How many inbound links do you need?

How Many Links Does It Take To Get To The Middle Of Google Page One?
Copyright (c) 2009 Bill Platt
911 Reputation Management
http://911reputation.com


Everyday it seems, people are asking me the optimum numbers of
inbound links they need to acquire for their website in order to
rank well in Google.

My answer is going to seem a little flip, but it is the honest,
best answer.

Answer: You need more inbound links - of equal or higher quality
- than what your competitors have.

Albert Einstein argued that any mathematical formula that
required pages of calculations did not contain within it "the
mind of God".

So when Albert Einstein developed E=mc2, then Einstein had
fulfilled the promise of a simple formula that could encompass
the brilliance of God.

When people wonder as to how many inbound links they might need
to acquire in order to rank in the Top 4 of Google's search
results or even the Top 10 of Google's SERPs, they are generally
hoping that someone will be able to give them a numeric answer,
so that they know whether they can afford to undertake the
process or not.

I understand the WHY of the question, but there is no canned
answer that will work for everyone.

Remember, your competitor may be asking the same question and
undertaking the same processes as you are, trying to accomplish
the same goal.

No one can truly begin to understand the answer to this question,
until one has take the time to do an Inbound Link Comparison
Analysis of all of your competitors in the Top 10 spots of
Google's SERPs.

* You need to look at the Top 10 listings in Google for a
particular keyword.

* You need to do backlink checks for all ten URLs in Google's
search listings, and you need to check those numbers across a
variety of sources, including Google, Yahoo and any other tool
you can find to do a check. (Google and Yahoo both tend to
understate the actual link counts. While Yahoo will show you more
than what Google does, they also show a number of "no
consequence" links in their results.)

* You need to look at the quality of a few of the pages that
offer links to the URLs in the search results.

This is not an easy process to undertake. I have done it before,
but the best you can hope for is a "snapshot" of what is out
there, and therefore, what you need to accomplish.

Note: If Wikipedia turns up in your search query, few people with
small budgets will ever be able to dislodge Wikipedia in the
search results. What they make up for in a small number of
inbound links, they more than make up for with links from dozens
or hundreds of PR4, PR5 and PR6 pages. Wikipedia is the king of
Internal Linking, and they use that to a great degree to rank
extraordinarily high in Google's search listings.

Your analysis should seek to uncover how many links a page has to
it.

As a general rule of thumb, Google will show you less than 1% of
the existing number of links for a web page. Yahoo will sometimes
show closer to 5% of the existing number of links for a web page,
but they will not show you the highest quality of those links.

So, as you strive to gain a "snapshot" picture of the playing
field, you want to take Google's Inbound Links number and
multiply that by at least 100. Then you want to take Yahoo's
Inbound Links number and multiply that by at least 20, then cut
the number in half to acknowledge the number of worthless crap
links they have in their database. Once you have achieved these
two numbers, then I tend to call the truth "somewhere in the
middle".

With your "somewhere in the middle" number in hand, then you
need to look at the quality of links to a few of those search
listings, to get an idea of whether those links exist on higher
quality pages or simply junk pages.

If those links are on junk pages, then the goal could be achieved
by just working the numbers. But if there are a lot of high
PageRank pages in the mix, then whatever number is in your hand,
should be multiplied, perhaps 100-fold, to overcome the quality
of pages that link to your competitors.

If you get the idea that my simple formula leads to a complicated
answer, then you are right.

All of the numbers that I have included in my sample formula are
based on rough speculation, as the "snapshot" offers you your
best hope of understanding the challenge in front of you.

While the number of inbound links may be relatively easy to
determine, the link quality is a factor that is really hard to
pin down.

* If you determine that you only need 300 inbound links to rank
with the big boys, you may be right.

* Your 300 inbound links number should also be quantified
against the number of links that Google will count worthy, so you
may need 1200 links to get 300 links that Google will deem
worthy. This calculation depends more on the "quality of your
content", rather than the "quantity of your content".

* When all is said and done and your 300 Google-worthy links
have not yet put you on page one, then you know that the quality
of the links pointing at your competitors is greater than the
quality of the links pointing to you.

If you were hoping for an easy answer, I am sorry that I could
not help you with that.

But with this explanation of the challenge, you may be better
prepared to answer the big question, the question that is really
on your mind:

=== Are my hopes of achieving good rankings in Google within my
reach?

I tend to throw "worry" to the wind and just start working. I
don't worry if I can afford to do it or not. I simply start
doing, and I know that in one month, one year or five, I will
have built enough value in my website that my competitors are
going to be the ones who are trying to figure out if they can
unseat me!

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Bill Platt has provided SEO services since 2004. In 2009, he
transformed his SEO service, into one that helps people defeat
negative search results in Google. By improving the rank of
positive website reviews in the search results, negative search
listings begin to disappear from the public eye. If you would
like to learn more about how Bill's Reputation Management SEO
service can help your business, visit: http://911reputation.com/
Bill has also owned http://thePhantomWriters.com/ since 2001.
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Greg Cryns
Top Notch PLR Articles for your Website or Blog
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Link Building 2010

The times are a-changing as the song goes.

