Editorial Links: these are links internet users will make to a certain website due to the site's skilled content marketing and high quality. Search engines count these links as indicators of quality. Unlike acquired links, which are bought or distributed by website owners as a method to improve link building, editorial links are organically drawn to good websites, and are often spread over social media and content sharing sites.
Given the value users and search engines place on a website's quality, creating a website worthy of editorial links can mean a great deal to a site's traffic and search ranking. For example, with the release of Google Panda in 2011, as many as 12% of search rankings were affected by the new algorithm design. This new design, unsurprisingly, focused on site quality. To create opportunities for potential editorial links, many companies use content marketing, social media and search engine optimization to increase the likelihood that users will see and share a website, creating an editorial link. While acquired links may appear simpler and easier, they are less likely to draw internet users and more likely to result in a website being flagged by Google due to spam or questionable quality.