Since its early days, Search Engines consider links as authority of website but now both giant search engines Google and Bing stated that they are now considering brand mentions without links as rank factors too along with links.
Duane Forrester, formerly senior product manager at Bing, pointed out at SMX West 2016 that unlinked mentions can be as strong a signal as backlinks, confirming that search engines can easily identify mentions and use them to determine site authority.
Google and other search engines are intelligent enough now that they know what your brand is and when it is mentioned without links pointing to your website. Let's use Nordstrom, for example. My SEO team had a strategy to work with the PR team to manage mentions in our releases. Brand mentions in social media without links pointing back to the website, and many other ways in which Nordstrom is mentioned all provides credit to the brand. The more the brand is mentioned on the web from reputable sources the better.
If you're a smaller brand than Nordstrom a great way to get such mentions is by hiring a small PR consultant or firm. Mentions in local news, brand publications as a subject matter expert giving opinion pieces are all great ways to get brand mentions from reputable sources. Video transcripts for Vlogs, Podcasts and News Video Snippets all count as linkless link building for your brand. Search Engines look at the keywords surrounding your brand in these mentions and accredit your website as the source for those searches. If you're an SEO Agency, become an SEO subject matter expert on podcasts, news, vlogs, and online publications. The mention of SEO with your Brand (or your personal name) will connect the two and give your brand credit for those terms.
Of course, it's much more complex than that, but it's a great place to start. So, stop focusing on old school link building and get out there and become an authority.
