Every year, or more precisely, after every update of the Google algorithm, articles under the heading “SEO is dead” or “link building is dead” appear in the community of SEO experts and Internet marketers. Despite the loud headlines, the content of these articles is not always unambiguous. We at Editorial.link do not want to participate in the discussion of a question, the answer to which has long existed. However, a new wave of articles with yellow headlines continues to appear after the last update.
So we decided to recall all the ups and downs of link building, the key changes that led to them, and what they actually involved in order to compile our short history of the death of link building.
The latest news from the world of SEO, related to link building, seems to have finally buried this instrument. Last year Gary Illyes said that links are now not even in the top 3 ranking signals. And now, after the release of the last update at the beginning of 2024, in March, an updated Spam Policies documentation appeared, which clearly shows a general tendency to reduce the influence of links
This documentation is primarily about low-quality content that is created solely for the purpose of getting links. In addition, the update contains two interesting points. The first point concerns outbound links as one of the factors that Google looks at. And the second removes the word “important” from the sentence where a link is described as a factor in determining the relevance of web pages.”
If this all sounds scary, then it’s not time to panic. After all, in the history of seo, there have been bigger storms. Let’s quickly dive into the history of these “extraordinary” convulsions.
It’s common to hear claims about the death of SEO. After every Google update, there are always those in the SEO community who declare that SEO is dead.
In the late 1990s, Google’s PageRank algorithm, heavily reliant on incoming links, boosted content with many backlinks. Exploiting this, black hat SEOs initiated “link building,” disregarding quality. Google reacted by adjusting its algorithm to prioritize high-quality backlinks and other ranking factors, reducing the importance of backlinks.
As those tactics started impacting rankings and promoting subpar websites, Google initiated a series of algorithm updates to combat the practice.
Florida (November 2003): While not specifically targeting link-building, the so-called “catastrophic” Florida update penalized websites engaging in manipulative SEO tactics, including artificial link schemes. It emphasized the importance of quality content and relevance over manipulative link-building practices.
In 2005, the Jagger update penalized websites engaging in practices such as buying sitewide links, participating in reciprocal link exchanges with irrelevant sites, and acquiring links from link farms.
In 2011, the Panda update targeted “article marketing,” where SEO practitioners published low-quality articles on sites like ezinearticles.com for link building, resulting in significant penalties.
In 2012, Google launched Penguin, a webspam algorithm update specifically aimed at combating link spam and manipulative link building tactics.
Penguin 2.0: A significant update to the Penguin algorithm, Penguin 2.0 further refined Google’s ability to detect and penalize manipulative link-building practices. It targeted link networks and other forms of spammy link schemes, reinforcing the importance of natural, organic link acquisition.
In 2015, Google introduced RankBrain, a machine learning algorithm that adjusts ranking factors, including backlinks, based on industry, niche, and query relevance. This highlighted the importance of backlinks in certain verticals while de-emphasizing them in others.
In 2016, Penguin 4.0 integrated into Google’s core algorithm, addressing the manipulation of search results through black hat link building techniques. Webmasters were required to continually monitor and remove or disavow low-quality backlinks to avoid penalties or de-indexing by Google.
In its history of more than 20 years, link building has indeed undergone major disruptions that have repeatedly changed the face of the whole SEO industry.
Many traditional SEO tactics are no longer effective. And it’s for the better. Spammy, low-quality approaches do more harm than good. Nowadays, quality outweighs quantity in SEO, emphasizing the creation and promotion of exceptional content rather than trying to manipulate search engines.
The quality of search has deteriorated, this can be seen from the number of messages on Twitter – complaints from site owners, some even lost their businesses – you can read such stories both on Reddit and on Twitter.
My opinion about the latest updates. Google could not determine AI algorithmically, so they killed many individual sites and blogs, put platforms such as reddit, quora, linkedin and other forms in the top.
The latest update from Google has brought many new changes to the world of SEO and launched a new wave of dissatisfaction with work of algorithm. First of all, it had a devastating impact on independent content creators, reducing their organic traffic. An incredible number of brokers, content farms, and link farms were also affected.
It is too early to draw clear conclusions, given that Google often contradicts itself by saying one thing, but in practice showing something completely different. Google itself does not seem to heed the advice that sites suffering from the latest update should heed.
However, all this does not greatly affect the trend that has developed in link building over the past few years. Yes, those who bought links to link farms or fivrre can feel the full power of the latest update. However, history continues to spiral and it seems that we are returning to where we started – working on creating relevant and high-quality content, working with large and authoritative media, and also paying attention to brand development.
The main trends of modern link building and digital PR are relevance and naturalness.
Relevance, for instance, is when a sport gear website links to a gym website, it creates a logical connection since individuals interested in sport gear often have an interest in gym topics as well.
Search engines like Google penalize websites for incorporating irrelevant links. Therefore, a key characteristic of a high-quality backlink is its ability to link two pages with similar or related content.
Naturalness is more about making the link useful, not purely commercial.
As for link building, the trend now is that the more difficult it is to get a link, the better it works.
My opinion about the latest updates. Google could not determine AI algorithmically, so they killed many individual sites and blogs, put platforms such as reddit, quora, linkedin and other forms in the top, here is reddit. Thereby Google shifted responsibility to these sites for the quality of content (moderation and responsibility falls on these platforms, not Google). And now it’s sad to see, on request food + city, some tripadvisor forum with answers from 16 years ago, instead of a blogger who was there three months ago and shared his opinion about food, its cost, etc.
As for link building, the trend now is that the more difficult it is to get a link, the better it works
My opinion about the latest updates. Google could not determine AI algorithmically, so they killed many individual sites and blogs, put platforms such as reddit, quora, linkedin and other forms in the top, here is reddit. Thereby Google shifted responsibility to these sites for the quality of content (moderation and responsibility falls on these platforms, not Google). And now it’s sad to see, on request food + city, some tripadvisor forum with answers from 16 years ago, instead of a blogger who was there three months ago and shared his opinion about food, its cost, etc.
If you manage to get on the SERP`s top without links, you can ignore them, but nothing has changed for Google. Good sites are linked to other good sites. Links will always be markers of the quality of a site or page.
In the dynamic landscape of digital marketing, strategies are constantly changing due to the emergence of new tools, trends and technologies. However, SEO has stood the test of time, consistently adapting alongside the internet’s evolution.
Throughout its history, SEO has underscored the importance of original, valuable content and high-quality backlinks from reputable sources. This fundamental principle remains unchanged at least for today.
Using various link building and digital PR tactics along with SEO best practices continues to be a good strategy for improving your search engine rankings. When integrated into a comprehensive SEO strategy, it can yield significant results in improving online visibility and driving organic traffic.
