In a Twitter conversation regarding the alleged ranking influence of links from news sites, Google’s John Mueller gave an alternative method of thinking about how Google evaluates those links.
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Links from Viral Public Relations Campaigns
Many SEOs contacted Patrick personally to give case studies of their successful PR news initiatives and how they worked for SEO.
However, Patrick stated that none of them provided convincing proof that the PR link effort was responsible for any ranking increases.
And that, in some cases, the ranking boosts coincided with a Google upgrade.
Patrick acknowledged the need for PR efforts but expressed reservations about their influence on SEO.
SEO And Viral PR Campaigns
For over fifteen years, I’ve noticed many loved bragging about the links their efforts generated.
But continuously failed to indicate any increase in keyword rankings.
Examine rival search terms, traffic from natural sources, and top pages.
Use leurs weaknesses to outperform them in search and earn new business.
See Also: Monthly SEO Services: Improve Search Results & Grow Your Business
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It’s as though the link developers are just concerned with collecting the promised number of connections. And are utterly uninterested in tracking the SEO benefits of the connections.
There are several issues with certain viral marketing tactics, particularly those that include an elaborate ploy or a contest.
The biggest issue is that they will rank for the stunt, but all the links will be about it.
It’s the same as directing every hyperlink to the front page and expecting link delight to flow down to all the internal sites.
Websites with high homepage PageRank scores would dominate the top 10 for all search terms if this were the case. That is not the case.
So, with contagious PR news link efforts, there are a lot of backlinks, but no phrase ranks rise.
People have stood up during my presentations at search conferences to tell me how their strategies resulted in numerous links but no increase in revenue.
See Also: The Importance of Keeping up With the Latest Digital Marketing Trends
Google’s John Mueller’s Twitter Debate Over the Value Of Media Links
A vigorous debate developed, with much granular theorizing on how Google would manage links from news sites.
One user suggested that Google clarify its policy on links from websites that publish news.
Google’s John Mueller’s Thoughts on News Website Links
That’s when Google’s Robert Mueller responded through Twitter.
Are News Websites Trustworthy?
Some people believe that some websites are “authority sites” and that connections from those websites give them higher ranking power.
See Also: Geotargeting Can Affect Search Rankings in Google Search Console
The facts may have been the same twenty years ago.
But it ended long ago when strong PageRank sites no longer correlated with high ranks.
According to Google’s John Mueller, the site layout and publication rate are essential factors to consider when it comes to PageRank.
Another fascinating point he made was that websites are simply websites and should not be handled differently.
This, in my opinion, is something worth considering.
Read the Twitter Thread here!