Why links in the first place?

 

You’re probably thinking, “hey, I want to rank #1, just tell me what to do!” But understanding why Google values links so highly can help you assess the strength or weakness of your link profile. This can help you determine your link acquisition strategy.

Googlebot crawls the Internet by following one link after another. They discover new pages and websites as part of that crawl and store the content of each of those pages in a giant database.

In addition to storing the content of each page, Google also stores how its crawlers arrived on the page. In other words, it remembers the pages and websites linking to it. A link from one site to another is like a vote or endorsement for the credibility of the second website.

Sites with the most endorsements rank better than those with few or no endorsements. Especially links from websites that are heavily endorsed themselves improve your ranking. You need endorsements to get elected and links to rank well.

Link attributes

Topical context

While Google’s algorithm over the years has been incredibly vulnerable to abuse by spammers, increasingly, it’s taking into account the context in which a link appears. Google essentially devalues links that appear on completely unrelated websites. For example, a personal injury lawyer receives a link from a Russian real estate forum. Increasingly these kinds of links put you in jeopardy of a Google penalty.

Conversely, links you acquire or earn that are likely to refer you to actual customers are increasingly the ones that Google values. For example, a personal injury lawyer receives a link from a neighboring chiropractor’s website.

Page/domain authority

The source of a link matters a great deal to how much weight it carries in Google’s algorithm. Links from pages and websites that are heavily linked to — such as BBC.com or WashingtonPost.com — will benefit the linked site much more than a link from a hobbyist blog or tiny startup.

Anchor text

Anchor text is the words that make up the link itself. The link’s text helps provide Google additional context about the topic of the linked page, i.e., what keywords that page should rank for. So links that contain keywords related to what you sell or where you’re located — and even links for your brand name — will help you rank. They’ll help you more than links using generic terms like “click here” or “read more.”

But you don’t have control over what text people use on other websites. In general, it’s not the best use of time to influence what anchor text others are using. It’s just a ranking factor to be aware of.

Assessing your existing link profile

Many SEO tools — like Semrush, Moz, and Ahrefs — help you analyze your existing link profile, which provides all the information an average local business needs.

See if you can find one which lists the authority of the domains linking to you, often described as page or domain authority. The number of referring domains is the best heuristic for most local businesses regarding their strong link profile. Explore the list of the sites sending links to you. Are there apparent sites not on that list that should relate to you? Consider reaching out to them to tell them how much a link would help your business.

Links that help your local search strategy

Google pretends that great content and websites will naturally acquire links. But for 99.999% of businesses, that’s terrible advice. The old question, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one’s there to hear it, does it make a sound?” applies to content and links. Does it acquire links if you produce great content, but no one’s there to see it? The answer is no. Businesses need to be proactive about reaching links, which makes building links an important part of your local search strategy.

Over the years, many local businesses have fallen victim to scam artists selling hundreds of links. Or have otherwise been too aggressive about acquiring links. The reality is that, for many businesses, 10-20 high-quality links will lead to top rankings in short order – sustainable rankings that will last for years. Take the time to earn these high-quality links, and don’t pursue those over-aggressive tactics.

Industry-relevant links

Industry-relevant links are often the most accessible links for small business owners to acquire. Many involve asking your existing contacts at companies or organizations with whom you do business.