The traditional approach to off-page SEO has centered around one primary metric: the number of quality backlinks pointing to your website. Although backlinks remain important, this limited view is increasingly outdated in Google’s evolving algorithm landscape.
The search engine has transformed from a link-counting machine to a sophisticated system that understands the world through entities—people, places, things, concepts, and the relationships between them. This shift represents perhaps the most significant evolution in search since the original PageRank algorithm.
Search Engine Land points out that entity linking goes deeper than traditional linking, enabling you to connect pages based on the underlying concepts and their relationships. Yet most SEO practitioners remain fixated on links alone, missing the broader entity signals that increasingly drive search visibility.
This guide explores how sophisticated SEO programs are evolving beyond traditional link building to develop comprehensive entity authority strategies—and how your brand can gain competitive advantage through this approach.
To appreciate the importance of entity-based link building, we first need to understand how Google’s approach to search has evolved.
Era 1: Keyword Matching (1998–2011): In its early days, Google primarily matched keywords in queries to keywords on pages, with links serving as the main quality signal. The algorithm essentially asked: “Which pages contain these keywords and have the most authoritative links?”
Era 2: Intent Understanding (2012–18): Beginning with the Hummingbird update, Google began understanding the intent behind queries rather than just matching keywords. The algorithm now asked: “What is this searcher trying to accomplish, and which content best fulfills that need?”
Era 3: Entity Relationships (2019–Present): With BERT, MUM, and subsequent AI models, Google now understands the world through entities and their relationships. The algorithm increasingly asks: “What entities are related to this query, and which sources have the strongest entity authority on this topic?”
In search context, entities are distinct concepts that exist in the real world: people, places, organizations, products, ideas, events, and more. Google maintains a vast database of entities and their relationships, known as the Knowledge Graph, which contains more than 500 billion facts about 5 billion entities.
Importantly, entities exist independently of any single website or piece of content. When Google encounters your brand name, product, or key topics in content across the web, it’s not just registering keywords—it’s mapping connections to known entities in its Knowledge Graph.
Backlinko identifies entity matches as a key page-level Google ranking factor. Establishing your brand, products, executives, and core topics as recognized entities with clear relationships to other authoritative entities now drives visibility more powerfully than traditional link metrics alone.
Entity-based link building represents a strategic evolution that focuses not just on acquiring links but also on systematically building entity associations through those links and other off-page signals.
Traditional Approach
Entity-Based Approach
Focuses primarily on link quantity and domain authority
Prioritizes links that establish entity relationships
Targets any high-authority sites
Targets sources specifically associated with key entities in your industry
Measures success through raw link counts and domain metrics
Measures success through entity association strength and topical authority
Often uses generalized outreach tactics
Employs strategic entity alignment and relationship building
Primarily concerned with direct links to your domain
Considers entity mentions even without traditional links
Effective entity-based link-building rests on four strategic pillars:
Before building entity authority, you must clearly define your entity landscape:
Core Entity Identification
Entity Relationship Analysis
Competitor Entity Assessment
Once you’ve mapped your entity landscape, the next step is strengthening key associations:
Authoritative Entity Alignment
Subject Matter Entity Enhancement
Entity Relationship Diversification
Links are just one way to build entity associations. Sophisticated programs leverage multiple signals:
Unlinked Entity Mentions
Co-Occurrence Engineering
Entity Prominence Enhancement
Traditional link metrics don’t adequately capture entity authority. Advanced measurement includes:
Entity Recognition Tracking
Entity Association Strength
Entity-Driven Traffic Analysis
A SaaS company in the project management space came to us struggling with search visibility despite an aggressive link-building campaign that had secured more than 300 new backlinks in the previous year. Despite this traditional “success,” their organic traffic had increased only marginally, and they were consistently outranked by competitors with apparently weaker link profiles.
Our analysis revealed the issue: The company had quantity of links, but it lacked strategic entity associations. Its link profile connected the company primarily to general business publications rather than establishing strong associations with project management methodologies, workflow optimization entities, and productivity enhancement concepts.
