Implied Links and Brand Mentions Are the Future of Link Building

Filed in March of 2014, the new Google new patent that’s tied to Panda algorithm has caused quite a stir in SEO and SEM circles. SEO experts everywhere have been trying to determine its implications for the companies trying to boost their search engine rankings. All signs indicate that there is an increasing likelihood of Google including brand mentions or implied links in ranking.

Implied Links: Citations, Brand Mentions and Links “without” Links
Traditionally, “links” referred to posted URLs that would lead internet users back to a page on your site. These express links would be posted in full, like https://www.websiteoptimization.com/, or be embedded as hyperlink anchor text, like website optimization. Either way, a link was considered a link, and the more of them you had, the better. Naturally, this led to a large number of webmasters spamming links to their own web pages with reckless abandon, thus compromising Google’s authority system.

In the recent Google Panda update, the search engine’s authority system recognizes both “express links” (traditional links) and “implied links”. But what are implied links? Implied links refer to citations of authorities, references or mentions of a company, brand and/or website without the explicit link. These citations could be inside the content or blog posts, citing out another brand’s coverage of a certain topic, expertise on a specific subject, or in a comment that mention’s another brand’s coverage of a topic or in some other form so long as the website’s name is mentioned.

Implied Links – Why You Should Embrace Them in Your SEO or SEM Strategy
It’s clear that implied links are becoming an important part of improving a website’s status as an authority. While traditional or express links are nowhere near obsolete, Google is now using brand mentions or companies or websites to calculate authority – which has big implications for website optimization efforts. Traditional link-building tactics that involved having as many links as possible pointing to your website no longer translate to a higher authority. In fact, they can be harmful to your authority.

To succeed with your search engine optimization efforts, you need to be careful to ensure that your links look natural, from a wide variety of sources, especially those with higher authority already. Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that even this strategy may not be enough when it comes to creating an effective link building strategy. Google has change the way it looks at links, making some link building strategies to become obsolete while forcing webmasters to adopt new strategies. One of the new strategies that you have to adopt is making use of implied links.

The Benefits of Including Implied Links in Your Link Building Strategy
Firstly, Google is now using brand mentions (without links) as a ranking factor. Including implied links therefore increases your chances of ranking higher. It will also allow you to have a naturally balanced “backlink” profile – which is vital for search engine optimization. Implied links will also boost your online brand awareness and therefore increase your site’s potential for increased direct traffic as well as website speed optimization. So, whatever your link building strategy is, you cannot afford to ignore the use of plain text citations or implied links. They are just as valuable as express links.

Need help becoming a recognized Google authority?  Contact Website Optimization today.

Website Optimization
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