Every year SEO experts contend that search engine optimization has undergone a huge change and is no longer the SEO we knew. They declare that old techniques and tactics will no longer work given recent updates in search engine algorithms. However, the more things change the more they remain the same. Even today with all the Panda and Penguin updates links still matter a great deal when it comes to deciding rankings. In the same way some old concepts that seemed outdated till a few months back are making a comeback.
SEO cocitation was one such concept which was perceived as having lost its relevance. But with search engines becoming smarter in detecting manufactured links, earned links have regained their place. Therefore cocitation as an effective SEO is worth trying.
Core concepts of SEO cocitation
Inbound and outbound links are both important
Till date webmasters chased the mirage of inbound links. They tried to get inbound links from other reputable sites to their sites with the belief that it increases their websites authority and credibility, which eventually leads to more traffic, higher conversion, and better page rank. Little did they realize that this led to a phenomenon called as link juice hoarding.
Out bound links to high end and authority websites is as important as inbound links as it improves user experience considerably which positively affects the websites credibility.
Linking to other great websites
SEOs previously thought that linking to other sites was counterproductive. But this thinking is slowly losing its steam. Good webmasters realize that in order to gain they should also learn to give. Therefore while you ask for links to your website also give links to others. This sends a positive signal to search engines like Google. The key, however, is finding other good sites that are relevant to your business, yet do not compete with you.
Bad out bound links
Linking to bad sites gives out the impression that your neighborhood is bad. It is fairly easy for Google to notice that bad websites link back and forth without having any commonality of topics.
SEO cocitation and transitive relationship
For example Website D links to Website F and Website D also links to Website E. Now in this case website E and website F are not linked, but there is a transitive relationship between the two websites as website D links to both of them. In case website F has more authority then website E also gains some authority as website D has linked to both of them. This way link juice flows backwards and forward.
Connection between words and links
There is sufficient evidence that words (contextual phrases) on a webpage that link to other websites are pretty influential. SEOs now realize the importance of co-occurrence of such words in increasing page rank. So for example an authoritative site has a few key phrases that are highly optimized and targeted. Now another site which has the same key phrases in their page content but these key phrases are not anchored for inbound links. But due to semantic similarity the second website still gains in ranking.
SEO cocitation is a little bit complex but understanding it helps in organic SEO a great deal!