Are backlinks the most important factor in SEO?

[AndySalmons]

I have had an agency state that "Backlinks are the most important factor in SEO". That is how they are justifying their strategy of approaching bloggers. I believe there are a lot more factors than that including Target Market definition, Keyword identification an build content based on these factors. What's everyone's thoughts?

[David-Kley]

No. Goodbacklinks are one of the most important factors, as they are a source of traffic to the site, and a souce for Google to validate your site's content.

if you have a ton of good links, but the rest of the site is garbage, you probably wont get very good results. The algorithm looks at over 200 separate bits of information when determining where to rank a site. Are backlinks high on that list? Absolutely. Does that mean that you can have thin content, bad optimization and design? No.

Stating that "Backlinks are the most important factor in SEO" sounds more like a marketing phrase used by that company to sell their services.

[KeriMorgret]

We have some good background information about search engines and SEO in general at http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo that can help you with the bigger picture, too.

[artdivision]

HI,

Just to add my 2 cents. As already mentioned, links are THE most important factor in rankings. You only have to see who and what Google is after with penalties to make that conclusion or run your own tests. Having said that your SEO company is right but it also means that if they dont do it properly or abuse it or focus too much only on building links and doing nothing else, you will probably end up with a bunch of links from their netword (or some rented) and that wont do any good to you.

Hope it helps

[GPainter]

Hi there,

If we look at what SEO is - its about optimizing your site for search engines and unfortunately search engines still use links as a large factor in determining whats worth ranking but whilst they may be the bigger factor its not the only one.  Many people would argue that if you make a site for users. Make it so great that they want to share it and that its the best it can be. Creating thousands of links won't work any more (and if it does its only temporary) so be careful on your SEO strategy. If you're unsure you can always ask to see previous work and you can shop around but your right there is more to SEO than just links. .

Best of luck.

[Martijn_Scheijbeler]

Hi Andy,

I would agree that GOOD backlinks are probably the most important factor in ranking your sites in competitive markets but to get there you really need to address all the other elements you mentioned of SEO as well. If they started 'link building' out of the blue there's probably not much idea behind it. Just my 2 cents!