong backlink profile for law firms. Our experienced team specializes in helping law firms nationwide recover lost links and strengthen their SEO efforts through link reclamation. Don’t let your lost backlinks negatively impact your rankings. Contact FORWARD Lawyer Marketing at (888) 590-9687 for your free consultation, and let us help your firm get back on top of the search results.