For this example, and to show you how to apply it to your affiliate site, I’m going to show you how to use it for an affiliate site operating in the diet/weight loss industry.

• Your going to need a copy of Xenu Link Sleuth (it’s a backlink checker which can be downloaded here)

• Go to Yahoo Directory and Search for Weight Loss Supplement Retailers. (Why do we use Yahoo Directory? If they have a link in the directory we assume they understand the benefits of it’s link and have built up an active link profile

• Copy the URL to Xenu Link Sleuth and kick it off

• It will check the links of yahoo directory for broken links, any broken links will be highlighted in red or display “No Such Host”.

• We are now going to check that the sites highlighted in red don’t exist and if there are any websites still with links pointing to them. For this example we are going to use http://www.diet-weight-loss-center.com. We begin by checking to see if it’s indexed in google:

• We then check to see if there is any backlinks pointing to it using Yahoo SiteExplorer

• All of these websites with links to http://www.diet-weight-loss-center.com are generating 404 errors. 404 errors can penalise sites in terms of search engine optimisation because they are all dead links.

How do I get my backlinks?

You get your backlinks by contacting the webmasters of the sites linking to the dead/non existent site and explaining that the site they are currently linking to is dead or no longer exists. You then offer them to replace the dead link with a link to your website which has similar content as the dead site. You will usually get the link because:

1. You’ve helped the webmaster by identifying dead links on their site. Dead links are a problem for all website owners
2. You’ve offered a suitable replacement (your site) for the dead link. (You have saved them time so they dont have to look for a replacement themselves.)

Try this and let me know how many links your receive!