If you like to keep up to date with the ins and the outs of the SEO and digital PR world, by now you’ve probably seen that tweet and that article making claims that links don’t matter.
But this bold sweeping claim, doesn’t really match up to the intricacies and benefits of links.
Historically, links were considered a vital ranking factor, the more links, the higher you rank. But as Google’s algorithm advanced and the need for quality search results increased, it wasn’t a case of any and all, it became more important to obtain links from relevant and authoritative sites.
This much is still true. The value of a link is still measured by where it’s from, where it points to, and the entire context of the piece it sits within, in order to tick those vital relevancy boxes. Google Search Advocate, John Mueller was quoted saying, “we try to understand what is relevant for a website, how much should we weigh these individual links, and the total number of links doesn’t matter at all.
Because you could go off and create millions of links across millions of websites if you wanted to, and we could just ignore them all.”
The subsequent Google updates placed emphasis on the value of links, with Penguin wiping out sites who were abusing the mass link building tactics, and the introduction of follow, no follow marking up the ‘authority’ of links.
Fast forward to today, Gary Illyes, an Analyst on the Google Search Team makes a claim at SERP Conf that links are less important. Add this to John Mueller’s recent statement that “over-focusing on links will often result in you wasting your time doing things that don’t make your website better overall”.
Which is where the debate kicks in.
Links are still valuable. They’re one part of many ranking factors that Google uses to place your brand higher in the SERPs, and while the latest statements on the face of it may seem confusing, it’s not a new statement. It simply heralds back to the message Google has been pushing for a long time, don’t seek out links that don’t make sense for your brand.
As Google continues to focus on the value of helpful, relevant content, along with advancing the SERPs with GEN AI to deliver responses that answer users’ specific queries, it’s vital that brands continue to showcase their expertise online.
Links still have a place when it comes to ranking for specific terms, and increasing your presence on the SERPs, but digital PR has, for a long time, been more than just building links; it’s building brand presence, increasing trust, building authority and increasing visibility.
Links can help a brand rank, but consider, what do you want to rank for? Are you staying true and relevant to your brand? Does that link have the potential to drive visibility of your brand?
The true debate here shouldn’t be around volume of links, it should be around the brand value those links bring.
If you want to chat about the benefits of digital PR, reach out at digital@hatch.group
