When it comes to link building, success isn’t just about accumulating links—it’s about ensuring they deliver value, relevance, and results. While metrics like Domain Authority (DA) often take center stage, there are deeper insights that can elevate your strategy.
Page One Power’s Director of SEO Services, Amy Zwald, spoke at brightonSEO 2024 about the value of a link. Here are the key takeaways from her talk.
Start with Indexing
Before diving into metrics, ensure the page hosting your link is indexed. A quick "site:URL" search in Google can confirm this.
Amy states:
“If there's really one element that you can say truly matters, it's not DA. It's actually whether or not the page that your link is on is indexed. Can people see your link? Is Google crawling your link?”
If it’s not, your link won’t deliver value. Without indexing, any further analysis is irrelevant.
Understand Link Metrics
Metrics are crucial, but context matters. Amy stated:
“D. A. is a part of [your metrics], but of course, the D. A. is the only piece…You're going to want to combine all three of these together to get your full magic picture.”
The metrics she talked about were:
- Domain Authority (DA): Use DA as a baseline, not a rule. Low-DA links from niche-specific, authoritative sites can still add value.
- Trust Flow vs. Citation Flow: Balance these metrics. For example, a trust flow of 10 should pair with a citation flow no higher than 30 to ensure link trustworthiness.
- Traffic: Don’t just chase high numbers. Dive deeper to ensure the traffic is relevant, legitimate, and aligned with your goals.
She also provided some tips regarding these metrics:
- Review top organic keywords for a domain and traffic to determine quality and relevance.
- Traffic should be treated as a fluid metric in conjunction with other factors.
- Start with a baseline of roughly 30 DA and above — this will help you find more high-quality sites.
- A high citation flow with a low trust flow tells you that while the site has many backlinks, they are not of good quality.
The Three Levels of Relevance
Relevance is the cornerstone of a successful link. There are three types of relevance that we should keep in mind when evaluating links:
- Domain Relevance: Links from domains in the same niche are ideal but optional.
- Page Relevance: The content should align with your topic or audience. This is an essential element.
- Contextual Relevance: Links should naturally fit within the paragraph or section, enhancing the reader’s experience.
By keeping these three levels of relevancy in mind, you prioritize the user experience. Amy states:
“People ultimately don't like to see a mismatch where you're reading through the post, and you're going, why am I reading this? It's really kind of weird that it's been shoved in there, right?
Instead, Amy recommends you stop thinking like an SEO at this stage and start thinking like a writer. This allows you to provide true value to the reader rather than strictly thinking about the name or placement you’re trying to earn for your team.
“When you think about that end user, you don't want them to be surprised when they read through the paragraph. You want them to feel a very natural placement; it makes a lot of sense.”
The Role of Anchor Text
Anchor text impacts both SEO and user trust. Ideally, users should understand what they click on based on your anchor text. If not, this can cause a disconnected experience and frustrate the user. Amy noted that the anchor text is a promise to the reader. As an SEO, we aim to fulfill that promise with the page on the other end of that link. So, if you promise the reader more information but direct them to a homepage or contact page, that is breaking that promise.
So, we should never link to a homepage? Amy says, “no!”
“It just means that when you do it, you have to make a clear indicator that after clicking on this link, you're actually going to land on a contact page.”
Amy recommends combining branded and keyword-rich anchors to balance relevance, readability, and click-through potential. Ensure the anchor matches the content users expect to find when clicking the link.
Quality Over Quantity
A single high-quality link beats dozens of irrelevant ones. Low-DA or irrelevant sites often lack trust and credibility. Links from these sources can dilute your website’s authority rather than enhance it.
Google prioritizes contextually relevant links that provide value to users. Irrelevant or poorly matched links can signal manipulative behavior, potentially harming rankings. Additionally, Unnatural links are apparent to users. A link that doesn’t align with the content or leads to an unrelated site can damage your credibility and user experience.
Amy states that we should prioritize relevance, engagement, and alignment with our audience instead of obtaining more links than our competitors.
Put Users First
Ultimately, links should enhance the user experience. Craft content that genuinely benefits readers and fits naturally within the context. Links that genuinely fit the context and provide value make your content more trustworthy. Users who feel that a link is helpful and natural are more likely to engage and trust your brand.
Deliver value first, and the SEO benefits will follow.
Conclusion
Effective link building isn’t about shortcuts or vanity metrics—it’s about delivering value, building trust, and creating lasting relevance. Focus on indexing, balanced metrics, and user-centric strategies to make every link count.
