Tickling Google’s Soft Spot - Backlinks

There was a good article in WebProNews today about Google's New Link Filter. In a nutshell the article brings to the fore the suspicion that Google treats new found backlinks with grain of salt and uses a sandbox of sorts to delay the Page Rank boosting effects of inbound links. Seems like a sensible move by Google to combat artificial linking and aggressive linking strategies that are designed to tickle their soft spot for quality inbound links.

So what does this mean if you’re a marketer? Should you stop or cut down on developing good quality backlinks because it could take weeks or months to realize the benefits? No, backlinks are a very good way for a search algorithm to sort out the position and importance of a webpage. They are considered as votes by other websites that your webpage is important. If Google were to diminish the value of backlinks, it would diminish their ability to provide relevant results. The fact that Google is defending the value of links should tell you all you need to know about how important backlinks are.

Should a marketer spend more time focusing building links from respected websites with the assumption that backlinks from these sites may carry more credibility? Yes, the presumption is that respected websites have a stronger editorial process and that noteworthy relevant websites are referenced. However, I suspect that the REAL context of backlinks from so called “respected” websites like the NY Times are also up for scrutiny, as its inevitable that respected sites like this will allow savvy advertisers the ability to stuff this virtual ballot box with votes diminishing the assumption that a link found within the content of a relevant page on a respected website is purely a noteworthy editorial reference.

My advice is to keep your eye on the ball. Keep trying to acquire quality backlinks as much as you can but remember why backlinks are an important factor to search engines. It’s because they represent votes and tacit approval from active communities and influencers. The best way to illicit that approval is by providing the most relevant and useful content.