Free Links

by SEO | Jan 17, 2025 | Search Engine Optimization

pied piper of links

Links are the currency of the web.

How to find link opportunities
How to measure link value
Why links matter to Google
Why getting associations from linked pages help move the needle for you
Why we need social media amongst other platforms for SEO.

0:02<br /> hey there coach Tim SEO wanted to give<br /> 0:04<br /> you a quick tip I was browsing GoDaddy<br /> 0:07<br /> yesterday and this is a tip by the way<br /> 0:09<br /> so you can get uh powerful links uh in<br /> 0:12<br /> places that you might not know exist so<br /> 0:15<br /> this is how my SEO mind thinks I I’m<br /> 0:19<br /> going through GoDaddy and I was reminded<br /> 0:22<br /> of earlier in the day I uh came across<br /> 0:25<br /> somebody pontificating that you can get<br /> 0:28<br /> free AI website the AI makes the website<br /> 0:32<br /> okay cool I guess um and but for my<br /> 0:37<br /> needs I’m okay with that I I’m not<br /> 0:40<br /> really worried too much about quality<br /> 0:42<br /> although they usually will put together<br /> 0:44<br /> something that looks uh somewhat decent<br /> 0:46<br /> you’re G to have to fix the the words<br /> 0:50<br /> and all that stuff but uh that’s the<br /> 0:54<br /> easy part the the hard part for most<br /> 0:57<br /> will be knowing what to do with it after<br /> 0:59<br /> that<br /> 1:00<br /> because it it<br /> 1:03<br /> implies<br /> 1:04<br /> control and you often don’t have the<br /> 1:07<br /> control that it uh it it it implies so<br /> 1:10<br /> I’ve been this down this road before I<br /> 1:13<br /> like to go into the AI site check it out<br /> 1:18<br /> build it out and then afterwards it<br /> 1:20<br /> tells you okay give us a credit card and<br /> 1:22<br /> we’ll hold this for 30 days for free and<br /> 1:24<br /> then we’re going to charge you so<br /> 1:28<br /> um most of the time they do this they’ll<br /> 1:31<br /> they’ll offer free usage like I said<br /> 1:34<br /> nine times out of 10 that’s not the case<br /> 1:37<br /> I still check them out because I like to<br /> 1:38<br /> find the free space where I can create a<br /> 1:41<br /> one page or multiple page uh for my<br /> 1:43<br /> clients or my personal use for uh<br /> 1:47<br /> linkage or even in the case of people<br /> 1:51<br /> that need or businesses that need<br /> 1:53<br /> reputation fixed it’s a go-to I’m<br /> 1:56<br /> creating profiles with the business name<br /> 1:59<br /> or the person’s name and I’m building<br /> 2:02<br /> that up linking to it too uh in both<br /> 2:06<br /> cases of link to a link to a link sort<br /> 2:09<br /> of thing or in reputation trying to get<br /> 2:13<br /> that particular uh asset to to rank uh<br /> 2:18<br /> for that<br /> 2:19<br /> name okay so uh they’re great for my for<br /> 2:25<br /> my uh doings in either case um<br /> 2:30<br /> so I can give it more presentence out on<br /> 2:32<br /> the web that’s the idea it’s still about<br /> 2:34<br /> link juice guys um it’s about link juice<br /> 2:38<br /> and I can add link juice usually with<br /> 2:41<br /> this stuff going so it links to a Google<br /> 2:43<br /> business profile or sometimes directly<br /> 2:46<br /> to a site but mostly I like to send it<br /> 2:49<br /> to something that buffers like the<br /> 2:51<br /> business profile something that’s<br /> 2:52<br /> trusted and usually that stuff can<br /> 2:55<br /> handle a lot of abuse I like this um<br /> 3:00<br /> with these these websites uh Builders<br /> 3:04<br /> because they usually sit on a subdomain<br /> 3:07<br /> good domain Authority which is the<br /> 3:09<br /> modern replacement for good old pag rank<br /> 3:11<br /> if you remember that from the old days<br /> 3:14<br /> and pag rank is still a thing it’s much<br /> 3:17<br /> more complicated more nuanced than the<br /> 3:20<br /> old days but it’s still a thing