A recent article at CIO cites some new analysis by Stone Temple Consulting in order to argue that inbound links may be “more important than you think” when it comes to search engine optimization. That’s actually rather difficult to believe, at least from the perspective of what I think. But then again, I have always recognized the weakness in those who argue that the accumulation of various Google ranking factors have diminished the importance of link-building.
Stone Temple is not the only firm to conduct studies indicating that this remains a crucially important aspect of SEO. And unless compelling evidence emerges to the contrary, it is certainly wise to proceed on the assumption that inbound links will be a major factor in boosting your search rankings.
In fact, even if such evidence does emerge, it shouldn’t cause much of a change to the strategy of your local SEO company. That is to say, the ability to generate inbound links is a good gauge of a quality and relevance of your site content – the leading factors in your search rankings. It is also a solid indicator that you or your local SEO company have formed meaningful relationships with customers and industry colleagues. And these relationships can be expected to have knock-on effects on SEO by encouraging things like online reviews.
In other words, even if inbound links aren’t an important source of raw data for Google, they are an important component of your overall marketing strategy. And in turn, they point to the value of working with a local SEO company that can also double as a local web marketing company.