Content vs Links: Which Should You Prioritize First?

seo content vs links

When you’re tweaking your website, there’s a little more to it than tossing in some keywords, saving, and hoping for the best. You have to make sure your content is on point and that your links are top-notch.

That’s right: your content and your links. You need both, but as a website creator, which should you go all in for? Can the other one really exist on the back burner until you get one in order?

SEMrush

We’ve got the lowdown on the content versus links debate, along with the benefits of both. Read on to find out more!

Content

You already know that content is king. You can write a blog, create a video brochure, start an email campaign – the possibilities are endless, as long as you’re creating! Originality reigns supreme when it comes to rankings on Google and other search engines, and that’s not going away anytime soon.

Because various search engines focus on quality content and keywords, there’s no way you’ll be able to completely forgo it to strictly focus on links. Links might give your audience an entrance to your site, to begin with, but you need content to keep them there. 

Content can also help you out through links. If your content is original, well-crafted, and informative, don’t be surprised if other websites begin to link back to your website as a resource. Nothing wrong with being an authority, right?

Links

Even if you focus on content, you can’t deny the value that links bring to your rankings. Content can improve your ranking all on its own, but links will help empower your entire domain – not only your content pages.

If you link to high-profile, high-quality external pages, you may see your Google rankings increase. This is because Google wants users to be able to find what they want when they want – and Google wants that to be from trustworthy sources.

Therefore, by linking to quality sites, you’ll be rewarded by the search engines.

Focus

It may come down to keywords for you. Which tactic will help you be able to target keywords and optimize them appropriately?

Here’s the catch: they both can.

When you’re building a new website, it can be tricky to figure out whether to focus on generating quality content or getting your name out there and linking to great resources.

However, you can’t have a unique website without unique content. An empty website without anything to read or look at is strange, unusual, and frankly a little bit frightening.

Links and content may go hand in hand better than we realize.

Conclusion

Content creation and link building are both key parts of a quality SEO tactic. Without both, you’ll always be hindered in the wide world of search engine rankings.

It’s frustrating, but the best thing to do is to focus on both of them together. You can’t be an authority without quality content, and linking to quality websites can help boost your reputation as an authority. The two of them really do move together in unexpected ways.