This document discusses the evolving role of links in SEO based on a presentation by Rand Fishkin. It provides both anecdotal and experimental evidence that links are still important for rankings but may be less so compared to other signals like content quality, user experience factors, and social signals. While Google continues to crack down on manipulative links, marketers should focus on building links through quality content and prioritize other ranking factors over purely link-based SEO. Testing the impact of links for specific queries is recommended to determine if links remain influential or other tactics would be better.

1. Rand Fishkin, Wizard of Moz | @randfish | rand@moz.com
The Influence of Links in SEO
How they’re changing, evolving, and
still surprisingly powerful.

2. bit.ly/randlinks2015
Get the presentation:

3. Evidence of Links
Fading

4. Anecdotal Evidence – several folks in
the SEO community have come forward
w/ stories of sites/pages ranking without
links.
☁️☁️

5. Most of the sources I could find writing
publicly about this aren’t particularly well-
known, and the tactics sound sketchy.

6. Hard to see behind the CTA, but the
recommendation is to “get in group with
20 SEOs and search n click”

7. The more credible examples tended to
show how to rank using a site’s inherent,
existing authority (rather than a site
entirely without links)
Via Mashbout

8. The most credible example came
from Google’s John Mueller, who
claimed a friend had a local site in
Zurich ranking well without links
(sadly, he didn’t share details).
Via SERoundtable

9. My Bias: Show Repeatable, Transparent
Evidence & Examples

10. Examples in the SERPs – results where
the most linked-to sites/pages are being
outranked by poorly linked-to alternatives.
⎌⎌

11. Aha! Since #7 is the most powerful by links, but
doesn’t rank higher, links must be less valuable!
Via Keyword Difficulty

12. Yarr! Links be a sinking
ship me maties. Abandon
all hope ye who build
them.
Via Mozbar

13. Non-Link Signals on the Rise – results
where the most linked-to sites/pages are
being outranked by poorly linked-to
alternatives.
✈✈

14. Topical
Authority
Usage Data (CTR,
Traffic, etc)
User Data &
Personalization
UX (Speed, Mobile-
Friendly, etc)
Topic Modeling /
Hummingbird
Content Quality
Signals
Social Signals (Direct
& Indirect)
Which SignalsAre Potentially On the Rise?
Trust & Spam
Signals

15. e.g. High Correlationof CTR in Searchmetrics’RecentStudy
Via Searchmetrics’ Ranking Factors
Click-Through-Rate showed a 0.67
correlation

16. Link Manipulation Slowing – spammy
links don’t seem to be as powerful or
prevalent as they have been in the past.
☠☠

17. Fewer Spammers are Investing in Link Spam at the
Rates of the Prior 15 Years
Via Rank Modifying Spammers and Google Maps: Still Too Easy to Spam

18. Evidence Links
Are Still Strong

19. Correlation Data – raw link counts and
algorithmic link metrics are no less
correlated with rankings than 5 years ago.
⚖⚖

20. Links Haven’t Budged Much in Ranking Correlations
Via Moz’s 2013 Ranking Factors Study
Backlink metrics hovering in the
~0.29 correlation range

21. Links Haven’t Budged Much in Ranking Correlations
Via Searchmetrics’ Ranking Factors
Raw backlinks count at 0.31

22. Links Haven’t Budged Much in Ranking Correlations
From Mozscape’s January 2015 Update
Linking Domains count at 0.30

23. Link Experiments – pointing anchor text
links at a page in the SERPs still has a
dramatic, positive, and nearly immediate
result.
⚓⚓

24. 1) Three word, informational keyword phrase with relatively light
competition and stable rankings
Test Conditions:
2) We selected two results (“A” and “B”), ranking #13 (“A”) and
#20 ( “B”) in logged-out, non-personalized results
3) We pointed links from 20 pages on 20 unique, high-DA, high-
trust, off-topic sites at both “A” and “B”

25. A) We pointed 20 links from 20
domains at this result with anchor
text exactly matching the query
phrase
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19
#20
B) We pointed 20 links from the
same 20 pages as “A” to this URL
with anchor text that did not contain
any words in the query

26. #11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19
#20
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
After 20 days, all of the links had
been indexed by Google. “A” and “B”
both moved up 4 positions. None of
the other results moved more than 2
positions.

27. Repeat the Experiment!

28. B) We pointed 20 links from 20
domains to this URL with anchor
text that did not contain any words
in the query
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19
#20
A) We pointed 20 links from the
same pages/domains at this result
with anchor text exactly matching
the query phrase

29. #11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19
#20
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
After 16 days, all of the links
had been indexed by Google.
“A” moved up 19 positions to
#1! B moved up 5 positions to
#9. None of the other results
moved more than 2 positions.

30. More in this Presentation

31. Google’s Crackdowns – penalization for
bad links continues unabated, and Google
appears to be more aggressive about
them than ever.
✂✂

32. Google is Clearly Cracking Down on Manipulative
Links

33. Many LinksAre Losing Value, Especially as the Web Grows:
Via BuiltVisible’s Blog

34. But, Thinking of theAlgorithm
as a Pie Chart May Not Be Right:
Via Rand’s Blog

35. What Might Google
Do With Links
(now, or in the future)

36. Combining Signals – links may only be
helping content, pages, or sites that have
passed other algorithmic quality bars.
⚛⚛

37. We Know Google’sApplied
Combinations & Filters of Data
in the Past (e.g. Hummingbird)
Via SEO By the Sea

38. Multiple Algorithms – Google may be
applying different sets or types of ranking
systems in different niches.
✵✵

39. There’s No Rule Requiring
Google toApply the Same
Algorithm(s) to Every Type of
Query
Via SEMRush

40. Machine/Deep Learning – Links may
only be used in rankings when they
correlate positively with successful
searches.
⛽⛽

41. Jeff Dean’s Slides on Deep Learning
Are a Must Read for SEOs

42. Google’s Deep Learning system studied YouTube
clips and eventually invented its own
classification/concept of “cats”

43. Replace YouTube with the Web and cats with any given
search query, and it’s not hard to imagine Google creating a
deep learning ranking algorithm

44. How Should
Marketers Respond

45. End Purely SEO-Focused Link Building
– Invest in tactics that serve multiple
marketing purposes AND simultaneously
help to earn links
☣☣

46. Link from a guest post by
Diana on Selfgrowth.com

47. Link from a guest post by
Geraldine on MarieClaire.

48. Run Competitive Analyses that Look
Beyond Links – seek out non-link metrics
that correspond with high vs. low rankings
☸☸

49. When we focus on links, we’re
sometimes blind to other tactics
sites use to rank well.

50. Make Link Acquisition a Secondary
Activity – First, earn attention & trust,
then find ways to earn the link.
✒✒

51. Google has plenty of types of data that correlate well to links – in the future,
those who have links, but lack other signals, will probably lose out.

52. Test the Power of Links in Your SERPs
– If a diverse set of links won’t move the
needle in your niche, you can move
quickly to other tactics.
☔☔

53. If you point links here, do the rankings
go up? How many links? How powerful
do they need to be?

54. Rand Fishkin, Wizard of Moz | @randfish | rand@moz.com
bit.ly/randlinks2015