The quality of a page is significant in achieving top Google ranks. Traditional sites used to lack inbound links, thus it was a throwback to the days when the search engines lacked a criteria of judging a pages’ relevancy. Therefore, search engines such as AltaVista and Google ranked the pages based on the text in the content. Nonetheless, the use of keywords has been imperative in judgment of the ranks of the pages.
Inbound links are essential to individuals responsible for SEO; rather, what would be the case if the page is not subject to natural citations? Content judging is crucial with respect to the way search engines functions, prior to using the inbound links, as ranking signals. Google uses various criteria in ranking the contents of the pages. Originally, inbound links are ranked with regard to the text present in the content. To achieve these, the first word present in the page would be counted and given more importance as opposed to other words on the page. Tentatively, the second time the same word appears on the page, it would be counted more, in these criteria. Conversely, after numerous appearance of the word on the page, it would alert Google that the page covers the topic discussed on the page. Nevertheless, it would not be the case with numerous repetition of the same word, as it would appear as word stuffing. This is often done to manipulate the ranks by Google.
Essentially, keyword stuffing is the practice of manipulation of the ranking of a given site as it appears on the search engine, through the use of numerous repetitions of keywords in the site. This technique will often result in the keywords appearing out of context, making the article incoherent and distasteful. In some extreme cases, webmasters will add keywords to the content without any value, reflecting his/her emphasis on SEO solely, and not concerned about providing a pleasant experience for the visitors. In the long run, irrelevant information would have a negative impact on the quality of the site’s content, which may lead to a dive in web traffic.
Secondly, in theory, Google employs a domain strategy in ranking the pages, which lacks inbound links. Content present on reputable domains would technically receive higher rankings. On the other hand, pages may be subject to the search engine algorithms, if it satisfies some ambiguous or unique search terms. Naturally, it implies that the content in the page discusses rare phrases searched by a user; hence Google would return the page as it is important to the user searching it. Accordingly, appropriate use of keywords in achieving the desired content plays a great deal in augmenting the ranks of any site.
In conclusion, without any links, Google either rank your site based on keywords & domain names, or if there are rare search terms present on your website. Google also gives priority to authority sites over the quality of the content, which some may deem this autonomous decision as unfair.
It is imperative to diversify and not focus your SEO campaign solely on building links. Content is king.