Why 1 in 10 backlinks disappear within a year
Why backlinks get removed or changed to nofollow, how often it happens, and how to set up monitoring so you can follow up before rankings move.
- Most lost links come from redesigns, content pruning and editorial changes, not bad faith.
- A link switched to nofollow is easy to miss without automated checks.
- Following up within a week recovers far more links than waiting a month.
A live link is not a permanent link. Pages are redesigned, posts are merged or deleted, and editors change link attributes. If you are not checking, you usually find out when rankings drop.
Common reasons links disappear
- Site redesigns that drop old content or change URLs without redirects.
- Content pruning, where low-traffic posts are removed or merged.
- Editorial policy changes that switch outbound links to nofollow or sponsored.
- Domain expiry or a change of site owner.
A simple monitoring setup
Check new placements weekly for the first month and monthly after that. Track three things for each link: whether the page returns 200, whether the link is still present, and whether its rel attribute has changed.
Following up
When a link changes, contact the site owner quickly and politely. Most removals are accidental. SERPsupport checks every placement automatically and alerts you so you can reply in the same chat where the link was agreed.
Head of Outreach at SERPsupport. Eight years running link campaigns for SaaS and e-commerce brands, with 3,000+ placements negotiated directly with site owners.