Relevance vs. authority: Which link has more value? (Part 1)

Relevance versus authority: these two metrics are always at the forefront of a link builder’s mind.

Both authority and relevance should be part of the overall evaluation of a given link. In an ideal world, every link we secure would be from sites that are both authoritative and highly relevant to our own site.

But what if you had to pick one or the other? Which is more important: relevance or authority?

This is a very difficult question to answer and a constant source of passionate debate at Page One Power. There are many nuances, and link opportunities are never cut-and-dried in the real (online) world.

Relevance versus authority can be particularly challenging for beginner link builders as they begin the arduous process of securing links. To dissect the issue, I posed the following question to a number of the best and brightest minds in search:

“All other metrics being equal, would you rather have a high-authority link with lower relevance or a highly relevant link with low authority?”

I received so many great responses that I will be separating them into three categories, and three separate parts:

1. Relevance

2. Authority

3. Varies depending on situation

Quick Disclaimer: This is a purely hypothetical debate, as link building is never this black-and-white. I posed this question to tease out the valid points for both sides of the relevance vs. authority argument.

This is a difficult question to answer in a short quote, but everyone I contacted was a good sport and gave their best shot, sharing valuable insight. The debate on relevance and authority won’t end with this post, but hopefully, this will push the discussion forward.

Expert opinions: Relevance

I’ll start by sharing the opinions of those who answered on the side of relevance.

[Read the full article on Search Engine Land.]