‘7 Diagrams of How Topical Links Impact Rankings, in Theory and Practice’ – MOZ Blog

Cyrus Shepard says, “As SEOs, we well understand the value links contribute to ranking websites in search results. So much so, it’s something we study regularly here at Moz.

At their most basic, links are counted as “votes” of popularity for search engines to rank websites. Beyond this, search engineers have long worked to extract a large number of signals from the simple link, including:

• Trustworthiness – Links from trusted sites may count as an endorsement
• Spamminess – Links from known spam sites may count against you
• Link Manipulation – Looking at signals such as over-optimization and link velocity, search engines may be able to tell when webmasters are trying to “game” the system

One of the most important signals engineers have worked to extract from links is topical relevance. This allows search engines to answer questions such as “What is this website about?” by examining incoming links“.

7 Diagrams of How Topical Links Impact Rankings, in Theory and Practice

MOZ Blog