Modern Link Building is E-E-A-T, and you need to deal with it.
In a semantic search world, relationships between things matter.
As such, your SEO is no longer about links and content in a volume game.
It's about expertise, experience, authority and trustworthiness....all connected semantically.
And it's those things that your SEO needs to focus on.
When you see websites that rank for thousands of keywords with almost no authority, it's because they've created a network of content that tells Google the site has expertise and experience.
In the absence of a better, more authoritative source of information, Google ranks the site.
That works...until someone else does it, and then we're back to the game of needing to gain links.
The thing is, links aren't what they used to be.
Links, be it do follow, no follow, or even media mentions create relationships.
Therefore, subject matter expertise is the linkage that you actually want more of.
Link your business with an area of expertise.
Google wants to establish who you are and what you do.
And this is why digital PR is going to become the most in-demand and effective link tactic around (and why it is now).
Because you earn links, not build them.
Links are earned based on your relationship to the subject you are experts in.
SEO Agency 1: they build links for client sites by buying guest posts, niche edits and the like.
These posts place a link within a text that looks unnatural at best and other businesses are placed in the same content much in the same way.
SEO Agency 2: they build links manually by outreach, link swapping, and valuable guest blogs on sites that make sense (this still does have power, but it's slow).
SEO Agency 3: they use digital PR link earning.
This agency gets its clients featured in the news regularly. They talk about their area of expertise, and google sees these articles instantly because they are in the news feeds.
Google is quickly able to build a picture up of the client, their area of expertise and their business.
Be it a do follow, no follow or media mention. It's the information that Google values.
Over time, it looks like the image on the right.
You end up with layer upon layer of links.
Links earned through the media.
Links earned naturally through content.
And links earned through being a real business.
I sum it all up as something I call costly link signalling.
Or in other words, all good links must contain a degree of difficulty to obtain.
The best links have to be earned through either your expertise or a powerful message.
Powerful messages can be your views, your products, data and, of course, stories.
Expertise gives you the ability to be mentioned and referred to as an expert by others.
If you're not using digital PR, you'll be missing out on the fuel you need for online growth.
Try it...you won't regret it.