Case: Internal 404 fix recovered 4,100 sessions/mo

Case: Internal 404 fix recovered 4,100 sessions/mo

Not all link reclamation is external. A client's own 404s were bleeding link equity inward.

Workflow:
1. Pull GSC 'Not found (404)' report plus crawl-tool internal-404 list (228 broken URLs).
2. Cross-reference each against backlink data: which 404s have external links? (61 had links.)
3. QA gate: 301 each linked 404 to the closest live equivalent — never blanket-redirect to homepage.
4. For 14 high-link URLs with no equivalent, rebuild thin replacement pages.
5. Re-submit fixed URLs to GSC, monitor recovery for 30 days.

Result: 4,100 monthly sessions recovered, 61 external links reactivated.

Definition of done: all 61 linked 404s redirected, 14 rebuilds live.

Automation fits at steps 1-2. Redirect mapping needs a human.