Each year SEO experts profess that SEO, as we knew it, is dead. They describe how the old tactics don’t work and introduce new concepts formed from the latest Google algorithm update.
But the more things change, the more they stay the same. Yes, links still matter a great deal for achieving rankings. But some other concepts that may seem outdated are reviving.
SEO cocitation was a hot topic many years ago as Google introduced anti-spam updates geared toward devaluing links from poor-quality blog networks. More recent discussions of cocitation have shifted the focus away from link juice and toward the words used around links.
These factors are all gaining traction in the Google algorithm as Google evolves and becomes smarter at detected manufactured links (versus earned links). For webmasters attempting to reshape an SEO strategy that failed in 2012 due to Penguin and Panda, re-engaging SEO cocitation is a smart move.