and it’s<br /> 3:22<br /> what Google was born on which is linkage<br /> 3:26<br /> but the relative value of the link uh or<br /> 3:30<br /> the or the page that it comes from and<br /> 3:34<br /> so it still exists but they no longer<br /> 3:37<br /> reveal the value and so domain Authority<br /> 3:40<br /> on the other hand is measured by tools<br /> 3:42<br /> like MZ is the one that I think first<br /> 3:45<br /> came out with it when Google got rid of<br /> 3:47<br /> revealing the page rank like they used<br /> 3:50<br /> to um sem Rush Majestic SEO each tool<br /> 3:54<br /> has its own measurement system so you<br /> 3:56<br /> got to compare it to itself don’t be<br /> 3:58<br /> comparing one tool to the other I mean<br /> 4:00<br /> that’s just a bad idea so the the rules<br /> 4:02<br /> of linking still matter though we want<br /> 4:04<br /> to pass on the relevance of our content<br /> 4:07<br /> to our main pages and this is often<br /> 4:11<br /> involves uh collocation co-citation all<br /> 4:15<br /> these big words uh that I’ll I’ll share<br /> 4:18<br /> with you in the uh in the sub subsequent<br /> 4:22<br /> article that goes with this with this uh<br /> 4:24<br /> video and audio but uh it’s all all<br /> 4:30<br /> about the words on the page and<br /> 4:34<br /> associating the words or can I call it<br /> 4:37<br /> the meaning of that page and it passes<br /> 4:41<br /> over through the link to the actual um<br /> 4:46<br /> page that we’re linking to and that page<br /> 4:49<br /> does the same it links it takes that<br /> 4:52<br /> that Association and passes it on that’s<br /> 4:55<br /> that’s the idea um just to give you a<br /> 4:58<br /> quicky on<br /> 5:00<br /> co-citation um a quick definition is a<br /> 5:04<br /> it’s a concept primarily used in the<br /> 5:06<br /> fields of search engine optimization<br /> 5:09<br /> academic research information retrieval<br /> 5:11<br /> it refers to the relationship between<br /> 5:13<br /> two pieces of content web pages<br /> 5:15<br /> documents or academic papers that are<br /> 5:18<br /> mentioned or linked together by a<br /> 5:20<br /> third-party Source this relationship can<br /> 5:22<br /> signal relevance and authority to search<br /> 5:24<br /> engines or researchers I have a bunch<br /> 5:28<br /> I’m not going to bore you with this<br /> 5:29<br /> stuff anymore further than this but uh I<br /> 5:32<br /> will have it on the blog there’s lots of<br /> 5:35<br /> ways that uh links and the associations<br /> 5:40<br /> from the stuff in the links can really<br /> 5:43<br /> make a difference um largely or or just<br /> 5:46<br /> subtly to a meaning of that Google takes<br /> 5:50<br /> for it uh I today I created a couple the<br /> 5:54<br /> so back to the subdomains I created a<br /> 5:56<br /> couple of these free quote unquote free<br /> 5:58<br /> Pro profiles um and of course they end<br /> 6:02<br /> up requiring the payment um if I find a<br /> 6:06<br /> reliable one or remember I I’ve found<br /> 6:08<br /> some that actually give it out but I I<br /> 6:11<br /> off top of my head right now I can’t<br /> 6:12<br /> remember uh one example that’s fairly<br /> 6:15<br /> cheap that is from a very highly<br /> 6:18<br /> respected domain in Google’s mind is<br /> 6:21<br /> light sale from<br /> 6:23<br /> AWS Amazon uh but it’s not free it’s a<br /> 6:27<br /> couple bucks a month uh and it can be<br /> 6:31<br /> complex if you’re not techsavvy<br /> 6:33<br /> GoDaddy however however offers free<br /> 6:37<br /> subdomain websites and that’s what was<br /> 6:40<br /> the Genesis of me even doing this video<br /> 6:42<br /> is uh godaddy’s it looks like if you<br /> 6:46<br /> have an account we give you a bunch of<br /> 6:48<br /> these for free uh right now I have three<br /> 6:51<br /> of them and they’re created to create<br /> 6:55<br /> links<br /> 6:57<br /> to uh to my client to my to my buffers<br /> 7:01<br /> whatever and so you can create a<br /> 7:04<br /> one-page site with<br /> 7:05<br /> information keywords entities locations<br /> 7:10<br /> and a link to your Google business<br /> 7:11<br /> profile um not sure if you can get this<br /> 7:15<br /> rich but you might be able to even embed<br /> 7:18<br /> your business profile in a video maybe I<br /> 7:21<br /> I’m not sure but that’s what I would do<br /> 7:24<br /> um and probably<br /> 7:26<br /> did uh if you recall recently if if<br /> 7:29<br /> you’re on my email list and there’ll be<br /> 7:31<br /> a a method to get on my email list uh<br /> 7:34<br /> below this in the description I recently<br /> 7:37<br /> sent out an email about getting free<br /> 7:38<br /> links and content through vanity sites<br /> 7:42<br /> and a vanity site in my definition is<br /> 7:45<br /> like link tree and so if you go to<br /> 7:48<br /> linktr.ee<br /> 7:50<br /> uh that’s where it’s at it has high<br /> 7:53<br /> Authority uh you can sneak words in<br /> 7:56<br /> there to help with all the meaning and<br /> 7:58<br /> associations and you can sit put your<br /> 8:01<br /> links in there mine is uh link tree<br /> 8:05<br /> coach.<br /> 8:06<br /> .o and you can see an example over there<br /> 8:09<br /> it’s just a literally a laundry list of<br /> 8:13<br /> of links it’s not very pretty some<br /> 8:16<br /> people are going to worry about their<br /> 8:17<br /> brand with this stuff um but uh whether<br /> 8:22<br /> it’s pretty or<br /> 8:23<br /> not uh I do it for the links I could<br /> 8:25<br /> care less what it looks like um these<br /> 8:28<br /> links are still the currency of web<br /> 8:29<br /> without them you don’t exist um that’s<br /> 8:32<br /> what Google is born from uh as things<br /> 8:36<br /> change as the world and the gurus say<br /> 8:39<br /> it’s gonna change it doesn’t um people<br /> 8:42<br /> have been saying Google is dead I<br /> 8:45<br /> jokingly in my original real estate<br /> 8:48<br /> marketing blog uh declared Google dead<br /> 8:52<br /> kind of<br /> 8:54<br /> satirically uh and I remember people<br /> 8:56<br /> getting pissed off of me but uh they had<br /> 8:58<br /> made some major Chang changes and people<br /> 9:00<br /> are freaking out and say Google’s dead<br /> 9:02<br /> big big uh uh headstone and all that<br /> 9:06<br /> kind of stuff over the top um it’s not<br /> 9:09<br /> dead it just changes um but the<br /> 9:12<br /> fundamentals are the<br /> 9:14<br /> fundamentals um you know when whenever<br /> 9:18<br /> you look at fundamentals when<br /> 9:20<br /> something’s not working go to the<br /> 9:22<br /> fundamentals why isn’t it working well<br /> 9:23<br /> your fundamentals ain’t right Google<br /> 9:25<br /> will always follow these fundamentals or<br /> 9:27<br /> it won’t be Google<br /> 9:30<br /> so sorry um people spend a lot of time<br /> 9:33<br /> on social media but it’s mainly for the<br /> 9:36<br /> social proof right now unless you’re<br /> 9:38<br /> building a Persona up and you want to be<br /> 9:41<br /> a persona but it’s usually for social<br /> 9:45<br /> proof and high dollar services are<br /> 9:47<br /> really bought through social media alone<br /> 9:49<br /> social media is the proof when I’ve been<br /> 9:51<br /> to your website and I’m really thinking<br /> 9:52<br /> about you or I’ve gotten a referral for<br /> 9:55<br /> you and I’m G to look you up I’m going<br /> 9:58<br /> to the website I’m also go well what<br /> 10:00<br /> else is he doing or she doing so I’ve<br /> 10:02<br /> gained I’ve gained personally I’ve<br /> 10:04<br /> gained clients by participating in go<br /> 10:06<br /> conversations and Facebook groups not<br /> 10:09<br /> selling directly that’s what people want<br /> 10:11<br /> to do they want to just go right for the<br /> 10:13<br /> sale and sorry more and more that’s just<br /> 10:17<br /> objectionable to the vast majority of<br /> 10:19<br /> people you have to find a way to hook<br /> 10:21<br /> them in um and uh and usually that’s by<br /> 10:26<br /> participating in the conversation it<br /> 10:29<br /> people don’t want to do it because it’s<br /> 10:31<br /> work you have to actually think you<br /> 10:32<br /> can’t just blast content out there and<br /> 10:37<br /> uh and think that you’re actually<br /> 10:39<br /> persuading anybody go into a<br /> 10:42<br /> conversation become the thought leader<br /> 10:45<br /> in that group or conversation and then<br /> 10:47<br /> lead them into your world your website<br /> 10:52<br /> your whatever right A lot of times I’ll<br /> 10:55<br /> say oh I commented on this much largely<br /> 10:59<br /> on a regular personal post and link to<br /> 11:02<br /> my personal posts from the group right<br /> 11:04<br /> as an example or to a blog or to<br /> 11:07<br /> whatever but get them to consume more of<br /> 11:10<br /> your stuff so um as an example uh if<br /> 11:16<br /> it’s a Construction Group I might<br /> 11:18<br /> comment on a post about the challenges<br /> 11:20<br /> of building and getting permits to<br /> 11:22<br /> rebuild Palisades in Malibu and the<br /> 11:25<br /> potential impact on home prices and the<br /> 11:27<br /> local businesses uh<br /> 11:29<br /> SEO and website needs since there’s no<br /> 11:32<br /> more businesses anymore are they going<br /> 11:34<br /> you know and you start going down that<br /> 11:36<br /> path and so coming from the point of<br /> 11:39<br /> view without selling SEO that I’m an<br /> 11:41<br /> expert in SEO and it doesn’t feel so<br /> 11:45<br /> objectionable and the people out there<br /> 11:49<br /> put their defenses down so uh I won’t go<br /> 11:53<br /> too far much further in into that um I<br /> 11:58<br /> can do a whole video on that but uh I<br /> 12:02<br /> just wanted to H give you some ideas on<br /> 12:04<br /> links and then uh if you didn’t catch it<br /> 12:08<br /> the importance of links if you don’t<br /> 12:09<br /> have links you don’t exist period in the<br /> 12:12<br /> story and so what happens is is people<br /> 12:15<br /> go I’m gonna focus on on something that<br /> 12:18<br /> they can do real easy like in Social<br /> 12:21<br /> right oh I I could post the Instagram<br /> 12:23<br /> pretty easy so I’m that I’m gonna do<br /> 12:25<br /> that not because it<br /> 12:27<br /> works for a purpose of a business right<br /> 12:31<br /> I’m you know people go on Instagram and<br /> 12:34<br /> they live and breathe on Instagram as a<br /> 12:36<br /> Persona and I’m not against that but<br /> 12:39<br /> most businesses barely have the time to<br /> 12:42<br /> be doing what I just have talked about<br /> 12:45<br /> so now you’re gonna go be a a rockar on<br /> 12:48<br /> Instagram uh I doubt it so what you want<br /> 12:51<br /> to do minimally is remember Google rules<br /> 12:55<br /> the the uh it rules the the the web the<br /> 12:59<br /> in Internet and uh we need to bow to<br /> 13:02<br /> Google first now if you want to go be a<br /> 13:05<br /> Persona I mean I could teach you about<br /> 13:07<br /> that too but this is about SEO and um<br /> 13:12<br /> and how you can use those social spots<br /> 13:17<br /> to benefit your SEO and I’ll leave it<br /> 13:19<br /> with this the other day I I talked to a<br /> 13:23<br /> uh a MedSpa client of mine and exactly<br /> 13:28<br /> what I’m saying he does a lot of<br /> 13:30<br /> Facebook and Instagram because it’s it’s<br /> 13:33<br /> easy I know it he knows it but he feels<br /> 13:36<br /> like he’s doing something and I said<br /> 13:40<br /> okay that’s cool that you’re doing all<br /> 13:41<br /> that because it but it’s social proof<br /> 13:43<br /> you’re not going to get anybody new from<br /> 13:46<br /> Instagram they’re not GNA serve you<br /> 13:49<br /> organically