Many webmasters, myself included, did not worry too much about getting inbound links to my websites. Why? Many of my sites were created many years ago. The earliest was in 1998.

But now I've lost ground because I did not pay attention to or even believe in the power of link building. In the old days we pushed "reciprocal linking". Then Big Brother Google told us that it preferred one-way incoming links, at least that is what I heard. (time to recheck with Matt Cutts)

Here is a fantastic article on the subject of link building, then and now.

How To Take Control Of Your Link Building In 2010

Greg Cryns
Website design and SEO promotion
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A couple of so-so ways to get backlinks to your website

Face it. You need links coming into your website. (backlinks)

Here are a couple of methods you can use to get them:

1. forum commenting - find a good forum in your niche. Go there daily and make a comment to someone's post. Be helpful. If you don't know an answer, don't fake it. With a signature file in place (check to see if it is allowed, is there a waiting period?) you will get a backlink to your website and probably you will also get quite a few clickthroughs as well over time.

2. blog commenting - find a few good blogs to make good comments on. Like forum commenting, you will reap the benefits if you post solid, informative comments.

Extra: I see a lot of marketing bloggers telling us to put up "quality content" or words to that effect. Is that like nailing jelly to a tree? I think I know how to do that, but maybe not. :-)

Extra: paid links - here is what Google says about them: "Buying or selling links that pass PageRank is in violation of Google's webmaster guidelines and can negatively impact a site's ranking in search results.

Not all paid links violate our guidelines. Buying and selling links is a normal part of the economy of the web when done for advertising purposes, and not for manipulation of search results. Links purchased for advertising should be designated as such."

Greg Cryns
Work At Home Profiles ($3.77 per month membership site with full page ad)
All About San Luis Obispo
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Link schemes - what does Google say?

If you don't believe me, you may believe Google.Here is a summary on link schemes at Google's Webmasters/Site owners Help

Google is very emphatic about participating in link schemes.

Generally speaking, the important links are those coming into your website, not going out, though good outgoing links are part of what the Internet is all about.

The Google search results are based on (in part) checking on who is liking to you. "The quantity, quality, and relevance of links count towards your rating." says Google.

Particiaption in link schemes and and will be penalized. Some examples include
*any scheme where the intention is simply to have Google smile on you, manipulation of Page Rank.
* Excessive reciprocal links (though Google does not assign a number to "excessive")
* Buying and selling links that pass Page Rank

When making a decision about adding content to your website, ask yourself "Is this going to be beneficial for my page's visitors?" If not, don't post it.

Trust me, you don't want to have to face up to Google's wrath. Greg Cryns Wahm Search Engine . .

Backlink schemes are unhealthy for your website

Since backlinks appear to be one of the strongest parts of the Google algorithm, it is not surprising that cottage industries are offering "solutions" to your need for backlinks. Beware. What is good for the spammer is not necessarily good for you.

This morning I received this SPAM email from some dorks who want to manipulate Google.

Seems they have some powerful websites and they want me to share in the "juicy backlinks" from those websites, for a fee, of course.

<>

Do You Need Better Rankings at Google, Yahoo, MSN and all other Search Engines?

Our database of TOP SITES FOR JUICY BACKLINKS is the ANSWER you've been looking for! Join us TODAY and you will have them all linking to your website! Send us an email or a reply to (scam email link) if you are interested! Best Wishes, The Top Links DB team

< /snip >

How often do we receive junk email like this? How many times do we need to remind everyone that Google hates this type of black hat strategy and that we will get penalized sooner or later.

How often do we need to tell people that what they need is simply good, solid content and a desire to enhance the experience of our visitors?

How often do you wake up in the morning to find your website on page 2 or nowhere after being on page one of the search engines?

These spammers remind me of the people who rule Wall St. They are willing to do whatever enriches themselves even if the know their tactics will destroy us.

Photo by: OoHysteriaoO

Greg Cryns
Wahm Searh Engine - affordable advertising

Incoming Links, good and not so good

Desirable links to have coming into your website:
1. Blogrolls - editorially given, but not fantastic value
2. Authority sites: examples -Trulia.com and ActiveRain.com (real estate)
3. Addthis.com
4. Librarians directory
5. anything editorially given inside the page - in the content






Questionable incoming links

1. Comment spam - obviously put up to get a linkback
2. Forum signatures
3. Social media profiles - tons of profiles probably spammy
4. websites you own - if you link to your own sites the search engines could penalize
5. reciprocal links - you get offers for these often - link trading pages
6. Squidoo - despite the fanfare I am not sure these work well for you

Greg Cryns
The Mighty Mo Website Design and SEO promotion