Link Relevance vs. Content Relevance in Link Building

Relevance is a topic that comes up frequently when discussing link building. No one knows how Google determines relevance, so that no one can give a specific response to the question. Even having access to the Google Natural Language Processing API and seeing categories like these doesn’t guarantee that we understand how Google determines relevance because there are likely many behind-the-scenes features that aren’t readily apparent.

The degree to which Google rewards or penalizes content they discover while crawling the web is also debatable — as with any ranking signal — even if we knew exactly how they measure relevance. 

Although we know that page speed is used, they are still free to adjust it however they see fit.

This is one of the intriguing things about SEO. testing, making adjustments based on our findings, and preparing for things we cannot completely see. We can speculate about what Google would do or what we observe them doing, but someone else may notice the complete opposite, and both people may be correct.

The potential solutions to link building, specifically relevance’s role, are much more complicated than we initially thought. Since relevance isn’t binary, this is the case. We cannot simply state whether or not a link is pertinent, and we cannot determine content’s relevance. The solutions are much more complicated than this, and we must further dissect the issues in order to even begin to understand how Google might view tremor professional SEO company will help you to increase online presence

With this in mind, we can start by separating link relevance and content relevance.

When we discuss the page’s topic and domain where the link is located, we refer to link relevance. It is common practice to seek out target websites to contact when building connections, and it is generally a good idea to find “relevant” links. However, the term “relevant” can be challenging to define, and here are a few reasons.

1. Domain relevance

We would indicate that the subjects are SEO, digital marketing, content marketing, etc. if you receive a link from a specific domain. Although the subject of digital marketing is broad in and of itself, defining each element and identifying what matters and doesn’t is straightforward.

2. Website relevance

If you consider websites like The New York Times, which has dozens of categories and hundreds of subcategories, things can become even more complicated. They could be broadly categorized as a news website, but they have sections for just about any subject you can imagine.

3. Anchor Text

We can also include additional components, like anchor text, to increase the relevance of links. What if you receive highly relevant anchor text, but the page where the link is located discusses a totally unrelated subject? Does this increase or decrease the relevance of the link?

You might not even be able to control the anchor text that is being used in many cases, which means that it might be completely arbitrary. Although we know that Google uses anchor text to interpret links, how much do they use it?

And this is only the tip of the iceberg regarding link relevance.

• Content Relevance

Next, we have content relevance, which is more concerned with the website page that receives links. It might be a page that already exists or a completely new page that you’ve developed to aid in link building.

The characteristics of the content on your website are much more in your control, so it’s reasonable to expect Google to hold you more accountable if you create something intended to get links but deviates slightly from the topic.

When you consider that as SEOs, we frequently have link targets we want to achieve to catch up with, surpass, or maintain a lead over our competitors, things become challenging. To increase the traffic volume we receive from organic searches, we want to acquire as many high-quality links as possible.If you looking a  Best app developers UK then contact us

You can broaden the subjects and themes that you write about in your content to attract more links. Naturally, this expands your pool of potential link targets and raises your likelihood of obtaining more links.

All of this boils down to finding a balance between creating content pertinent to your brand and obtaining as many links as possible.

This, in our opinion, is what we should all be aiming towards since irrelevance is driven by the need to develop enormous numbers of links. The internet media sector excels at organising link-building efforts, which have subsequently attracted hundreds of links. Because they want us to earn any links we get, Google encourages us to focus more on relevant subjects.

For Google, and consequently, for your ability to rank in organic search, link relevance is much less critical than content relevance. Some reasons to support this argument are given below.

• You are linkable to anyone.

You have no absolute control over who links to your website; it could be anyone on the internet. This is one of the reasons why related spam is challenging to manage and why the disavow tool was developed.

With no specific reason, anyone can link to you, to which even spam is a reason. There is no need to worry because it doesn’t seem plausible that Google would object to links like this.

• Authority and trust take precedence over link relevance.

It would make sense for Google to assess the website giving the link and utilize this as a strong indicator in order to decide how much value to transmit along with the connection.

This would enable them to continue passing value even when there isn’t topical relevance because they trust the website providing the link, which is something that, as we can see, can happen quickly.

• We produce content that gives Google a stronger signal.

You have much more control over the content you produce than the notion that anyone can link to you. You still have overall editorial control over the procedures for publishing that content, even if your website features a significant amount of user-generated content.

Few people would contest the relevance of writing about personal finance while running an online pet shop. But as the owner of the website, you are accountable for its substance rather than relying on a chance link from a personal finance website. However, rather than getting a random connection from a certain finance website, you are accountable for the material because it is on the website that you manage. Google may therefore hold you to a higher standard as a result.

Therefore, Google could easily claim that even if that piece of content receives 100 links, it won’t be given much weight because they don’t perceive any topical relevance.

How to increase the relevance of the content

We should acknowledge the significance of content relevance and that Google may hold us responsible for it in the future. How can we prevent getting sucked into just going after high volumes of links and ensure that relevance plays a part in creating ideas for link-building campaigns?

• Begin with your clients.

Start with the path they take to discover your product or service.

We can make the mistake of focusing too much on the people we’re trying to get links from — bloggers, journalists, writers, etc. — when we’re coming up with content ideas. We deceive ourselves into believing that partnering with a travel blogger will put us in front of our intended audience if we are a travel brand.

Regrettably, this might not always be the case. 

Customers may take many steps before deciding and move backward and forwards in their journey. This phase, which Google refers to as the “messy middle,” is when customers consider their options and decide what to do next.

You must first comprehend and map out the customer journey to develop relevant content ideas for your link-building campaigns.

• Use of keyword research to inspire the creation of ideas

Because the objective of the content is to generate links rather than rankings, we frequently overlook keywords when coming up with content ideas for link building. Therefore, we aren’t encouraged or motivated to conduct additional research for something we aren’t being evaluated.

The target keywords for your brand will be closely related to the problems that customers have and the remedies that the brand provides for those problems, so doing this can be a great way to increase relevance. When you incorporate these keywords into your ideation process, you cannot help but develop concepts relevant to the intended audience. 

In conclusion, try to avoid thinking of relevance as a binary concept. We’ve only really scratched the surface of what Google is likely to be doing here; there are many more layers to it than this.

When considering relevance, give content relevance more of your attention and ensure the content you produce is unquestionably relevant to your audience and brand. To learn more about our services SEO and content marketing click here.

To summarise:- 

In conclusion, avoid structuring relevance as a binary concept. We’ve only really dug the surface of what Google is likely to be doing here; there are many more layers to it than this.

When considering relevance, give content relevance more of your attention and ensure the content you produce is indisputably essential to your audience and brand.