If "content is king", links are the king's supporting army, quietly helping the kingdom grow in power and authority. Unfortunately, as with a physical army, as most links get older they â€" or rather their influence â€" begins to deteriorate. Why won't a powerful link just stay a powerful link? Why can't you just build a huge amount of links once, and then never again? A few reasons: Search engines don't just want links; they want fresh, quality links.