Outreach and link building are still an important part of the SEO strategy and work and usually planned for most SEO campaigns Since the authority of a website is measured on the endorsements it receives from other websites links are a way to weigh that authority But it s not just a matter of quantity and so it s not the total number of backlinks that determines the rankings of a website instead is really about the quality and the value of those links and the domains websites they are coming from Therefore rather than 100 poor quality links it is of much greater value to have 10 or even 5 but high quality ones from respected high authority websites and domains Think about it this way if your website was in the education services business an article from an established local or international university calling out a groundbreaking piece of research you have published and linking back to that article would have a much higher value to signal Google and the other search engines the authority of your website rather than a link from a random website outside of your industry And that is because relevancy is of paramount importance and also the reason why it still makes sense and there is value in ensuring that a website is still listed in those directories relevant to its industry So an SEO outreach campaign is usually to cover those basic directory listings relevant to your industry and the activity to plan and execute for the strategic amplification of unique worthy content that is likely to attract quality links