Why content comes first for most sites
A ranking is a page answering a query, and without the page there is nothing to rank. Most small and mid-size sites lose more rankings to thin product and collection pages than to weak link profiles. Their category pages are bare product grids, their product descriptions are manufacturer boilerplate, and their informational queries go unanswered entirely.
For e-commerce this is especially true, because the highest-value commercial keywords map to collection pages that most stores leave empty. Building those pages out creates rankings no link could have produced, since there was nothing for the link to lift. Search Console shows this directly: pages with impressions but no clicks usually need better content, not more authority.
The practical order of operations
The sequence that works runs in three stages:
- Fix technical issues first, so Google can properly crawl and index what you publish.
- Build out content for the keywords your buyers search: collection pages, product pages, and supporting articles.
- Earn links last, aimed at the pages that are close to ranking but stuck behind better-established competitors.
Run in this order, every stage amplifies the previous one. Run backwards, you pay for authority pointing at pages that cannot convert it into positions, which is the most expensive way to do SEO.
The exception where links win
In highly competitive niches where every player already has strong content, authority becomes the tiebreaker and links matter more. When five competitors all have thorough, well-structured pages answering the same query, the site with the stronger link profile usually takes the position.
The key is diagnosing which situation you are in before spending on either. Look at who ranks for your target keywords and how good their pages are. If the competition is thin content with strong domains, you can out-publish them. If it is strong content on strong domains, plan for a longer authority-building campaign alongside the content work.