Digital marketers absolutely love to make a bold claim, like, “link building is dead.”
We’re not going to go that far, but we do want to take you through our recent decision to stop link building for our SEO clients — in the traditional sense, at least.
Like all things SEO and Google algorithm-related, there is no gold standard, straight up rule to follow.
When it comes to Google’s algorithm and exactly what it wants from the websites it gives those top spots to, it’s up for interpretation.
Google said themselves that links matter less. So, is that true?
Well, it requires a little more nuance and a bit of context. Long story short? Yes, but only if you earn them fair and square.
Back in the day (as recently as like, a year ago), link building was as easy as paying for a guest post or spending a couple of hours scouring the internet for broken links and kindly requesting we have them replaced with our own.
This was a great strategy. More links = more ticks of approval from other websites = higher authority, according to Google.
The higher the authority of the website, the higher the value of the backlink.
It was easy.
And that same concept does still kind of apply. But, like all things Google, it’s evolved.
So, what's changed? Well, Google.
Google itself has said that links matter less, with John Mueller, Google’s Senior Search Analyst / Search Relations team lead, saying that over-focusing on links is basically a waste of time.
The big thing here is that Google is against unnatural and spammy links. For yonks now, websites have been able to get away with building slightly forced links and still get the good juice from them.
But, as Google’s algorithm evolves, it’s becoming a risky practice. One that could just end with no real SEO benefit, or worse, result in a Google penalty that is painful, time-intensive, and costly to come back from.
So for us, it makes the most sense to err on the side of caution.
Here's the problem with traditional link building 🧱
Traditional link building is becoming more challenging than ever to get right.
You need a high-quality website, that’s relevant to your website to link to you in a way that makes sense.
But, by nature, if a website is taking payment to link to you, then they’ll be linking to thousands (and thousands) of other websites. That isn’t immediately a bad thing.
The New York Times is also going to be linking to loads and loads of websites, but the way that it does it will be far more natural — with every piece of content being useful, natural, and every outgoing link completely relevant.
That's where digital PR comes in 👋
If the problem with traditional link building is the need for natural, high-quality, and highly relevant backlinks, there’s no better solution than digital PR.
Digital PR allows us to put your brand at the centre and sell your unique idea or thought in a newsworthy way that gains you attention from the media (and backlinks).
This works really well because it means any links you do get as a result are clearly relevant to your brand, and they position you as an authority in your industry.
Every link is contextual and because you’re getting picked up by the media and publications, the links are generally of a really great quality.
Backlinks do still matter. But it's all about how you get them.
The bottom line is yes, links do still matter. Google is right: links are starting to matter less, but they do still matter.
We’re already seeing a correlation between brands who have more backlinks where their brand names are the anchor text and improved visibility in the SERPs.
Anecdotally, we see websites with higher domain authority outperforming those with lower. So, it’s clear that backlinks do still matter.
It’s just about how you get them, where they come from, and how relevant they are to you.
We’re big on playing by the book (Google’s guidelines, in this scenario).
Digital PR produces long-term value 💰
Digital PR doesn’t just produce backlinks. It produces long-term value in the form of brand recognition, brand trust, and authority.
By gaining relevant backlinks from publications that cite you as an expert in your industry, you can send signals to Google that you’re trustworthy and have unique, valuable expertise to offer.
You can build brand authority as well, getting your brand name in more places across the internet and really selling your business as a reputable brand in the market.
Need a hand with your next digital PR campaign? We’d love to help you out 👋
