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SearchReturn Discussion List
"Understanding Internet Search Technology"
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Moderator: Published by:
Detlef Johnson SearchReturn
http://www.searchreturn.com
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November 01, 2007 SearchReturn Issue #136
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.....IN THIS DIGEST.....
// -- SEARCHRETURN INTERVIEW -- //
"Eric Ward Answers Your Questions"
~ SearchReturn
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// -- SEARCHRETURN / ERIC WARD LINK BUILDING Q&A -- //
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From: Bruce Clay
Are advertising (purchased) links often detected and given no
ranking value? [Matt Cutts WMW Keynote Nov 2005: detected and
washed out 95% of the time]
Is a reciprocal link a barter, and thus an advertisement? [Yes, a
barter is an ad unless it is between trusted sites]
What happens if a safe link (a good site to link to)
inadvertently joins a linkfarm? Does it hurt me if I continue to
link to them? [It is 'linker beware' in this unsafe world.]
Are a few links to a lot of my pages a good thing, or should I
try to focus inbound links to a few pages, or even just my home
page? [Middle answer helps build authority.]
Can I really get to Kevin Bacons site in six jumps?
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ERIC'S ANSWERS
Bruce Clay: Are advertising (purchased) links often detected and
given no ranking value? [Matt Cutts WMW Keynote Nov 2005:
detected and washed out 95% of the time]
Eric: In my opinion purchased links that are purchased for click
traffic rather than for attempted PageRank from the site the link
was purchased from have the potential to also positively impact
rankings. However, there are many scenarios where this is not
true.
For example, if you were Google, and you encountered a paid link
at ESPN.com to a site that sells sports memorabilia, then would
you really have the confidence to believe this paid link was
indicative of the quality of the sports memorabilia site? The
answer is no, you wouldn't. Any site, no matter how terrible, if
they have the money, they can buy a link. Nothing about a paid
link in and of itself sends a signal of quality and/or trust.
On the other hand, again imagine you are Google, and you
encounter a paid link on the Made in Maine site to a site that is
based in Maine and sells custom wild bird feeders. In this case,
I can see a potentially positive signal of intent that could
improve rankings. Can any of this be proven? Nope. I just know
what I know from seeing so many sites for so many years, and
analyzing tens of thousands of links. Call it an educated hunch.
Bruce Clay: Is a reciprocal link a barter, and thus an
advertisement? [Yes, a barter is an ad unless it is between
trusted sites]
Eric: What a great question. One could easily argue that any
type of link that came about as a result of some type of
negotiation is in fact a paid link. The payment just wasn't
cash. Taking this same idea even further, a link in a press
release is a paid link. A link you get because you joined some
association for a $50 annual membership fee and for which you are
listed with a link on the members section is also a paid link.
And if you obtain a link from a .edu because you offer the school
a 10% discount and that gets you on their discounts and offers
page with a link, that's a paid link as well.
It all in the intent, and sometimes that intent can in fact be
disguised. That said, I'd hate to base the entirety of my
linking strategy on a tactic that is disguised to trick an engine
that has warned you not to.
Bruce Clay: What happens if a safe link (a good site to link to)
inadvertently joins a linkfarm? Does it hurt me if I continue to
link to them? [It is 'linker beware' in this unsafe world.]
Eric: It is certainly possible that this scenario could happen.
However, if you also have hundreds of high quality inbound links
and some history of signals of trust, then an inadvertent link
farm link that's an anomaly is not likely to hurt you. I know
this from personal experience. My URLwire site has been in
existence for 14 years, and during that time I have announced
thousands of quality web sites. But, some of those sites have
gone out of business over the years, only to resurface years
later by new owners providing far different content than what I
originally announced.
My announcement archives never changed, so that means I am
linking to many sites that have morphed over the years into sites
that I would not link to. As I find them, I delete them. But I
have never seen my rankings take a hit because of that.
Bruce Clay: Are a few links to a lot of my pages a good thing, or
should I try to focus inbound links to a few pages, or even just
my home page? [Middle answer helps build authority.]
Eric: In reality their are some sites that naturally will attract
thousands of links to pages *other* than their homepage, and this
is totally logical and natural. Take the site at the National
Institutes of Health. Hundreds of thousands of pages of content,
on every conceivable health related topic. This site has
thousands and thousands of links pointing to it, but most of
those links point to interior pages that are germane to the topic
of the site giving them the link.
On the other hand, some site with just a few pages of content are
far more likely to have a more concentrated homepage inbound link
profile, i.e., most inbound links will point to their homepage
rather than to interior pages. As much as I hate to sound vague,
the truth is it depends on the site, the depth of the content,
the competitive content available, and several other factors.
I have some clients for whom I recommend they build inbound links
to their homepage only, while other clients I recommend they do
not try to build any links to the homepage, but instead to
interior pages. I have to look at the specific site and run my
linking analytics tools in order to provide the most effective
approach for each site.
Bruce Clay: Can I really get to Kevin Bacons site in six jumps?
Eric: Yes, and you can also get to the Oscar Meyer Bacon site in
one jump, here http://www.searchreturn.com/digest/refs136.shtml
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