Link Building vs Content building (Which one is your FAV?)

[Skillermen]

Both Processes are the most important ranking factors. But according to my experience, topical authority is way more powerful and valuable than building links.

What do you think?

 

[IM Dude]

You need both, but yes, poorly written content cannot be helped with powerful backlinks

 

[tazarbm]

But according to my experience, topical authority is way more powerful and valuable than building links

true. But what if there are 20 topically authoritative websites in a niche? How do you rank 20 of them in 10 spots on the 1st page if you're google? That's when link building becomes more important than topical authority

 

[Skillermen]

You need both, but yes, poorly written content cannot be helped with powerful backlinks

Absolutely!

 

[Skillermen]

true. But what if there are 20 topically authoritative websites in a niche? How do you rank 20 of them in 10 spots on the 1st page if you're google? That's when link building becomes more important than topical authority

If you have 20 topically authoritative competitor websites then you need to take advantage of both sides (Link building and content authority)
It's always possible to add more value to content than your competitors have.

 

[tazarbm]

If you have 20 topically authoritative competitors websites then you need to take advantage of both sides (Link building and content authority)
It's always possible to add more value to content than your competitors have.

it's not always possible to add more value to your content. There are some niches / keywords where there simply isn't enough value anymore that can be added to. Think about keywords like "what to know about gaming mice", or "how to macrame", or "do snakes eat hamsters?" etc.... You can only write so much content on such keywords.

Anyway, I'm not disagreeing with you (on the contrary, I do agree that topical relevance is huge), but at some point - all things being equal - backlinks will outweigh the relevance, especially in competitive niches

 

[Skillermen]

it's not always possible to add more value to your content. There are some niches / keywords where there simply isn't enough value anymore that can be added to. Think about keywords like "what to know about gaming mice", or "how to macrame", or "do snakes eat hamsters?" etc.... You can only write so much content on such keywords.

Anyway, I'm not disagreeing with you (on the contrary, I do agree that topical relevance is huge), but at some point - all things being equal - backlinks will outweigh the relevance, especially in competitive niches

That's why I am talking, You can compete with topical authority with big players, not with better backlinks.
I mean, for that keyword about gaming mice, PCMAG ranks on top and it has high authority, but if you build a website just for gaming mice and cover all the relevant topics on it you will definitely become the niche dominant.

 

[Borderless Hustle]

Totally depends on what kind of website are you trying to build. If I am building a long term authority blog, I'd definitely focus more on content building.

 

[House of FEM]

You need both, high quality content will result in the quality backlinks. So both are important in my point of view.

 

[SERP Buster]

There is no doubt at the primary step content building is important, As it gives meaning and topical relevancy to the Website and webpages. But, Both have its own importance, it depends upon the situation.

And if all the ranking websites are equally topical relevant with unique & relevant content on it. In that case backlinks act as the signals that define the authority of the website content that act as the differentiating factor.

Eg: A unique and relevant content may take you up form position 100 to 30 or 20 really fast. But at top 20 or 30 where your website is ranking with other highly authoritative websites then there are the backlinks that determines the chances of success.

 

[HustleTong]

Topical authority in a micro-niche is more sustainable
You won't likely need a tonne of links as long as the ON-page is on point

 

[SERP Buster]

Topical authority in a micro-niche is more sustainable
You won't likely need a tonne of links as long as the ON-page is on point

Thanks for the addition..

 

[paddyboy91]

Both are important, but still, the top priority is valuable content, links can be lost, but your content is never going anywhere, content is the key to traffic retention.

 

[getseoonline]

No such favourite as no links without content so they are dependant on each other

 

[VortexAlpha]

Both Processes are the most important ranking factors. But according to my experience, topical authority is way more powerful and valuable than building links.

What do you think?

I would really say that they come together at the same package. If you don't have quality content you won't be able to get good and valuable links that you didn't just buy somewhere, and vice versa, if you work only on links, and neglect the content there isn't any point in it, as to how you will even be able to attract people to visit your page?

 

[mr.lol]

I think both are depend each other but content is key factor.

 

[Exitwound]

You need both, but yes, poorly written content cannot be helped with powerful backlinks

Solid content comes first. There's no point wasting tens/hundreds of hours, money, or resources on a dud.

Once you have something worth polishing, link-building will work well.

Overall, I'd say my work is 80% content writing, rewriting, updating, and optimizing, and 20% everything else (when I started it was more like 50/50, but this works better for me).