Links are no longer the currency of the web. This is a common saying in the SEO world, and it was true for many years.
However, the way that Google ranks websites has changed significantly in recent years, and links are no longer as important as they used to be. In the past, Google used links as a way to measure the popularity and authority of a website.
If a website had a lot of backlinks from other websites, Google would assume that it was a high-quality website and rank it higher in search results. However, Google has since realized that links can be manipulated, and they are no longer as reliable a signal of quality as they once were.
As a result, Google has started to place more emphasis on other factors, such as the quality of a website’s content and the user experience. This is where digital PR comes in.
Digital PR is a way to generate positive media coverage for your website. This can be done through press releases, guest posts, and other forms of outreach.
When you get positive media coverage, it sends a signal to Google that your website is credible and authoritative. This can help to improve your rankings in search results.
So, while links are still important for SEO, they are no longer the only thing that matters. Digital PR is a powerful way to improve your SEO rankings, and it is becoming increasingly important in today’s SEO landscape.
Here are some of the benefits of using digital PR for SEO:
- Digital PR can help you to build backlinks from high-quality websites. This is because journalists and bloggers are more likely to link to websites that they have heard of or that they trust.
- Digital PR can help you to improve your website’s visibility. When you get positive media coverage, it will be seen by a wider audience. This can lead to more traffic to your website and more leads and sales.
- Digital PR can help you to build your brand reputation. When you get positive media coverage, it shows that you are a credible and authoritative source of information. This can help to build trust with potential customers.
If you are serious about SEO, you should consider using digital PR as part of your strategy. It is a powerful way to improve your rankings in search results and reach a wider audience.
The new value of relationships
Google has moved toward being a semantic search engine in recent years. This means that Google is no longer just looking at the number of backlinks a website has when it ranks it in search results.
It is also looking at the quality of those backlinks, as well as the context in which they are used. In the past, Google used links as one way to measure the popularity and authority of websites.
If a website had a lot of backlinks from other websites, Google would assume that it was a high-quality website and rank it higher in search results. However, Google has since realized that links can be manipulated, and they are no longer as reliable a signal of quality as they once were.
As a result, Google has started to place more emphasis on other factors, such as the quality of a website’s content and the user experience. The Google knowledge graph is a database of information that Google uses to understand the meaning of words and phrases.
This allows Google to better understand the context of a backlink, and to determine whether it is a high-quality backlink or not. For example, if a website has a backlink from a high-quality website, but the backlink is used in a negative context, Google may not give the backlink as much weight as it would if the backlink were used in a positive context.
This is why it is important to focus on creating more high-quality content and building more backlinks from high-quality websites. If you can do these things, you will be well on your way to improving your website’s SEO rankings.
Here are a few tips for improving a website’s SEO rankings in a semantic search engine:
- Create high-quality content that is relevant to your target keywords.
- Build backlinks from high-quality websites.
- Optimize your website for search engines.
- Make sure your website is mobile-friendly.
- Track your SEO results and make adjustments as needed.
By following these tips, you can improve your website’s SEO rankings in a semantic search engine and reach a wider audience.
The evolution of link building
Many SEOs still use the same link building tactics that they used 10 years ago. These tactics include guest posting, mass outreach emails, and blog commenting.
However, these tactics are no longer as effective as they used to be. SEOs are increasingly turning to content creation as a way to improve their rankings in search results.
This is because content is a more natural way to build links. Creation of high-quality content will mean more people will naturally want to link to it.
This is in contrast to guest posting and mass outreach emails, which can often feel spammy and unnatural. Here are some of the benefits of using content creation for SEO:
- It is a more natural way to build links.
- It can help you to attract a wider audience.
- It can help you to build brand awareness.
- It can help you to generate leads and sales.
- If you are serious about SEO, you should focus on creating high-quality content.
This is the best way to build links and improve your rankings in search results. Here are a few tips relating to creating high-quality content for SEO:
- Make sure your content is relevant to your target keywords.
- Write in a clear and concise way.
- Use images and videos to break up your content.
- Promote your content on social media and other channels.
- Track your results and make adjustments as needed.
