Are Contextual Links A Google Ranking Factor?

Inbound links are a ranking signal that varies greatly in terms of how Google weights them.

The context in which it appears is one of the key attributes that experts say can distinguish a high-value link from a low-value link.

When a link is placed within relevant content, it is thought to have a greater impact on rankings than a link placed randomly within the unrelated text.

Is there any truth to that assertion?

Let’s look more closely at what’s been said about contextual links as a ranking factor to see if there’s any evidence to back up those claims.

The Claim: Contextual Links Are A Ranking Factor

An inbound link that points to a URL that is relevant to the content in which the link appears is referred to as a “contextual link.”

A contextual link is one that is used in an article to provide additional context for the reader.

Instead of being a distraction, contextual links add value.

They should flow naturally with the content, providing hints about the page to which the reader is being directed.

A contextual link is defined by the surrounding text, as opposed to anchor text, which refers to the clickable portion of a link.

The anchor text of a link may be related to the webpage to which it points, but if it is surrounded by content that is otherwise irrelevant, it does not qualify as a contextual link.

Contextual links are said to be a Google ranking factor, with claims that the search engine weights them higher than other types of links.

One of the reasons Google may be concerned about context when it comes to links is the experience it provides to users.

When a user clicks a link and is directed to a page that is related to what they were looking at previously, it is a better experience than being directed to a webpage that they are not interested in.

Modern link building guides all recommend getting links from relevant URLs rather than going out and placing links wherever they will take them.

When it comes to link building, there is now a greater emphasis on quality over quantity, and a link is considered higher quality when its placement makes sense in context.

In theory, one high-quality contextual link is worth more than several low-quality links.

That is why experts recommend that site owners obtain at least a few contextual links, as this will get them further than constructing dozens of random links.

If Google weights the quality of links based on context, it means that Google’s crawlers can understand web pages and determine how closely they relate to other URLs on the web.

Is there any evidence to back this up?

The Evidence For Contextual Links As A Ranking Factor

Evidence in favor of contextual links as a ranking factor can be traced back to 2012 when the Penguin algorithm update was released.

PageRank, Google’s original algorithm, was entirely based on links. The greater the number of links pointing to a website, the greater its authority was deemed to be.

By constructing as many links as possible, websites could catapult themselves to the top of Google’s search results. It made no difference whether the links were contextual or arbitrary.

Until the Penguin update, Google’s PageRank algorithm wasn’t as picky about which links it valued (or devalued) over others.

Penguin introduced a number of changes to Google’s algorithm that made manipulating search rankings through spammy link-building practices more difficult.

Former Google search engineer Matt Cutts highlighted a specific example of the link spam Penguin is designed to target in Google’s announcement of its launch.

Cutts says in this example that this is the polar opposite of a contextual link:

“Here’s 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’ll discover that the outgoing links are completely unrelated to the actual content, and in fact, the page text has been “spun” beyond recognition.”

A contextual link, on the other hand, appears to be the one mentioned a few paragraphs above and leads to Google’s blog post.

The following characteristics are shared by links with context:

The placement blends in with the content.
The linked URL is pertinent to the article.
When the reader clicks on it, they know where they’re going.

All of the information Google has released about Penguin over the years is the most compelling evidence available in support of contextual links as a ranking factor.

Google, on the other hand, will never explicitly state that “contextual link building is a ranking factor,” because the company discourages any deliberate link building at all.

Google would prefer to see webpages acquire links organically, as Cutts adds at the end of his Penguin announcement:

“We want people doing white hat search engine optimization (or even no search engine optimization at all) to be free to focus on creating amazing, compelling web sites.”