There are changes on the horizon. Study after study finds that there is a strong correlation between link signals and SERP results, as does the industry survey we at Link-Assistant conducted. As search engines get better at understanding user sentiment (i.e., interpreting what content users value, which sources they trust, and whose opinions they listen to), there's a very real possibility that linkless mentions could one day be weighed as heavily as actual links. In fact, we already know that sentiment analysis plays a big role in some search engine ranking algorithms. Bing/Yahoo Bing has always been a little more forthright than Google about how its ranking algorithm works, which is why we know that sentiment analysis and social signals are part of its strategy. Understanding sentiment is key to understanding what to trust, according to Bing. The evidence for that comes mainly from Bing's Webmaster Guidelines, which state: "Social media plays a role in today's effort to rank well in search results. These positive signals can have an impact on how you rank organically in the long run." As the volume grows and trustworthiness of this mention is known, you'll get a bump in rankings as a trial." Membership is required to access the full version of this how-to marketing article ... don't worry though, it's FREE!
There are changes on the horizon. As we step into the world of voice search, where users don’t always have convenient links to click on, I wouldn’t be surprised to see linkless mentions become more important to SEO than ever before.
Links are, no doubt, still vital to organic rankings. Study after study finds that there is a strong correlation between link signals and SERP results, as does the industry survey we at Link-Assistant conducted. And Google has firmly stated that PageRank is still a key ranking signal.
Most important, links matter because of what they represent: user trust. As search engines get better at understanding user sentiment (i.e., interpreting what content users value, which sources they trust, and whose opinions they listen to), there’s a very real possibility that linkless mentions could one day be weighed as heavily as actual links.
In fact, we already know that sentiment analysis plays…
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