Recently there has been a lot of press about the future of link building, but one thing I think we can be sure of is that it will always have a place, somehow, in SEO and search marketing. Professionals will just need to adapt and change tactics accordingly. For example, link building that you have been able to previously scale in terms of outsourcing, advertorials and directories is either now, or soon will be, much devalued by Google.
We have to ask ourselves what might Google focus on next? Most updates affect how SEO agencies and in-house search teams tailor their activities, especially link building, and a recent blog post by Matt Cutts has no doubt sent some into a spin. Cutts explained how Google will now devalue links from media sites that pass page rank. Whilst this could be perceived as PR, as a link building strategy for SEO, is being devalued it is important to understand the difference between editorial and advertorial. The links highlighted as examples were on the ‘black hat’ side of grey and to many SEO professionals it was obvious the activity falls outside of Google’s best practice guidelines. Further emphasis being put on organically built links, not those that are paid for, actually means that SEO and PR disciplines will need to work even more closely together in the future. When done correctly, it is a tried and tested form of link building that has the reader in mind – high quality, useful and relevant content that incorporates signpost links to other high quality, useful and relevant content.
Whilst this is already Google’s preference, creating exceptional content that stands out from the rest will flourish and become even more valuable in the years to come. Not only will this will guarantee results, but it will also be key to mobilise engaged communities to share this content by effectively recommending it via links from social channels and other online sources. Links for the sake of links won’t be valuable at all; they will need to be incorporated into beneficial content.
Search, PR and social media professionals must now work closer together and start thinking outside the box in terms of link building; you have to earn links, not place them covertly or just pay for them. Some of the best links can be built off-line by meeting people for example, attending industry conferences and networking is a great way to build relationships with people who then want to point others towards your content. One way to build relationships online is through followerwonk. This enables users to search for a relevant industry on Twitter and find influential people in that particular industry. This can then be used as an outreach tool by building relationships with these people and hopefully getting them to share your content.
Social search and in particular Google +, is also going to play a massive part in future SEO, not just within link building but in search in general. We are already seeing it become very prominent in Google’s results pages and I think this prominence is only going to increase as time goes on. Google seems to already be giving preference to content that has authorship mark-up and ranking it over and above other blog posts or articles. In the years to come, we are likely to see the majority of content having this mark-up present to increase its visibility in Google results, and is one of my current one to watch tips.
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