This is the second part of the ‘leak under the magnifying glass’ by BlackCat. This focuses on the OFFSITE dimension of SEO; the elements of assigning authority by links and external context. While the first post focused mainly on the ‘general context’ of signals (algebraic modeling, restriction management, or NLP), this article will take us on a journey to the confines of the secrets of link scoring algorithms, domain authority, backlinks and user interactions. A mysterious world to re-discover in a new light! The recent leak of internal documents related to GoogleApi.ContentWarehouse.V1 has generated a lot of interest in the SEO community, because despite the fact that this leak has not yet been officially confirmed by Google, it remains a rare opportunity to learn more about the signals that could influence website rankings. So, we’re going to focus here specifically on offsite optimization — that is, anything that happens outside of your website but directly affects your SEO, such as backlink building, domain authority management, and how Google might use this data to adjust its rankings. By incorporating the learnings from these documents, we confirm the accuracy of our SEO strategies in Montreal. Because our customers know this perfectly well; We spend half working on their site, and the other half outside their site. In the past, the estimation of the elements that weight the so-called Page Rank has been carried out in a scientific way. In particular by Harvard, where a team was able to carry out the c

PageRank alcul using the stationary distribution of the Markov chain with power iteration. Also, the PageRank estimation with Monte Carlo simulation sampling. The visualization here shows how the two algorithms converge.

 

 

Domain Authority: An Underestimated but Crucial Signal

 

a) What is domain authority and why is it important?

Domain authority is a concept that has long been used by third-party SEO tools, such as Moz or Ahrefs, to assess a website’s credibility based on factors such as quality backlinks, notoriety, and reputation. However, these documents suggest that Google itself uses a similar system internally. This suggests that your backlink and external mention building strategy should not only aim to improve the ranking of specific pages, but should also boost the overall authority of your domain. This is an absolutely crucial criterion to explain, because in general, the correlation between a media investment, or press release, or directory, is not always obvious to the client – and with the results of the targeted company.

What for? Because there is a time lag between the time the links are published, and the first increases in rankings. We are not always looking for an audience referral traffic, but an algorithmic reaction as explained below. So, what’s interesting about studying this leak is that the documents reveal things like siteAuthority and authorityPromotion. Here’s a snippet showing how Google might score a domain based on its external backlinks and mentions:

The authority_score here at 0.87 indicates strong authority, influenced by high-quality backlinks and brand mentions. authorityPromotion reports that Google gives extra weight to brand mentions even without a direct link, boosting the domain’s overall reputation.

 

b) How can domain authority be improved?

Here we are; Now that we know that domain scoring is important, how can we take advantage of it? Building a strong domain authority relies mainly on quality backlinks. Rather than multiplying links from low-value sites, it’s better to focus your efforts on getting links from reputable sites, which themselves have high authority. And it can be easily proven! For example, getting a link from a reputable news site or academic body can provide a huge boost to your domain’s authority. The example of the project with Clark Influence, an international influencer marketing agency operating in Paris, Montreal, and Toronto, shows that backlinks from local and international media help build domain authority, especially for local SEO campaigns. The promotional authority (authorityPromotion) could also indicate that brand mentions in news articles or online forums play an important role in promoting your site. So, getting quality mentions, even without direct links, could boost the overall credibility of your domain.

 

The importance of backlinks in the Offsite SEO strategy

That’s why, at Blakcat, we spend a good part of our time prospecting for new connections for our customers

 

a) What types of backlinks are the most valuable?

Backlinks have long been a central pillar of offsite SEO. They represent a vote of confidence from one site to another, and Google sees them as a key signal to gauge a page’s relevance and authority. The leaked documents confirm that Google continues to place a high value on backlinks, especially through metrics like linkInfo and pagerankWeight. This is not a surprise, but it confirms that links remain crucial for any successful offsite SEO strategy. Google ranks backlinks based on their quality, including pagerankWeight and total clicks. An excerpt from the document shows this:

 

In this example, the pagerankWeight of 0.95 and the 5000 clicks signal a high-quality link that brings traffic to the target page. These metrics are crucial in determining the value of a backlink.

