During the Google Webmaster Central hangout on May 1, a site owner asked an interesting question about the value of the inbound links. The query reads: does link value depreciate with age?
Simply put, does the length of time that a link has existed on the web make it less valuable?
According to Mueller, that’s not the case — at least, not entirely. Yet, it’s not still accurate to say that a new link is less valuable to search engine optimization than the old ones.
So, how does it all work?
Google advocate, John Mueller, explained:
“Purely from an SEO point of view – on the one hand, it feels like you’re probably focusing too much on links. On the other hand, it’s not so much that we keep track of the age of the links, but rather that sites evolve.”
In other words, it all depends on the relevance of the content that’s holding the link. Let’s delve a little deeper.
How the Value of Inbound Links Evolved Over Time
To be clear, the value of a link can and does change over time.
However, that’s based on how the website has evolved. That means Google doesn’t track a link’s age and assign value based on how old the link might be.
For example, a newly-built link can have significant value if it appears in a highly relevant news article. However, as the news article becomes less relevant over time, the value of said link will also depreciate.
“So it’s not so much that the link itself is aging, but rather that the website where that link was has evolved,” says Mueller. “And over time, that place where the link was is no longer as relevant as it used to be.”
That means links that appear in evergreen articles that retain relevance over time will continue to hold value. Based on this simple reasoning, it’s safe to say that low-value links could increase value over time as the content evolves.
In conclusion, there’s no way to determine the value of a link from its age. Instead, it all goes back to content relevance.
Here’s the video:
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