If you follow these tips, you will be able to create high-quality content that can help you improve your SEO rankings.
Why topical authority trumps bad links
Some websites with little authority can still rank high in search results. This is because Google uses a concept called topical authority to rank websites.
Topical authority is a measure of how much expertise a website has on a particular topic. Websites with high topical authority can rank high in search results even if they have little backlinks.
This is because Google believes that these websites are authoritative sources of information on the topic. However, topical authority comes at a cost.
Creating high-quality content that is relevant to a specific topic can be expensive and time-consuming. In addition, reading a thousand pages of content can be time-consuming and not very helpful for most users.
This is because most users are looking for specific information, not a comprehensive overview of a topic. As a result, topical authority is often not a good strategy for businesses and brands.
Businesses and brands need to focus on creating content that is relevant to their target audience and that is easy to consume. This is why links are still important for SEO.
Links are a signal to Google that other websites trust your website. This can help to improve your rankings in search results, even if you don’t have a lot of topical authority.
Here are some tips for building links for SEO:
- Build links from high-quality websites.
- Build links from websites that are relevant to your target keywords.
- Build links from websites that are in your industry.
- Build links from websites that are authoritative.
- Build links from websites that are trusted by Google.
If you follow these tips, you can build links that will help to improve your SEO rankings.
How links can be relationships
Google has evolved from a knowledge-hungry child to a curious junior school student. In the past, Google was content to simply find information.
It would follow links to find new pages, and it would rank those pages based on a number of factors, including the number of links they had. However, Google has since evolved.
It is now more interested in understanding the meaning of information. It wants to know what things are and why they matter.
This is why Google is now focusing on semantic search. Semantic search is a type of search that understands the meaning of words and phrases.
This allows Google to rank pages based on their relevance to the user’s query, rather than simply their popularity. This shift in focus has implications for link building.
In the past, link building was all about quantity. The more links you had, the better your website would rank.
However, in a semantic search engine, quantity is no longer as important as quality. Now, it is more important to build links that are relevant to your target keywords and that come from high-quality websites.
These links will help Google to understand what your website is about and why it is important. In other words, link building is now about educating Google.
Every link you build should be a lesson that helps Google to form a mental relationship between entities. For example, if you are a restaurant, you could build a link to a review of your restaurant on a popular food blog.
This would help Google to understand that your restaurant is a good place to eat. By building high-quality links, you can help Google to understand your website and rank it higher in search results.
This is the essence of modern link building.
The value of natural links
When we link out naturally, we are helping our audience understand a subject better or give credit to another source. This is education for search engines.
It is like saying, “Hey, Google. This is a good site. Take a look.” Natural links are like votes of confidence.
They work much like links always have done. They occur naturally, in context, and it’s obvious to all in SEO when a link happens naturally.
Manual link building is supposed to replicate this because businesses cannot wait forever to be gifted with links. And so, link building and buying became a multi-billion pound global industry.
In keeping with our Google child theory, link building or buying is like feeding Google with incorrect information. There has to be another way, and there is.
The other way is to focus on creating high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience. When you create high-quality content, people will naturally want to link to it.
This is because they will want to share the information with their own audiences. In addition, high-quality content will help you to build trust with Google.
This is because Google will see that you are creating valuable content that people want to read. As a result, you will be able to rank higher in search results without having to engage in manual link building or buying.
Here are some tips for creating high-quality content:
- Make sure your content is relevant to your target audience.
- Write in a clear and concise way.
- Use images and videos to break up your content.
- Promote your content on social media and other channels.
- Track your results and make adjustments as needed.
Why digital PR linking matters
Digital PR backlinks are earned through data, expert commentary, and stories.
- Data: Digital PR professionals can collate information about the world and tell others a story about why this data matters. This helps to educate Google and other search engines about what is happening in the world.
- Expert commentary: Digital PR professionals can provide expert commentary on current events or trends. This helps to establish them as thought leaders in their field and can generate backlinks from journalists and other publications.
- Stories: Digital PR professionals can create stories that are interesting and engaging to readers. This can help to generate backlinks from websites that are not necessarily in the same industry as the business.