because they want you paying<br /> 13:52<br /> advertising money same with Facebook and<br /> 13:56<br /> and many of the<br /> 13:57<br /> others so that’s great but get traffic<br /> 14:02<br /> internally within the socials<br /> 14:05<br /> by<br /> 14:06<br /> um by uh uh participating in<br /> 14:12<br /> conversations as far<br /> 14:15<br /> as your business get them to leave<br /> 14:19<br /> Instagram get them to leave Facebook<br /> 14:22<br /> it’s you know at all everybody get them<br /> 14:25<br /> to come you can say call<br /> 14:30<br /> call<br /> 14:32<br /> me<br /> 14:34<br /> 310533 9145 or go to my Google business<br /> 14:39<br /> profile where there’s more information<br /> 14:41<br /> about<br /> 14:42<br /> this<br /> 14:44<br /> and the bonus on that if you get them to<br /> 14:47<br /> go to your B your Google profile is that<br /> 14:52<br /> you’re getting<br /> 14:54<br /> traffic from other<br /> 14:56<br /> places and those other places is may be<br /> 15:00<br /> across town or even further and it helps<br /> 15:03<br /> to give you what we call in the business<br /> 15:06<br /> clickthrough or<br /> 15:07<br /> CTR and it’s probably not around the<br /> 15:11<br /> block it’s<br /> 15:13<br /> probably you know 10 blocks and maybe<br /> 15:18<br /> across the country and so you these<br /> 15:21<br /> people from Facebook or Instagram are<br /> 15:23<br /> teaching Google that you matter<br /> 15:29<br /> that far away You’re relevant that far<br /> 15:31<br /> away so there’s a lot of a lot of<br /> 15:34<br /> nuggets I just gave you I hope that you<br /> 15:37<br /> get it and I hope that you do it and if<br /> 15:40<br /> you have any questions give me a call uh<br /> 15:43<br /> next time maybe I’ll shave up and look a<br /> 15:46<br /> little prettier for you anyway God bless<br /> Links without cost.<br /> Free Website Builders for Link Building: Leverage free website builders (like those sometimes offered by GoDaddy or through AI website generators) to create single or multi-page websites for clients or personal use. These act as “buffers” to build links and improve rankings, particularly for reputation management.<br /> Importance of Link Juice and Domain Authority: The speaker emphasizes the continued importance of “link juice” (the value passed from one website to another through links) and domain authority as key SEO factors. While Google no longer publicly displays PageRank, domain authority (measured by tools like Moz, SEMrush, and Majestic SEO) serves as a modern equivalent.<br /> Co-citation and Content Relevance: The speaker highlights co-citation – when two pieces of content are linked together by a third party – as a signal of relevance and authority to search engines. Content relevance and association play a crucial role in effective link building.<br /> Utilizing Subdomains and Vanity URLs: Subdomains from providers like GoDaddy offer free options for creating websites to link to main sites or Google Business Profiles. Vanity URL services like Linktree, while not free, provide high-authority platforms for showcasing links.<br /> The Enduring Power of Links: The speaker stresses that links remain crucial for online visibility; without them, a website essentially doesn’t exist in Google’s eyes. Despite changes in SEO algorithms, the fundamentals of link building remain relevant.<br /> Social Media for Social Proof, Not Direct Sales: Social media is valuable primarily for building social proof and establishing credibility. Direct sales pitches on social media are generally ineffective. Instead, focus on engaging in conversations and becoming a thought leader to organically attract potential clients.<br /> Integrating Social Media with SEO: Use social media engagement to drive traffic to your website and Google Business Profile. This boosts click-through rates (CTR) and demonstrates relevance to Google, even from geographically distant users. </p> <p>

