Recovery of removed links: finding and restoring lost links
Recovery of removed links finds the links your site once had and lost, and brings them back. Within the Link building service, Best Boost Partners collects lost links from link indexes and Google Search Console, checks each one by hand and chooses the way to restore it: a letter to the site owner, a redirect or restored page on your side, or a replacement donor. The work suits sites with a long link history. You receive a table of lost links with the cause, action and result for each.
What exactly do we do to recover removed links?
Collecting lost links
We take the lost-links reports of link indexes such as Ahrefs and Majestic, the link data from Google Search Console and your register of placed links, if you keep one. The sources are merged into one table and duplicates are removed.
Manual check and cause
Each lost link is opened and checked by hand. The cause is recorded: the donor page was deleted or rewritten, the link was removed or changed to nofollow, the donor site was redesigned or moved to another domain, the donor domain expired, a paid placement ended, or your own page returns 404 or redirects to the wrong address.
Sorting by value
Lost links are ranked by the quality of the donor, by the page the link pointed to and by the anchor. A link from a donor that has turned into a low-quality site is left out on purpose and marked as written off.
Contact with site owners and editors
We write to the site owner or editor and ask to return the link. Where the placement was paid, the letter points to the terms of that placement. Where the page was rewritten or the address changed, we offer an updated text or a working URL. When a site has moved, we first find the donor’s new address.
Fixes on your site
If a link was lost because your page returns 404 or redirects to the wrong place, we set a page-to-page 301 redirect or restore the page. Links that still point to the old address then work again, and nothing is required from the donor.
Replacement, final check and register
A link that cannot be restored is replaced with a placement on another donor of comparable quality. Every restored link is checked: the link is live, carries the expected attributes, and the donor page is indexed. The result is entered in the register with the date and status.
What do you get from the recovery of removed links?
- A table of lost links with the cause, the value and the chosen action for each link.
- A log of contacts with site owners and editors: the date of each letter and the answer received.
- A list of the redirects set and the pages restored on your site.
- A list of the links brought back, with the date and status of each.
- A list of the links replaced or written off, with the reason for each decision.
When is the recovery of removed links needed?
- The lost-links report of a link index shows that the number of referring domains is falling.
- The site went through a redesign, a new URL structure or a move to another domain, and old addresses now return 404.
- Links were bought or arranged for years, and nobody checked whether those placements are still in place.
- Pages lost positions, and the link profile shows that links from strong donors to those pages have disappeared.
Frequently asked questions
Can every lost link be brought back?
No, not every lost link comes back. A site owner may not answer, may refuse or may ask for payment, and when a donor domain has expired there is usually nobody left to write to. A link from a donor that has turned into a low-quality site is not worth restoring, and we leave such links out on purpose. Each link that was not restored stays in the table with the reason, and for links that mattered we propose a replacement donor.
Will I have to pay again to get a removed link back?
A second payment depends on the terms of the original placement. If the placement was paid for without a time limit, we point the site owner to those terms and ask to return the link free of charge. If the paid period has ended or the owner asks for a new payment, we pass the terms on to you, and you decide whether the link is worth the money. Fixes on your own site, such as a 301 redirect or a restored page, require no payment to donors.
What do you need from me to recover lost links?
We need the site address, read access to Google Search Console and your register of placed links, if you keep one. For paid placements the correspondence or the terms agreed with the donor are useful, because the request to return the link refers to them. To set redirects or restore pages we need access to the site or a contact with your developer.
Tell us about the project
Fill in what you already know. Blank fields are fine: we will clarify the rest in conversation.
Brief sent
Thank you. We will reply within one working day.
Preview mode: the form handler is not connected yet, so nothing was sent.