Links are a key component in SEO but are you thinking about them in the right way? For me, there are vital questions you need to ask before engaging in this often misunderstood area of SEO. In this post, I'm going to discuss how I think about link-building and digital PR.

Why are links important in SEO?

Firstly, let's take a look at why links are so important.

SEO can be distilled into two fundamental pillars, relevance and authority. Links from trusted and relevant websites are how you build authority in search engines. This significantly influences a website's ability to rank highly in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Google uses links as the basis of its PageRank algorithm and many other search engines also view links as a vote of confidence. When reputable sites link to yours, it signals credibility and builds trust. In essence, the more quality links you have, the higher your website is likely to climb in search engine rankings.

What are the pitfalls of link-building?

Now, let's talk about the risks of link-building and why it's so important you think about this area of SEO in the right way.

Given how valuable links are then it's obvious that many people are going to try and game the system. Link-buying services are rife despite Google's best efforts to penalise websites that acquire too many spammy or irrelevant links.

If you want to ensure good long-term performance in search engines, then It's crucial to focus on building a portfolio of high-quality, relevant backlinks rather than chasing sheer numbers or buying links.

How should you be thinking about link-building?

Why should other websites link to yours? If you struggle to answer this fundamental question, then you need to stop and spend some time rethinking your marketing strategy.

This is where I start with all clients looking to improve their domain authority. Brainstorming this question with your marketing team or agency is time well spent, and can yield some great ideas that you can turn into action.

Take some time to think about why your website is different or noteworthy. What content can you create that is interesting or fundamentally new to your industry or niche?

Think about your industry knowledge or the data you may already have about your business sector. Can this knowledge or data be crafted into an interesting story or press release? Does this data lend itself to some interesting visual analysis?

Research industry challenges or problems and anchor your content around a solution. This is an approach that is likely to resonate well in B2B industries.

Thinking more about B2C, mainstream or industry-specific new sources often thrive on data-driven stories. Combining this approach with a good PR agency that can syndicate your content will often yield excellent results.

My recommendations for building domain authority

In summary, links are vital to SEO performance, but, they can pose some risk to your rankings. Engaging in artificial link-buying schemes is something you should avoid if you want to enjoy long-term SEO success.

Instead, think about how links fit into your wider marketing strategy. If people start talking about your business, you'll get plenty of high-quality links that will improve your search engine visibility.

So, think about the following;

• Create compelling and authentic content that stands out from the crowd
• Think about how you can use data to create something interesting in your industry or niche
• Leverage the services of a PR agency to maximise the reach of your content
• Work with an SEO professional or agency to maximise the potential of your PR strategy

If you want to achieve evergreen SEO performance then thinking more holistically about link acquisition will help you set you on the right path.