These links are earned through providing value to journalists and other publishers. When journalists and publishers use a business’s data, commentary, or stories, they are essentially giving the business a backlink as a way of saying, “This is a valuable resource that our readers will find interesting.”
In the world of Google, these links are valuable because they come from websites that Google trusts. Websites that have authority in Google’s eyes are more likely to rank higher in search results.
In addition, these links get traffic virtually immediately. When a journalist or publisher publishes a story that includes a link to a business’s website, the link will be shared on social media and other channels.
This can lead to a significant increase in traffic to the business’s website. Finally, these links help Google to understand the relationship between the quote, comment, or data and the business.
When Google sees a link from a trusted website to a business’s website, it understands that the business is an expert in its field. This can help the business to rank higher in search results for relevant keywords.
In short, digital PR backlinks are a powerful way to improve a business’s SEO. By providing value to journalists and other publishers, businesses can earn backlinks from high-quality websites that will help them to rank higher in search results and get more traffic.
The caveat
Some people may read this and say, “But you don’t know this.” And that is fair.
We are not Google, and we do not have access to all of their data. However, we have been working in SEO for more than 10 years, and have seen the power of digital PR firsthand.
We are conceptualizing a complicated topic based on our experience, knowledge, and what we see working out there. We have seen businesses that have used digital PR to generate backlinks from high-quality websites, and as a result, they have seen their rankings in search results improve significantly.
We could be wrong, but we believe that digital PR is a powerful tool that can help businesses to improve their SEO. One tweet from John Mueller, a Google Search Advocate, supported the use of digital PR: “Digital PR can be a great way to build links and improve your site’s authority. Just make sure the links are relevant and come from high-quality sources.”
In another tweet, Mueller wrote, “I love some of the things I see from digital pr, it’s a shame it often gets bucketed with the spammy kind of link building. It’s just as critical as tech SEO, probably more so in some cases.”
In conclusion, we believe that digital PR is a valuable tool that can help businesses to improve their SEO. However, it is important to use it correctly and ethically.
Here are some tips for using digital PR effectively:
- Target high-quality websites that are relevant to your industry.
- Provide journalists with valuable information that they can use in their stories.
- Be patient and persistent. It takes time to build relationships with journalists and get backlinks from high-quality websites.
- Use digital PR to build brand awareness and credibility.
- Don’t engage in black hat tactics. Google will penalize your website if you try to game the system.
Manual links can still work when done right
We have been building links for a long time, and we have only given out about three links in response to manual outreach emails. That is out of thousands of emails we have received.
We have all received those replies that read like we have killed someone’s cat. This leaves us scratching our heads.
Why are we still doing it this way? Why are we taking the long way around to links?
This is why link buying is so appealing, as are guest posts. It is easier, faster, and more controlled.
Digital PR is equally tough. Links are not usually “dofollowed,” and often, all you get is a media mention.
But remember, we are not in the links game. We are in the relationships game, and Google can now read and understand context.
At our agency, we see that brand mentions alone can cause a lift in a website’s page rankings. And the power of stories is that they travel.
This is why, when a good story hits the press, it travels from news outlet to news outlet. Link explosions happen. Some websites cannot use digital PR due to budget limitations or the nature of the site.
Some websites, the media won’t even touch with a 10-foot pole. And so, link building will have its place.
But in modern search engines, the default for SEOs should be digital PR. Here are some reasons why:
- Digital PR is more effective than manual outreach emails.
- Digital PR builds relationships with journalists and other publishers.
- Digital PR generates backlinks from high-quality websites.
- Digital PR can help you to build brand awareness and credibility.
- Digital PR is more sustainable than link buying or guest posting.
If you are serious about SEO, you should consider using digital PR as your primary link building strategy.
Digital PR Help in Houston, TX
Are you seeking help with a digital PR strategy? SERP Matrix can offer the assistance you need.
Are specialty is local SEO, so we understand how to operate a digital PR campaign as part of our efforts. You should also know that we include an SEO services guarantee.
Our services also include press release writing. We can also assist you with web design and development.
Do not wait to get in touch with us. Call (713) 287-1134 or contact us online to set up a free consultation.
