From what I’ve tested, contextual links win every time, both in terms of authority and rankings, i’ve had several sidebar links on niche blogs, and while they’re nice for branding, i’ve never seen a significant SEO boost from them.
On the other hand, a single contextual link inside a high-quality blog post (especially in the body or near the top) tends to deliver better results. I track with Ahrefs and see those pages gain visibility faster. Also, Google seems to be giving more weight to links surrounded by relevant, well-written content, sidebar links often get ignored or devalued.
That said, sidebar or footer links can still help for internal linking or boosting your homepage authority if used carefully, but if you’re doing outreach or building relationships, always aim for editorial/contextual mentions..
