In a Google SEO Office Hours video, a Googler answered a question about backlinks and rankings and provided an interesting fact that backlinks are less of a ranking signal than they used to be.
backlink ranking signals
Links and anchor text signals made Google a better search engine than its competitors when it was first introduced.
In the past, SEO was primarily about optimizing titles, headlines, and content with keywords.
After Google became important, it was realized that links are the key to better rankings.
An entire industry has turned to the need for links, including web directories and link sales brokers.
Various link building techniques have also emerged, including reciprocal links, comment spam, and forum spam.
Google has largely lost the battle against link spam. A turning point for him was in 2012, when the Penguin algorithm was introduced and Google’s infrastructure (Hummingbird) was updated, allowing Google to perform an increasingly large amount of link-related ranking functions.
Today, Google can rank links in such a way as to discard low quality links.
Links continue to be an important ranking factor, but how influential they are today remains a mystery.
John Mueller recently speculated that links may start to play a lesser role in rankings, stating:
“…I imagine that at some point link weight will drop a bit as we gain a little better understanding of how content fits within the context of the web as a whole over time.”
Backlinks have less impact today
It’s interesting to hear Googlers say that links are less influential now, as it was understood that their declining importance was in the future.
But perhaps the most important thing to remember is that link signal strength is compared to when Google was first launched.
The remarks on links stemmed from questions about why Google still uses backlinks and whether link building campaigns are not allowed.
This is the question:
“Why does Google keep using backlinks as a ranking factor if link building campaigns are not allowed?
Why can’t Google find other ranking factors that aren’t as easily manipulated as backlinks?”
Google answer:
“There are some things to unpack here.
First, backlinks as a signal have not had as much impact as they did when Google Search first launched many years ago.
We have hundreds of robust ranking signals to help you rank the most relevant and useful results for every query. ”
It is certainly so. Links today are far less influential than they were when Google first started. This is mainly due to the small number of types of links that affect search rankings (directory links, paid links, etc.).
It’s unclear if the Googler was referring to more than just influential types of links.
The Google employee continued:
“The second is a complete link building campaign, which is basically link spam according to our spam policy.
There are many algorithms that can detect and disable unnatural links at scale.
This means spammers and SEOs are spending money on links. It means you have no way of knowing if the money you spend building links is actually worth it. As soon as we see them, they are already disabled by our system. ”
Links and site promotion are still important
Links do more than ranking. Google finds his webpage through a link.
Google’s own documentation not only lists links as a way for Google to discover web pages, but also encourages publishers to promote their sites.
The documentation states:
“Google also finds your page from links from other pages. Learn how to promote your site and get people to find it.
… There are probably many sites that cover areas similar to your topic. It is usually beneficial to open communication with these sites. Hot topics in your niche or community can generate additional ideas for building content and great community resources. ”
The number of links to your site indicates the importance of your site.
Link patterns created from natural links also help Google understand what your site is about through the resulting link graph.
follow up question
The Google employee’s statement seems to require a follow-up question.
- Did Googlers mean that the links Google uses for ranking are less influential than they used to be?
- How about a link building campaign focused on telling others about your site and asking for links? Are they considered spam?
- When Googlers mentioned “link building campaigns,” were they talking about campaigns that pay guests to post or insert links into existing articles?
The answers given are a good starting point, but this new format of Google office hours is not actually enforced.
This means that there is no way to ask follow-up questions, rendering some of the answers useless.
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Featured image by Shutterstock/Asier Romero
Listen to Google Office Hours at 6:08
