What's more important than links these days?

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Google no longer values ​​links as much as it used to, which represents a significant shift in SEO strategies. For a long time, getting backlinks was seen as the golden rule of SEO and, as an SEO specialist at Rock Content, I can confirm that this activity takes up a lot of time in our monthly schedule.

Additionally, digital marketers have been working hard to build links as they were often considered the primary currency of Google's ranking algorithm.

Then comes the big news: At a recent search marketing conference, Google’s Gary Illyes shared that the giant doesn’t rely as heavily on links to judge a site’s quality and relevance as we once thought. This challenges old SEO strategies and forces us to rethink what really matters to get to the top of search results.

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The evolutionary nature of SEO
Links used to be the backbone of SEO strategies. Traditionally seen as votes of confidence, the general thinking was that more links in content were associated with higher SERP rankings .

This has led marketers to increasingly work on link building campaigns, trying to gather as many links as possible.

But that's changing, as Google's Gary Illyes recently pointed out that links aren't the most important aspect of evaluating a website.

In fact, at a recent conference on search marketing, the executive highlighted that Google currently prioritizes elements that directly affect the user's online experience.


Translation: Barry Schwartz — President and owner of RustyBrick Inc.
Google's Gary Illyes has said again that links are not that important to Google and that pages need very few links to rank https://lnkd.in/eYBb3s3t

#google #googleseo #seo #links

Source: LinkedIn .

What does this mean for SEO? That Google is refining its algorithms tunisia whatsapp list to better evaluate the quality of content and the intent behind user searches.

This new approach seeks to evaluate how content responds to users’ questions, the usability of websites, and the efficiency with which information is presented. Google’s algorithms are increasingly sophisticated, capable of understanding the context and quality of content — not just link patterns.

According to experts and discussions on platforms like Reddit and LinkedIn, this transition suggests a significant shift toward holistic content strategies. Thus, new approaches should prioritize relevant content that truly meets the user's needs, rather than SEO tactics based on maneuvers like excessive link building.

In short, given the new criteria, content that is in-depth, well-founded, well-written, and genuinely useful will likely perform better under the new criteria.


Translation: Robert Tapia
Digital Marketing Manager — Leading SEO Strategist, VisioncourseLLC/PShelper.com

It's a good thing we haven't focused on backlinks since 2018.

“What did Gary Illyes say about the links in 2024?

At a recent conference in Bulgaria, Google's Gary Illyes commented that Google doesn't really need that many links and has made those links less important.”

Patrick Stox tweeted about what he heard at SERP Conf.: “We need fewer links to rank pages… Over the years, we have made links less important” — @methode #serpconf2024.

Google's Gary Illyes even tweeted confirming his words:

“I shouldn’t have said that… I definitely shouldn’t have said that.”

With this, Google explicitly confirms that links are less important.

In 2023, Gary Illyes shared at PubCon in Austin that links were not even in the top 3 ranking factors. In March 2024, along with Google's March 2024 Core Update, the search engine updated its spam policy to minimize the importance of links in ranking.

As Mueller explained:

“There are more important elements to websites these days, and overvaluing links will often make you waste time on aspects that won’t necessarily improve your website overall.”

Finally, Gary Illyes explicitly said that Google needs few links to rank web pages and he further confirmed this statement.

Source: LinkedIn .