Backlinks vs. Content: Which is Better?

According to WordPress, ‘over 409 million people view more than 20 billion webpages a month.’Business websites want to reach their target audience, convert website visitors into customers, and increase brand awareness among other reasons. But, how can they achieve their goals without a high search engine ranking? You need to improve your website SEO or hire an experienced SEO agency in New York to help you. The question of whether to prioritize backlinks vs content, therefore, is common among website owners.

Google algorithms consider factors such as backlinks and content before they rank a website. However, some people feel backlinks are more valuable than content to the algorithms. Another group of people believes once you have quality content, it is easy to attract quality backlinks.

The fact is; the two (backlinks vs content) rely on each other. It is also true that for a good SERP, you need the two. So, how do you choose what to concentrate on first, especially if your website is new?

You must understand that you cannot have links without content.

Content is, therefore, more important than links. If you have excellent content, people will link to it naturally.  SEO experts such as SEO agency New York understand how to generate quality links naturally through unique content.

Examples of backlinks include:

• Natural links- You must have quality content to attract links from people naturally.
• Self-created links – These are links from blog directories, guest posts, forum signatures, etc.
• Outreach links – These are links that you get when you ask people to link to your site. You must convince the person that you have valuable content.

Lessons from Authority Blogs

Let us look at high-authority blogs. Have you ever noticed the number and quality of backlinks on the site?

The content on the site is informative, targeted, original, quality, and shareable. Brands are not afraid to be associated with the content on the site, so they link back without hesitation.

‘Content is king,’ and the value of a website is anchored on the content therein.

So, what can we learn from authority sites about content? They:

• Post quality content regularly
• Publish content to various platforms
• Update old content
• Promote their content

That is how they increase their visibility and generate quality backlinks.

I hope you are convinced that content comes first then backlinks second. However, it can be a huge task to keep up with the demand for quality and quantity content if you have no experience in SEO. Why not hire SEO specialists like SEO agency New York to handle all your SEO needs? 

Here are four truths about why you should choose content over backlinks.

1.      Determine the Focus of the Page

When you optimize your page for SEO, title tags, header tags, internal links, etc., can help to understand the content on a page.

Unfortunately, you cannot use backlinks to define a page’s topic unless they are keyword rich.

2.      Focus on Your Prospects

Think about backlinks for a moment; why do you need them? It is purely for SEO.

However, content aims to relieve your visitor’s pain points. So, the visitors are likely to engage with the content. The users sign up for your newsletter, buy products, enroll for courses, book appointments, and respond to your call to action based on your content.

What is the value of a website with countless backlinks and minimum content (if that is possible) to your prospects? So, if you focus on the links, you will not be of any value to your online visitors.  

To draw people to your quality content, you need to market it. You can guest blog or share links to your work on social media platforms. That way, other sites will identify the value of content on your site and then link back.

The only time when backlinks are more valuable than content is when you invent a product or service. Media companies are likely to link to your site to make their report authentic. 

3.      Content That Generates Links

People do not link without a reason to link to your content. Do you want to know the content that attracts quality backlinks?

• Infographics– They are simple to understand. If you want to simplify complex topics, use professional infographics. Websites link to infographics when they want to give their readers a simplified version of a topic. 
• eBooks and Guides – These are detailed types of content that elaborate on one topic. Since blog posts do not have as many details as guides and eBooks, they link to them for comprehensive information.
• ‘How to posts – They provide guides that break a process into small steps. ‘How to write content that attracts backlinks’ is an excellent example of a ‘how-to’ post. Since the post has several steps, various sites will find sections of the guide relevant, thus linking to it. Blog posts that focus on SEO, and backlinks vs. content may find your content worthy of a backlink. Make sure the post is between 2250 and 2500 words for a higher ranking.
• Interview-based posts–Interviews with industry experts attract quality links because they are authoritative. The experts give first-hand experience on issues, tips, strategies, and valuable information related to the industry. Authority sites link to your content if it focuses on their niche.
• Opinion posts – The posts provide an opinionated perspective on an issue. The information might be controversial or diverse. However, it must be good enough to draw the attention of high authority sites. In most cases, the post has statistics to prove the opinion. Sites that agree with the view will link to your content for emphasis. However, sites that disagree with the idea will link to the content and then address what they feel is misinformation.
• Original research posts – The reports are data-based. Research posts are broken down into specific sections that focus on an area. Since data is credible, it draws the attention of people who want reliable information.

For you to create the above content, you need to discover the right keywords, then create and optimize your content around the keywords. SEO agency New York has the experience, skills, and expertise to create content that helps to improve your SEO rankings, thus attracting quality links.

4.      Develop Site Structure

Internal linking helps to interrelate topics within your site. It also helps in navigation on your site.  The links also provide a ‘path’ where spiders crawl topics and pages within your website. 

Ultimate Thoughts

Quality content and backlinks contribute to a high ranking on search engines. Engage a professional SEO agency in New York to help you concentrate on quality content that generates links.