The Linkback Lie
Inbound links help you rank well, right? Everyone knows that. And “everyone” can’t be wrong, right? So, the more sites that link to you, the better…
Take the phrase “weight loss program.”
With 296,691 searches/mo (est), you’d expect to need a lot of inbound links to rank near the top.
Amazingly, the #1 site for “weight loss program” has … drumroll…. 128 incoming links.
The #2 site? 62 inbound links.
It’s easy to believe the folks insisting that the yellow brick road is made of inbound links. But, you need to check, because nothing is written in stone and linkback may not be how the competition got to the top.
You know the saying…. advice is usually worth what you pay for it.
March 27th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Hi Linda,
First time writer.
If its not inbound links, as “everyone” says it is, then what are the most important factors in getting high rankings in the search engines?
Now I’m really a confused newbie.
Mickey
March 27th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Hi Mickey… the most important element is WHO links to you, not how many. One linkback from a prominent site is worth many, many from small and not prominent sites. Bigger sites have earned more “trust” in the search engines, so they pass more value if they link to you.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Can you give us your thoughts on SEO of a site by building 3 or 4 themed blogs that point at that site, and only submitting your articles to those blogs so that you control the links? Then only submitting your articles to a few other article sites just so others will start to recognize your name.
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Hi Mickey. You could do that, but if all the themed sites are in the same hosting account and have the same IP address, they’re not going to pass much link love. It’s the rank of the linking site (the site that links to you) that counts most. One link from a well-ranked site will do much more for you than many links from sites that aren’t ranked well. What I’d suggest is contributing the articles to sites and article directories that rank well, because they’ll pass more link value to your site.
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