Video Script: I was browsing GoDaddy yesterday and a few free AI websites. I’ve done this several times over the recent months. Whenever I see a free AI website, I check it out. However, most of the time, they claim to offer free usage, but nine times out of ten, that’s not the case. I still check them out because I like to find free space where I can create a one-page site or multiple pages for my clients or personal use.

This allows me to create a profile, especially for reputation management. I can create a name that I want to enhance by giving it more presence on the web.

I can also add link juice, usually to a Google business profile, or sometimes directly to a website, but mostly to a buffer. I like this because it usually sits on a subdomain with good domain authority, which is the modern replacement for the old PageRank system.

PageRank still exists, but Google no longer reveals its value as they used to.

Domain authority, on the other hand, is measured by tools like Moz, SEMrush, and Majestic SEO. Each tool has its own measurement system, so you can’t compare one to another directly.

The rules of linking still matter; we want to pass on the relevance of our content to our main pages. This involves using entity words and natural language processing, or at the very least, keywords, location, and brand names. This process is known as co-citation, where we pass on the meaning of our site through association and linking.

A quick definition of Co-citation : is a concept primarily used in the fields of search engine optimization (SEO), academic research, and information retrieval. It refers to the relationship between two pieces of content (webpages, documents, or academic papers) that are mentioned or linked together by a third-party source. This relationship can signal relevance and authority to search engines or researchers.

Today, I created a couple of these profiles. Some websites promise free AI, but often they end up requiring payment. If I find a reliable one, I’ll share it. One example is LightSail from AWS/Amazon, but it’s not free and can be complex if you’re not tech-savvy.

GoDaddy, however, offers free subdomain websites that are easy to set up. You can create a one-page site with information about your brand, keywords, entities, locations, and a link to your Google business profile. You might even be able to embed your Google business profile and a video if allowed.

I recently sent out an email about getting free links and content through vanity sites like Linktree. My Linktree is linktr.ee/coach.tim.seo, and you can see an example there. These links are still the currency of the web; without them, you don’t exist online.

People spend a lot of time on social media, but it’s mainly for social proof. High-dollar services are rarely bought through social media alone. I’ve gained clients by participating in conversations in groups, not by selling directly. For example, in a construction group, I might comment on a post about the challenges of building in the Palisades and the potential impact on home prices and local businesses’ SEO and website needs.

Linking:

As the story goes, back in the 90’s at Stanford University, Larry Page was trying to figure out what he wanted to do when he was all grown up. He had to pick a thesis for his doctorate.

Being a sciencey guy he was familiar with research papers and their relative value from other papers was how often a paper’s is cited or referenced it in their research? He wondered what would happen if we can mimick this on the internet.

Links, and assigning and measuring their value that they pass onto a document is what gave birth to Google.

This measure used to be somewhat public, but it has not been for years and was replaced with other measures like Moz Rank to help us to take an educated guess at a page value?

Types of links as they pass on “juice” and meaning

In SEO, several concepts are used to evaluate the context and meaning of links. These concepts focus on how content, titles, surrounding text, anchor text, and other factors influence the perceived value and relevance of a link. Here’s a breakdown of the key ones:

1. Anchor Text

Definition: The clickable text of a hyperlink.
Importance: Search engines use the anchor text to understand what the linked page is about. Relevant, keyword-rich anchor text helps convey the topic of the target page.
Example: If you link to a page about SEO tools with the anchor text “best SEO tools”, it signals to search engines that the target page is relevant to that topic.

2. Surrounding Text (Link Context)

Definition: The words, sentences, and paragraphs around a link.
Importance: Search engines analyze the surrounding text to gain additional context about the link. The relevance of this text to the linked page can affect its SEO value.
Example: A link to an SEO tool embedded in a paragraph discussing “effective digital marketing strategies” carries more weight than a random mention.

3. Co-occurrence

Definition: The presence of keywords or related terms near a link, even if they are not part of the anchor text.
Importance: Co-occurrence helps search engines associate the link with relevant topics based on the surrounding keywords.
Example: A link to a keyword research tool placed near phrases like “boost search rankings” or “SEO strategy” reinforces the relevance.

4. Semantic Relevance

Definition: The degree to which the content of the linking and linked pages align in topic or intent.
Importance: Links from contextually relevant pages carry more authority and are valued higher by search engines.
Example: A link about “on-page SEO techniques” from a blog about SEO is more valuable than one from an unrelated blog, like cooking.

5. Page Titles and Headings

Definition: Titles (meta titles) and headings (H1, H2, etc.) of the page containing the link.
Importance: Search engines use titles and headings as indicators of the overall content theme, which affects the relevance of links within the page.
Example: A page titled “Comprehensive Guide to SEO” linking to a “keyword research” article helps search engines understand the contextual relevance.

6. Citation Flow and Trust Flow

Definition: Metrics used to measure the quality and trustworthiness of a linking domain.
Importance: Links from authoritative and trustworthy sources carry more weight, especially when those sources are contextually relevant.
Example: A link from a high-trust domain like an industry-leading publication is more valuable than one from a low-quality directory.

7. Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) Keywords

Definition: Contextually related keywords that enhance understanding of a topic.
Importance: Pages containing LSI keywords in the vicinity of a link help search engines connect the link to broader concepts.
Example: A link to a page about “email marketing” might be surrounded by terms like “email automation,” “click-through rates,” and “newsletter tools.”

8. PageRank (Link Authority)

Definition: Google’s algorithm for measuring the value of a webpage based on incoming links.
Importance: Links from high-authority pages contribute more “link juice” to the target page.
Example: A link from a well-established site like Forbes carries more weight than a link from a personal blog.

