Are links still relevant and if so why?

Newcastle · Jul 22, 2022

Following on from my previous post about me struggling to find links for my niche
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/l...unsuccessful-need-help.1423261/#post-15449529
My question is - are links that important anymore.. I know I may ruffle a few SEO feather as allot of you guys make an income from this.

Could an argument be made for fewer and fewer websites link to other sites, fewer people look at forums and even websites than they used to.

Years ago I would search google for a specific answer to a question, but today I would look in social media groups, youTube and sub reddits for these answers, I don't think I am alone.

My point being, that if I and others don't use the web/forums and such as first stop - I would have thought google would be aware of this and use a different metric for their algorithms.

MisterF · Jul 22, 2022

Yes links are important.

This is a site with no fresh content in over 8 months. Links being built for 30 days or so. Yesterdays numbers and todays, less than 24 hours later.

Average KW difficulties here range from 66 to 84.

No you are not ruffling any feathers, it's all part of educating people.

SirLouen · Jul 22, 2022

Unless Google discovery, a better way to identify reputation links will be their core measurement for this.

Quality could be measured with CTR, with AI tools that identify relevant content compared to other sites, etc...

But reputation? How could you identify the reputation of things if others are not talking about you. Maybe in the future, comments about a brand without a link or so, could be signs of reputation (in fact, maybe this could be already happening), but what about unbranded sites?

And why Google is so into reputation? Who knows, but still this is a major factor in their guidelines.

awesomewebsites · Jul 22, 2022

Always matters. In fact, links matter the most when we talk about ranking.

noellarkin · Jul 22, 2022

Newcastle said:
Following on from my previous post about me struggling to find links for my niche
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/l...unsuccessful-need-help.1423261/#post-15449529
My question is - are links that important anymore.. I know I may ruffle a few SEO feather as allot of you guys make an income from this.

Could an argument be made for fewer and fewer websites link to other sites, fewer people look at forums and even websites than they used to.

Years ago I would search google for a specific answer to a question, but today I would look in social media groups, youTube and sub reddits for these answers, I don't think I am alone.

My point being, that if I and others don't use the web/forums and such as first stop - I would have thought google would be aware of this and use a different metric for their algorithms.

Kinda depends on your niche.
For example, if someone has erectile dysfunction, they're probably not going to log in to their personal Facebook and post on their wall "hey guys, haven't been able to get it up for a while now and the wife's getting pissed off, can someone recommend a good website where I can buy viagra online near me?". Most people will use a search engine instead.
You're right in that you have to audit your client's traffic sources and only optimize for the ones that have the highest ROI. In some cases, the dominant traffic source will be social media, and in others it'll be organic search.

HustleTong · Jul 22, 2022

Backlinks are the elixir of SEO space
Search intent is slowly ramping up but won't avoid links altogether

Are links still relevant and if so why?

Newcastle

Regular Member

MisterF

Repeat Selling Out MP - Doxxing - Harass Comps.

SirLouen

Elite Member

awesomewebsites

Elite Member

noellarkin

Senior Member

HustleTong

Elite Member

Main Menu

Marketplace

Making Money

BlackHatWorld

Other