Fresh backlinks vs old backlinks: A solid ranking factor?

[vtmoz]

Hi Moz community,

Backlinks being a major ranking factor, do they must be very recent or fresh to make a ranking difference compared to the backlinks which are years old? We know usually fresh content ranks well, but I wonder how much the fresh/recent backlinks impact in rankings. Do the years old backlinks from related and reputed website have same impact on rankings?

Thanks

[Dalessi]

Hello,

It is important to always keep developing new relevant content. The value of a particular link can be affected by many factors and the age of a link can be one of them.

Personally, I believe many links are considered more relevant after they have aged for a while. I have noticed that links that are 3 to 6 months old and are of high-quality pass more ranking value that brand new links.  Also, the quality of the traffic you are getting through those links is an important factor.

As links start ageing and producing more and more traffic I really think they get more value from the search engines.

Best Regards

[TaylorRHawkins]

I would imagine that the date of which a link was acquired does, in fact, impact the links value.

More importantly, though, I would say it is much more important that you keep getting new links - For instance, if you got a few backlinks on really great sites a few years back and then just let those sit without acquiring new links, Google might think your company has dropped in relevance and that people no longer care about you.

Old, credible backlinks are good - consistently getting new backlinks is better.