Content production, technical SEO, and link building all play a role in how Google ranks websites. Although all are important, not all hold the same weight. Once you look at the studies and see the benefits of building links the right way, you will know how important link building is to SEO.
Link Building Studies
If you do any simple search to try and find out this question, you will get a mixed bag of reviews to say the least. Since Google will never tell us exactly what the algorithm is when it comes to link building, we need to go with the research and what has worked for years. The digital school of marketing breaks it down as more than 40% of how your website is ranked depends on your link building. Moz, one of the most trusted in the industry agrees, saying just over 40% of how you are ranked depends on your link building.
Linking Domains
So, if we have convinced you that link building is important to SEO, we now need to tell you about which type of links matter more. Since Google is just a big popularity contest, with each linking domain being a vote of confidence, it would make sense that the more linking domains you have, the better. The algorithm has evolved over the years, especially with the penguin update. With this update, it is overwhelmingly difficult to confuse the search engine by acquiring links that don’t make sense for your business. Your best bet is to always acquire linking domains that are related to your business, and not riddled with spam.
Internal Link Building
Another type of link building that should not be overlooked is internal link building. The best way to describe internal link building is a roadmap to your website. To maximize your user experience and tell the search engines what your most important pages are they need to be interlinked correctly. For example, if you produce content around your number one keyword, you need to link that content to the page on your website dedicated to that keyword. This not only helps your user get to the right place in order to convert to a client, but it also tells Google you have supplemental content supporting your keywords.
External Link Building
The best way to think of external link building is to relate it to a bibliography. When you were writing a research paper it was always important to cite your sources. Google works in a similar fashion. When you are producing content for other eyes to see, it’s important to support what you are putting on your website with other (credible) sources.
Bringing it all Together
We have gone through all the types of links you should be considering when link building and which hold the most weight. It can’t be stressed enough, that doing either the wrong way can have a negative effect on your rankings and how your users interact with your website. If you would like to know more about how important link building is to SEO, contact us today.