 

b) Create an effective backlinking strategy

Our customers know this well. To create a solid backlinking strategy, it’s essential to focus on getting links from sites that are relevant and have strong authority. As part of the Abasprix Extermination project, as a local service company, which travels to people’s homes – often in specific municipalities – quality local backlinks strengthen the site’s authority in localities such as Repentigny and Laval, thus improving its local SEO. Because people in Laval are looking for companies in Laval – what could be more normal! These links are not only evaluated based on their presence, but also by the interaction of users with them. Receiving backlinks from recognized authority sites in an industry boosts the PageRank of the target page and, by extension, the entire domain.

 

The Role of User Interactions in Backlink Evaluation

A dynamic dimension to add to all this…? Let’s take a look at the impact of user interactions.

a) What types of clicks are important?

The leaked documents reveal that Google attaches great importance to user interactions to evaluate the quality of pages and backlinks. Systems like NavBoost and Glue analyze user clicks and interactions to adjust rankings. An excerpt from the documents shows that Google measures clicks in different ways:

GoodClicks are positive clicks where users interact with the content after clicking on a link, while badClicks represent quick returns to the results page (pogo-sticking). The bounceRate of 0.12 indicates good user engagement. This means that, even if you have quality backlinks, if users don’t interact well with your content, it could reduce the positive impact of those links on your rankings.

 

b) Maximize user interactions to strengthen your backlinks

To maximize the effect of your backlinks on your rankings, it’s crucial to provide a great user experience on the pages those links point to. In the context of the Volthium project, which markets lithium batteries, we can say that credibility is quite crucial (otherwise, we can end up without power), user interaction is optimized by smooth navigation and relevant content in each media on which we post. We’ve found that on specific communications, like batteries and backup generators, the low bounce rate and high session duration on strategic pages show that users find what they’re looking for quickly, boosting the value of backlinks.

 

Anchor Text: A Key Signal for Google

We knew that, but not as well. NLP is added to the processed signals, which reinforces the importance of using varied, natural anchors, without over-optimization.

 

a) The importance of the relevance of the anchor text

The documents also reveal that Google places a high value on backlink anchor text . This text must be relevant and precise, because a poor choice of anchoring can lead to penalties or a devaluation of the link. Indeed, if the anchor does not match the content of the target page, Google can interpret this as an attempt at manipulation and ignore the link, or even penalize the page. An example of a well-optimized anchor is shown below:

The high pagerankWeight and the exact match between the anchor text and the target page strengthen the relevance of the link.

 

b) Strategies for optimizing anchor texts

  • Be specific and descriptive : Opt for anchor text that accurately describes the content of the target page. This not only boosts the relevance of the link but also helps Google understand the context better.
  • Vary the anchors : For the Fissure Experts project, which offers services in French and English, varying the anchors between “fissure repair” and “foundation crack repair” allows it to target a wider audience while remaining relevant in both languages.

 

Exact match domains (EMD) risks and sandboxing

We think here of customers like Achetezlemeilleur who may have experienced a form of penalization related to the field, at one time

 

a) Exact Match Domains and Sandbox

Exact Match Domains (EMDs), like “meilleurschaussurespascher.com,” have long been used to manipulate Google rankings by exploiting keywords in the domain name. However, Google has refined its algorithms to detect and penalize EMD abuse, as shown in these code snippets:

The emd_flag states that the domain is detected as an EMD, and the site could be subject to a six-month probation period (sandbox_duration) before being fully evaluated in search rankings. This mechanism prevents potential abuse and ensures that only quality sites, with relevant content and legitimate authority, emerge.

 

 

Integrate leak lessons into your offsite strategy

The revelations in the GoogleApi.ContentWarehouse.V1 document offer us a deeper understanding of the elements that influence offsite SEO. To maximize domain authority and backlink quality, it is essential to take a scientific and thoughtful approach, in line with the practices highlighted by these documents. We have even experienced this, as an agency, through projects with long-tail queries, such as Lelili Flowers, where anchor and backlink optimization plays a central role in describing a variety of flowers, and for local SEO. By incorporating these methods into your offsite SEO strategy, you will not only boost the quality and authority of your domain, but also the interaction of users with your pages, contributing to better long-term performance in search results.