If you use a meaningful title for each page and get enough backlinks from high trust sites, you don’t need to worry about the rest of the search engine optimization. Finally, it is enough to implement the top ranking factors, the rest is trivial and negligible according to the Pareto principle (80/20 rule). One way or the other, the messages are often heard and read when it comes to search engine optimization. But is it really so?

No! In any case, Google’s web trend analyst Gary Illyes says on Twitter. Judging from his tweet, there are no rankings that are more important than others. It can differ according to the search, and what is important. These can be links, but also the content, the page speed or other things, with which one tries to present the website best for Google. According to John Müller, also a web trend analyst, whether links are among the top 3 ranking factors, Müller replied that they did not exist – and Illyes later added the answer.

John Müller added that relevance is the key. Google wants to offer its users the best user experience at all times – and therefore shows the search results, which are really relevant in the respective search. And this is not only determined by the optimization measures of website operators. In the course of the discussion, Illyes even pointed out that many pages are well-listed in the search results without having backlinks. This alone would not really matter.

So it is now finally clear that links are not the only currency in the SEO universe. They certainly bring some advantages for some, but are also irrelevant to others. And it should now also be clear that the optimization should always focus on customer needs and not what is considered important for Google.