We implemented a comprehensive entity authority development program:
First, we mapped their entity universe:
We then analyzed the company’s entity authority gaps compared to competitors, finding it had a minimal association with critical industry entities such as Agile methodology, Kanban systems, and workflow optimization.
Rather than pursuing any high-authority links, we focused on sources with strong associations to key entities:
We supplemented link-building with a systematic entity mention strategy:
We implemented entity-specific measurement beyond traditional link metrics:
The entity-based approach delivered transformative results:
Most tellingly, the client’s software began ranking for methodology-focused searches where it previously had no visibility, despite minimal on-page changes—a direct result of strengthened entity associations.
Based on our work with clients across industries, these strategies offer the highest ROI for entity-based authority development:
Traditional digital PR focuses on securing coverage in high-authority publications. Entity-focused digital PR prioritizes placements that establish strategic entity relationships.
Implementation Approach:
Potential Impact: Clients implementing this approach have seen 3X to 5X higher ranking improvements from fewer but more entity-relevant placements compared to traditional high-volume digital PR.
Developing your team members as recognized entities themselves creates powerful entity associations for your brand.
Implementation Approach:
Potential Impact: Companies with executives or team members established as subject entities see 70% higher organic visibility for associated topic clusters compared to those relying solely on brand entity development.
Formal relationships with established entities create powerful association signals beyond traditional link-building.
Implementation Approach:
Potential Impact: Entity partnerships have driven 2X to 3X faster authority development for new brands compared to traditional link-building approaches.
Developing definitive resources that connect multiple entities creates powerful association signals.
Implementation Approach:
Potential Impact: Entity-rich resources have generated 4X more organic visibility and 3X more authoritative links than traditional content for our clients.
For businesses with physical locations, local entity associations offer tremendous opportunities.
Implementation Approach:
Potential impact: Businesses with strong local entity associations can achieve higher visibility in local searches compared to those focused only on traditional local SEO.
Shifting to an entity-focused approach requires adjusting your existing SEO processes:
Begin by understanding your current entity landscape:
Based on your audit, create a strategic entity roadmap:
Evolve your existing link-building to incorporate entity considerations:
Implement ongoing entity authority tracking:
At Prose, we've developed a sophisticated approach to entity-based link-building that goes beyond traditional off-page tactics. Our methodology is designed to establish and strengthen your brand’s entity associations with the topics, concepts, and authorities that drive visibility in your industry.
Our approach combines strategic entity mapping, relationship building, and measurement:
We begin by mapping your complete entity universe:
We develop a customized entity authority roadmap:
We execute multi-faceted entity authority campaigns:
We track entity development through sophisticated metrics:
A financial services technology provider came to us struggling to establish visibility in a crowded marketplace dominated by established players. Despite solid technical SEO and content, they were unable to break through in search.
The Entity Challenge: Our analysis revealed they had minimal entity associations with the financial concepts, methodologies, and authorities central to their offering. Despite creating quality content, they existed in an "entity vacuum" that limited their visibility.
Our Entity Authority Approach:
We implemented a comprehensive entity authority program:
The Transformation:
The entity-based approach delivered exceptional results:
What separates our approach from traditional link building:
We've developed proprietary methodologies for mapping entity relationships and identifying high-impact association opportunities specific to your industry.
Our team leverages established relationships with authoritative sources across dozens of entity clusters to secure strategic placements.
We've built sophisticated tracking systems that measure entity association strength and its impact on search visibility beyond traditional metrics.
We implement coordinated entity signals across earned, owned, and technical channels to maximize entity authority development.
In today's search landscape, traditional link-building alone isn't enough to drive competitive visibility. By developing systematic entity associations, you can establish authoritative connections that drive sustainable search performance.
Contact us to learn how Prose can help your organization implement an entity-based link-building strategy that transforms your search visibility.
This guide draws on our experience developing entity authority for more than 100 clients across industries, combined with insights from search quality evaluator guidelines, patent analysis, and performance data across more than 300,000 keywords.