Link reclamation is the work of investigating references that have become broken, outdated or missing. Begin with a real source page and its intended destination. A lower number in a third-party report is a lead to investigate, not proof that a valuable live link disappeared.
For each candidate, record the referring URL, the address it used to link to, the intended current page and the date of the observation. Keep an earlier export or screenshot when one exists. Search Console can supply a sample of known links, but its report is not a complete or real-time ledger of every reference.
Open the actual source and look for the relevant anchor in its context. A redesigned navigation, changed article or access restriction may explain a report difference. If you cannot access the page, label the check inconclusive. Do not replace missing evidence with an assumption that the publisher deleted the link or that the report is wrong.
Request the old destination and inspect its status and final page. If content moved, identify the genuinely corresponding replacement. A relevant permanent redirect can help people reach that replacement. Redirecting every removed article to the homepage ignores what the reference promised and can turn a repair into another poor user experience.
An internal configuration error can be assigned to your developer. A typo on another site may call for a factual correction request to its editor, with the old reference and accurate replacement. A removed reference may simply no longer belong in the article. Keep publisher discretion separate from your own implementation responsibilities.
After a change, revisit the source and destination. Record whether the actual anchor changed, a redirect was installed or the reference remains absent. These are different outcomes. A reply saying fixed is useful communication, but a public observation provides stronger evidence that the route now works as intended.
Count verified repairs by type and keep inconclusive checks outside that total. A functioning link does not by itself establish referral traffic, indexing or a ranking benefit. If you have authorized analytics, measure subsequent referrals separately. Stop when the reference is accurate and useful rather than repeatedly requesting a particular anchor or relationship attribute.
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