Link building is taking the hit again and like a resilient specimen, I am sure it will survive this latest onslaught.
This time the conversation started with a post on the Portuguese Google webmaster blog where it said, and here is the link http://googlewebmaster-pt.blogspot.com/2015/07/links-nao-naturais-em-websites-e.html,
As usually experts like Eric ward weighed in while numerous other blogs have written about it.
I don’t know if Matt Cutts actually responded to that post. It would have being nice to hear what he has to say this time around.
Below we get upsets and annoyed, this is not the first time neither will it be the last time we are going to hear about the practice of link building being discouraged by Google employees.
Earlier this year John Mueller raised more questions than answers when he recommended (http://youtu.be/9h1t5fs5VcI?t=55m10s) not building links. Just like now as then authority sites like Linkarati and popular other blogs gave their opinion.
I do not see it happening any differently this time around. I have being in the SEO industry for a little about 3yrs but I have seen enough to know that this too will pass.
My major grouse with Google is the fact that they speak from both sides of the mouth. What are your ranking signals? Why do I get updates about mobile friendliness being a ranking factor while other factors are mired in controversy.
If you don’t want people to build link say it and make it plain. Remove it as a signal from the ranking algorithm or worse still stop talking about it and pray it goes away. As long as you are not doing that, confusion and misconceptions will always trail every announcement regarding link building.
This is as good as it is as bad.
To those respected people, who suddenly have decided to migrate from a link building agency to a content marketing agency ( even though I still can’t figure out the major difference between the two practices) the choice is obviously yours.
As long as link have the power to:
- Influence ranking
- Drive referral traffic
- Build brand and authority visibility
People will always find a way to get them either via traditional link building practices or the new modern content marketing.
To small businesses and other, welcome to the world of SEO where the truth is usually hidden in plain sight.
To the last men standing, I salute your courage.
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