Meh, links!

All things being equal, links still tend to move the dial more than any other factor in legal SERPs.

Maybe links are having a diminishing impact internet-wide. But in my experience, quality links, especially relevant links (both topically and geographically), tend to improve law firm visibility in search more than most everything else.

Admittedly, there are some limited exceptions to this maxim, specifically related to the local pack. Here they are:

• Keywords in your business name.
• Primary category.
• Reviews.
• Proximity.

Honorable mention: User engagement (I’m really close to elevating this one, but not quite yet).

Of course, most of these are table stakes.

After all, anyone can change their firm name to include keywords. Anyone can update their primary category.

Anyone can buy a ton of fake reviews (but don’t do this and report those who do).

Anyone can move their office.

But not everyone can earn reliably earn a competitive number of links from topically and geographically relevant websites.

Links are the gatekeeper.

Google knows this too.

Why Meh, Links, Meh, Now?

If you’ve been following me, you now that I’ve been “meh-ing” about links for about as long as I’ve been doing SEO. Why do I feel compelled to write about this now?

The answer is two-fold.

First, there seems to be an increasing sentiment of “links matter less.” Maybe they do, generally speaking. But it’s simply not been my experience in working with law firms. But don’t take my word for it, go search on any major lower-funnel head term in legal and see what sites come up. I bet you lunch that those sites have hundreds, if not thousands of linking root domains (again, with the exceptions listed above).

Correlation is not causation. But correlation is also not usually merely coincidence.

Secondly, Patrick Stox at Ahrefs recently published: Google Says “Links Matter Less”—We Looked at 1,000,000 SERPs to See if It’s True. Go read it.

Here’s some interesting data:

Meh, links. Especially, in local queries…

Joy Hawkins at Sterling Sky has also been on a “links kick.”

Per Joy:

”Interestingly, while links had a substantial impact on organic rankings, their effect on local pack rankings was much less pronounced. In the same test, the site’s local ranking only improved by one position, despite the significant organic boost. This suggests that while links can contribute to local rankings, they are not as critical as they are for organic rankings.”

In terms of net position improvement, my experience is similar to Joy’s research.

However, even a one position improvement in local pack position can be an absolute game-changer. This is particularly true for moving from position 4 to 3 and from position 2 to 1.

Again, meh, local links.

Anyway, it can all be true that:

• Overall, links matter less.
• Links impact traditional organic results more than local packs.
• And Links are one of the most important factors for rankings.

All at the same time.

If your agency or marketing people are talking about the “diminishing value of links,” please contact us.

Most likely, they’re saying this because earning links is hard.

Meh, links and carry on.