{"id":5681,"date":"2022-01-23T15:10:28","date_gmt":"2022-01-23T15:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/01\/23\/are-contextual-links-a-google-ranking-factor\/"},"modified":"2022-01-23T15:10:28","modified_gmt":"2022-01-23T15:10:28","slug":"are-contextual-links-a-google-ranking-factor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/01\/23\/are-contextual-links-a-google-ranking-factor\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Contextual Links A Google Ranking Factor?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Inbound links are a ranking signal that can vary greatly in terms of how they\u2019re weighted by Google.<\/p>\n

One of the key attributes that experts say can separate a high value link from a low value link is the context in which it appears.<\/p>\n

When a link is placed within relevant content<\/a>, it\u2019s thought to have a greater impact on rankings than a link randomly inserted within unrelated text.<\/p>\n

Is there any bearing to that claim?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s dive deeper into what has been said about contextual links as a ranking factor to see whether there\u2019s any evidence to support those claims.<\/p>\n

The Claim: Contextual Links Are A Ranking Factor<\/h2>\n

A \u201ccontextual link\u201d refers to an inbound link pointing to a URL that\u2019s relevant to the content in which the link appears.<\/p>\n

When an article links to a source to provide additional context<\/strong> for the reader, for example, that\u2019s a contextual link.<\/p>\n

Contextual links add value rather than being a distraction.<\/p>\n

They should flow naturally with the content, giving the reader some clues about the page they\u2019re being directed to.<\/p>\n

Not to be confused with anchor text, which refers to the clickable part of a link, a contextual link is defined by the surrounding<\/strong> text.<\/p>\n

A link\u2019s anchor text could be related to the webpage it\u2019s pointing to, but if it\u2019s surrounded by content that\u2019s otherwise irrelevant then it doesn\u2019t qualify as a contextual link.<\/p>\n

Contextual links are said to be a Google ranking factor, with claims that they\u2019re weighted higher by the search engine than other types of links.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons why Google might care about context when it comes to links is because of the experience it creates for users.<\/p>\n

When a user clicks a link and lands on a page related to what they were previously looking at, it\u2019s a better experience than getting directed to a webpage they aren\u2019t interested in.<\/p>\n

Modern guides to link building all recommend getting links from relevant URLs, as opposed to going out and placing links anywhere that will take them.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s now a greater emphasis on quality over quantity when it comes to link building, and a link is considered higher quality when its placement makes sense in context.<\/p>\n

One high quality contextual link can, in theory, be worth more than multiple lower quality links.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why experts advise site owners to gain at least a few contextual links, as that will get them further than building dozens of random links.<\/p>\n

If Google weights the quality of links higher or lower based on context, it would mean Google\u2019s crawlers can understand webpages and assess how closely they relate to other URLs on the web.<\/p>\n

Is there any evidence to support this?<\/p>\n

The Evidence For Contextual Links As A Ranking Factor<\/h2>\n

Evidence in support of contextual links as a ranking factor can be traced back to 2012 with the launch of the Penguin algorithm update.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s original algorithm, PageRank, was built entirely on links. The more links pointing to a website, the more authority it was considered to have.<\/p>\n

Websites could catapult their site up to the top of Google\u2019s search results by building as many links as possible. It didn\u2019t matter if the links were contextual or arbitrary.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s PageRank algorithm wasn\u2019t as selective about which links it valued (or devalued) over others until it was augmented with the Penguin update.<\/p>\n

Penguin brought a number of changes to Google\u2019s algorithm that made it more difficult to manipulate search rankings through spammy link building practices.<\/p>\n

In Google\u2019s announcement of the launch of Penguin<\/a>, former search engineer Matt Cutts highlighted a specific example of the link spam it\u2019s designed to target.<\/p>\n

This example depicts the exact opposite of a contextual link, with Cutts saying:<\/p>\n

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\u201cHere\u2019s an example of a site with unusual linking patterns that is also affected by this change. Notice that if you try to read the text aloud you\u2019ll discover that the outgoing links are completely unrelated to the actual content, and in fact, the page text has been \u201cspun\u201d beyond recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A contextual link, on the other hand, looks like the one a few paragraphs above linking to Google\u2019s blog post.<\/p>\n

Links with context share the following characteristics:<\/p>\n