The internet is rotting. A study by Harvard Law School found that 50% of all hyperlinks break within 20 years. This phenomenon, known as "Link Rot," is a disaster for history, but it is an opportunity for you.
Every time a competitor goes out of business, deletes a blog post, or migrates their website poorly, they leave behind "ghost links." These are high-authority links pointing to a dead end (404 Error).
Most SEOs ignore these. Smart SEOs use the Lazarus Method to resurrect these dead pages on their own site and steal the link equity.
The "Lazarus" Opportunity
Step 1: Hunting for Ghosts
You don't need to check every website manually. You need tools like Ahrefs or Semrush.
Go to the "Best by Links" report for your biggest competitor. Filter the results by "404 Not Found." You are looking for pages that used to exist, have 20+ backlinks, but are now dead.
✅ The Ideal Target
Look for "Resource Pages" or "Guides" that have been deleted. For example, if a competitor deleted their "Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Remodeling," and that page had 50 links, that is your target.
Step 2: The Resurrection (Content Reconstruction)
Now comes the "Lazarus" part. You can't just write a new article. You need to know what the original page said so you can create something better.
Use the Wayback Machine (archive.org). Paste the dead URL into the search bar. Go back in time to when the page was live. Read it. Analyze why people linked to it.
Then, write a new version on your own site. Update the statistics, add better images, and modernize the advice. You aren't just copying; you are evolving.
Step 3: The Psychology of "The Fix"
This is where standard link building fails and the Lazarus Method succeeds. You are not begging for a link; you are reporting an error.
| The "Beggar" Pitch (Ignored) | The "Lazarus" Pitch (Accepted) |
|---|---|
| "Hi, please link to my new guide!" | "Hi, I found a broken link on your site." |
| Emotion: Annoyance. | Emotion: Gratitude (Helpfulness). |
| Action: Requires them to evaluate you. | Action: Requires them to fix an error. |
| Conversion: < 5% | Conversion: 10-15% |
The Script:
"Hi [Name], I was reading your article on [Topic] and noticed you linked to a guide on Kitchen Remodeling. It looks like that page is dead (404). I actually just published an updated version of that same data for 2026 if you want a working resource to replace it with."
Step 4: Internal Housekeeping (301 Redirects)
The Lazarus Method also applies to your own site. If you have deleted pages in the past, you are bleeding link equity.
Audit your own site for 404s. If you find a dead page that has backlinks, do not leave it as a 404. Set up a 301 Redirect pointing that dead URL to the most relevant live page on your site. This instantly "reclaims" the lost authority and passes it to your active content.
💡 Action Plan for Today
- Run a Competitor Audit. Identify their top broken pages.
- Check the Wayback Machine. See what content used to live there.
- Publish a "V2" Update. Create a superior version of the missing resource.
- Send "Fix It" Emails. Reach out to everyone linking to the dead page offering your replacement.
Stop Letting Links Die
We specialize in identifying "Ghost Links" and reclaiming lost equity for your domain. Let us run a Lazarus Audit on your competitors today.
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