Can I rank without links

[seoanalytics]

Let's say I have great content. I have a great website design (easy to navigate for user) that answers their questions but I have no links. Can I still rank on on a keyword that has a difficulty score of 24.

I imagine that I can that google can't penalise me for not having links.

Does it mean that without links it will take longer to rank than with links but that google with rank me at some point ?

Thank you,

[AlyssaOMara]

Yes you can rank without links. The key to SEO is being better than your competition. If your competition (for that keyword) is not using links and your overall optimization for that keyword is better, then you are more likely to rank. Be aware that any day your competitors might decide to improve optimization for that keyword and surpass you.

[seoanalytics]

On competitive keywords ? are you sure ?

is the delay to rank longer in that case ?

[Matt-Williamson]

Hmm, I am a big advocate of quality content and a good user experience with decent on-page SEO having a positive impact on rankings. However the majority of high ranking sites all have links - after all, they are a vote of confidence in the eyes of Google (obviously a very broad statement and not all links are equal or help). If your site is that good and lots of people visit it you would expect to earn links whether you actively go after them or not. In order to help yourself why would you not try to earn links, I would say, even if a low competition term.

In relation to your original post will it take longer to rank? There are lots of factors that can impact this but I would say it will definitely take you longer to rank and your rank would likely be lower. At a very basic level if you take two local business sites and one site does nothing other than have a great site and no links, yet the other has an equally good site but it has set up it's Google My Business and made sure it has links from relevant local directories plus maybe some local media/interest sites - Which do you think Google would trust more and rank higher? I have had some great sites that have come to me as clients - well optimised with nothing major needing changing to optimise the site but their rankings have all improved significantly in a short period of a few months through a structured outreach campaign earning links and ultimately increasing the DA. One final thought - even zero backlink experiments that have been successful have ended up naturally earning links and increasing their DA - to an extent worthy content in front of the right audience, such as social media, earns exposure/links.

Hope this makes sense...

[seoanalytics]

That makes sense. My question now is what is the best way to earn links without asking ?  Create blog pages ?

Thank you,

[Matt-Williamson]

Have a look at Brian Deans Skyscraper technique - backlinko.com. in general if you put relevant content (such as decent long form blog posts) out in front of a relevant audience such as on social media you will find you automatically start to pick links up. Engage with influencers and interact with their stuff - you will find they often reciprlocate. Another technique that can be quite successful is asking others to guest post on your site or include their tips in an expert round up - that way you are often getting links without directly asking for a link. Great thing is if they don’t link other fans often will and either way you are adding more quality content to your site.

[seoanalytics]

Thank for sending the information about Brian Deans Skyscraper technique. I checked his article and video and this is great but very difficult to do in certain industries like mine (the travel industry). In the travel industry, you don't answer questions or solve problems, like you do in seo. In the travel industry everyone wants the best deal but nobody is going to link to you other than journalists that work for travel publications when the decide to write an article about traveling to Tuscany and you do tours in Tuscany and you are famous (because if you are not they won't talk about you) and becoming famous requires lots of money !

Creating blog article is a good idea but nobody is going to link to me (at least I think) if I write about the best restaurants in Florence. First it isn't related to my industry (travel industry) and does anyone link to that ?

Just trying to find out what do write about to get the interest of people.

Thank you,

[Matt-Williamson]

The key is competitor analysis I would say in your case to work out what content the others are doing successfully. In reality, I have worked in similar (managed apartments that could be rented for work or holiday in well-known cities) and done posts around attractions that have earned links ultimately increasing the site's authority and rankings. I did an outreach campaign asking the places for some input and images that we could use then I wrote the post and sent it to them. These were posts such as top attractions in x.

[seoanalytics]

Good idea but how do I check what content is successful for my competitor ?

Thank you,