Recent Study Confirms Importance of Links for Ranking

For the past three years, Stone Temple has conducted a link study for Google search results, and every year the results show the same answer: links continue to be important in ranking, and it is likely to remain this way.

Research methodology

All three studies used the same 6,000 search queries, so the researchers could prove that there were no vital changes in the impact of links over the past few years. The study used several models to illustrate the conclusion that links are a powerful ranking factor for Google search results.

The study also took into consideration the influence of other algorithms. Other algorithms that affected the results include local search results, image results, video results and Query Deserves Diversity results. These affected approximately 15% of the study’s results.

Stone Temple says that those who believe links are dying out often point to spammers and illegitimate link-building, but Google and the SEO industry have changed dramatically since 2012. That is when Google began cracking down on problem makers, handing out penalties and creating tighter restrictions.

Link building is still essential for SEO

After reviewing their results, Stone Temple has announced that links are far from out and will continue to remain an important factor in ranking for Google search results. This year’s study has proven once again that when something really works, it sticks around.

At Pure SEO, we have long recognized the importance of link building for SEO and continue to use this as a primary SEO tactic. The important thing to remember when link building is that age-old mantra “quality over quantity.” It’s easy to purchase a whole bunch of low-quality links, but Google will quickly catch on and penalize you for it. We invest the time in sourcing high-quality links for our clients since this is the only link building method that really works in the long run.  And we have the results to prove it.

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