Are backlinks still relevant in 2026?

Every year someone says links don't matter anymore. The honest answer for 2026 is that backlinks are still relevant, but the kind of link matters far more than the count. This post explains what an SEO link is, what link building actually does, how the 80/20 rule applies, and where to find press links now that HARO has changed hands.

Are backlinks still relevant in 2026?

Yes. Links from other sites are still one of the signals Google uses to decide which pages to trust and rank, though relevance and quality now matter much more than volume. A single link from a respected site in your field or your city can do more than dozens from random directories.

Google's own documentation says it discovers many new pages by following links from pages it already knows, and its spam policies have a full section on link spam, defined as creating links "primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings." It wouldn't police links that closely if they didn't count. For local search, Google's Business Profile help says prominence, one of its three local ranking factors, is based partly on how many websites link to your business.

Outside data points the same way. Ahrefs' 2023 study of about 14 billion pages found that 96.55% get no traffic from Google, and named having no backlinks as one of the main reasons. Of roughly 20 million pages in its index with no referring domains, only 2,997 got more than 1,000 search visits a month.

What no longer works is the old shortcut: paid link networks, comment spam and article directories. Those either do nothing or put your site at risk.

For local businesses, links play a second role. Links and mentions from local sources, such as the Daily Pilot, a business group, or an event at the OC Fair & Event Center you sponsored, help show Google that you are a real, known business in Costa Mesa. That supports your map rankings as well as the regular results.

What is an SEO link?

An SEO link usually means a backlink: a link on another website that points to yours. Search engines treat it as a sign that the other site found your page worth sending people to.

A few terms you will run into:

• Internal links go from one page on your site to another. They help Google find your pages and understand which ones matter most. These are on-page work, covered in our post on what on-page SEO includes.
• Anchor text is the clickable text of a link. Descriptive, natural anchors help. The same keyword-stuffed anchor on every link looks unnatural.
• Follow and nofollow. A normal link passes ranking signals. A link marked nofollow, sponsored or ugc tells Google not to count it the same way, and since March 1, 2020 Google has treated these as hints rather than strict rules. Sponsored is for paid placements, and ugc is for user content such as forum posts.
• Site strength. Tools such as Ahrefs (Domain Rating) and Semrush (Authority Score) estimate how strong a site's link profile is. These are third-party scores, not Google metrics, but they help compare options.

What does link building do?

Link building gets other relevant sites to link to yours, which helps Google find your pages, trust them and rank them higher. Good links also send real visitors.

Methods that hold up for a local business:

• Local sources. Your chamber of commerce, neighborhood associations, local news, youth sports and school sponsorships, and community events.
• Business relationships. Suppliers, manufacturers, partners and trade associations often have dealer, member or partner pages.
• Content people want to cite. Local price guides, permit explainers or seasonal checklists that other sites link to as a resource. Our post on what content marketing includes covers how to plan this.
• Digital PR and guest posts. Expert quotes for reporters, and original articles on relevant sites in your industry.
• Broken link outreach. Finding dead links on respected pages and offering your page as the replacement.

Avoid anything sold as a package of links for a flat fee, private blog networks and link swaps at scale. On campaigns we run, typical output is 4 to 10 new links a month depending on niche and budget, with sites of DR40 or higher as the target. You can see how we approach link building in Costa Mesa, and the national link building services page lists every method we use.

What is the 80/20 rule for SEO?

The 80/20 rule, borrowed from the Pareto principle, says that roughly 20 percent of your effort produces about 80 percent of your results. In SEO it is a rule of thumb, not a law, but it is a useful way to decide where to spend time.

• Pages. Open Search Console, sort your pages by clicks, and you will usually see a small group bringing in most of the traffic. Improve and link to those first.
• Keywords. A handful of service + city searches usually bring most of a local business's calls. Win those before chasing long lists of minor terms.
• Links. A few strong, relevant links tend to outweigh many weak ones. Find out which links your top competitors have that you don't, which is the core of an SEO competitor analysis, and go after the best of those first.

What replaced HARO?

Nothing fully replaced HARO, because HARO is back. Its owner Cision rebranded HARO as a platform called Connectively, then discontinued Connectively on December 9, 2024. Featured.com announced on April 16, 2025 that it had acquired HARO from Cision, sent the first HARO edition under its ownership on April 22, 2025, and returned it to a free daily email. In May 2026 Featured also revived the Connectively name as HARO's platform-based sister service.

Options people use now include HARO itself, Connectively, Qwoted and the #journorequest hashtag on X. Each works the same basic way: reporters post what they need, and experts reply with a short, useful answer. Rules and pricing change often, so check each one before you sign up.

Tips that improve your odds:

• Reply fast. Reporters on deadline often use the first few good answers.
• Answer only where you have real expertise, and give a specific, quotable point.
• Offer a local angle when it fits. An Orange County reporter is more likely to use a source from Costa Mesa or Irvine.
• Keep it short and include your name, title and a link.

Answering journalist requests is one of the methods our Costa Mesa link building team runs for clients, alongside guest posts and outreach.