9. Nofollow and Dofollow Links

Definition:
- Nofollow: Tells search engines not to pass authority or ranking signals to the linked page.
- Dofollow: Passes authority and ranking signals.
Importance: While dofollow links are more beneficial for SEO, nofollow links can still provide value (e.g., traffic or indirect authority).
Example: Links from user-generated content often have a nofollow attribute to prevent spam.

10. Internal Linking

Definition: Links within a website that connect its pages.
Importance: Internal links help search engines understand the site structure and distribute link equity across pages.
Example: Linking from a blog post about “content marketing” to a services page for “content creation.”

11. Referring Domains

Definition: The number of unique domains linking to a page.
Importance: A higher number of diverse, authoritative referring domains can boost a page’s authority.
Example: Having links from 10 different industry-relevant websites is better than 50 links from one low-quality site.

12. Natural Link Placement

Definition: Links placed naturally within relevant content, as opposed to being forced or spammy.
Importance: Naturally placed links are more likely to be trusted by search engines and users.
Example: A link embedded in a blog post providing additional resources is more effective than one in a footer.

13. Thematic Linking (Topical Authority)

Definition: Building links within a specific niche or industry to establish topical authority.
Importance: Links from sites that are well-known in your niche strengthen your topical relevance.
Example: A link from Search Engine Journal to an SEO tool reinforces the latter’s credibility in the SEO niche.

Each of these concepts focuses on the contextual meaning and relevance of links, which is key for search engines to evaluate the quality and authority of the links. By optimizing for anchor text, surrounding content, thematic relevance, and other factors, you can significantly improve the SEO value of your links.

14.Co-citation In SEO

Co-citation is a concept primarily used in the fields of search engine optimization (SEO), academic research, and information retrieval. It refers to the relationship between two pieces of content (webpages, documents, or academic papers) that are mentioned or linked together by a third-party source. This relationship can signal relevance and authority to search engines or researchers.

Co-citation is a process by which two websites or pages are mentioned together in the same context or cited by a third-party source. Even if there is no direct link between these two websites, search engines may infer a connection based on their association in the third-party content.

How It Works:
- If Website A and Website B are both mentioned or linked in the same article, search engines might interpret them as being related or relevant to a similar topic.
- This can contribute to both websites’ authority on that topic.
Impact on SEO:
- Co-citation helps search engines understand relationships between topics, brands, and websites.
- It is especially valuable for building topical relevance and can indirectly boost search rankings.
Example:
- Imagine a blog post discussing “Top Marketing Tools.” If the post mentions Website A (a popular SEO tool) and Website B (a new competitor), search engines might associate Website B with SEO tools because of its proximity to Website A in the content.

Why Co-citation Matters

SEO: Builds thematic relevance and can strengthen link-building strategies even without direct links.
Research: Helps researchers identify influential papers and understand the landscape of a specific field.

Understanding and leveraging co-citation can be a strategic asset in both SEO and academic contexts.

Let’s answer :

How to find link opportunities – what is your competition’s link profile? Vanity sites offer a great opportunity. Sites like linktr.ee/coach.tim.seo offer a terrific way to give your network links. A link from secondary social sites are nice goldmines. As is top tier sites. OK a couple others locals.com and patreon.com. And why not soundcloud.com which has a vanity link section off to the right of your profile. This is a link to a quick webpage that I created for myself at Godaddy. coachtimseo.godaddysites.com/ For example of an AI site that held out hope as free domain space for links is Hostinger, but sadly they want you to pay also. Cheap but we want free .

How to measure link value-There are a few tools. The original that replaced Page Rank was Moz. moz.com/domain-analysis
Why links matter to Google-As mentioned above it is the original differentiator that Larry Page invented that tool links beyond just “link popularity”.
Why getting associations from linked pages help move the needle for you – A page that has brand, keyword, location and entity relevance to you gets passed through to the pages it links to.
Why we need social media amongst other platforms for SEO– Big boy and big girl businesses have social media and directory footprints. Google knows this and respect that.
How to tie it all together– On your home page you should have schema, and in the appropriate code you should have a sameas. This line associates or claims ownership over several site pages like your Google Business Profile as well as your social sites. It ties all your assets together into a nice bow. All for Google to “get” that these are also you.