Is This Link Any Good?
Is This Link Any Good?
A major part of search engine optimizing is obtaining links from other sites. Some links will contribute nothing to ranking but direct visitors to your site, other links will provide ranking value to your site and improve your position in search engine results. Adversely, some links will actually have a negative effect on your rankings, examples of which are from link farms or spam filled pages.
We at Dental Design take care when establishing links to be included in our incoming link campaign for our Classic+ customers. The following are aspects are considered when evaluating a link for inclusion:
Indexed by Google
Is the linking page even in Google’s index? If the page itself is not indexed, it may be some time before you see any value from this link. A page that is not indexed could be an indication that the page is orphaned (no links pointing to it), blocked to Google, or simply that it is a new page.
If the page is not indexed, this is not necessarily a warning to avoid the link, just be aware, that the value will start off at zero. In time, that page may gain authority and provide a bit of “juice” back to your site.
Relevance
This is very important. If the linking site, or page, is not relevant to your site, the link will have significantly less value. While a page being relevant is good, an entire site being relevant is better.
Anchor Text
The anchor text of your link (the actual text that users click on) helps to establish the theme of the link. Having your target phrase in full or in part used within the link anchor text, will help you in terms of ranking for that phrase.
Google Page Rank
It is important to stress that the Google Page Rank of a given page is only a very loose indicator of that page’s strength. The Page Rank you see in the toolbar is not fully up to date, nor does it contain all the information you need to determine if a page is worthwhile.
Granted, just as a page with a PR of 9/10 is undoubtedly an asset, a page that has a low PR does not mean it is not valuable. Try to look at how many inbound links a given page has rather than the displayed PR. If you see a page that has a PR of 0, there is always the possibility that it may have a PR of 2 or 3 the next time around, so do not discount it strictly based on PR.
Also take a look at the PR and inbound link counts for the home page of the site. If you see very high numbers, you can probably assume that the page will offer notable value.
How Many Links On the Page
The fewer links (both internal and outbound combined) on any given page the more value you can expect to receive. At its simplest level, each page is given a vote, and that vote is divided up into the number of links on the page. If a page has 50 links, your site will get 1/50th of a vote. If the page has 10 links, you will get 1/10th. The fewer the links, the more power for you.
Pages that have literally hundreds of outbound links, will in most cases, provide you with very limited value. There are of course exceptions, but for the most part these pages should be avoided. Sometimes they are the result of SPAM of free-for-all pages, which could potentially do more harm than good.
Level Depth
How many clicks does it take to reach the page with your link on it from the home page of the site. Each of these clicks essentially represents a level. With every level you travel, the less value you will get from the link. If you have to travel many levels into the site to find your link, the value of this link may be compromised. (There are some exceptions to this rule, but generally this holds true. One example may be a site that has immense inbound links to an internal page, making that page actually more valuable than the home page). Scott – confusing, earlier you said that having less links are better and more valuable.
Age of Link
The longer your link is in place, the better. Links that have staying power tend to get more attention from Google, and ultimately play a larger role in your site’s incoming link value. Obtaining a link from a site, only to have it removed after a few months is a waste of time. Look to gain links that are long standing.
SPAM
The rule here is simple. If the page you are checking to you is full of SPAM, avoid it. A SPAM filled page will likely do more harm than good. SPAM can include hundreds of free-for-all links, hidden text, cloaking, or keyword stuffing. Stay away from these “bad neighborhoods”.
Summary
It’s a time consuming business assessing the worth of each prospective link but, with patience, can result in excellent results. Links should be included gradually and consistently to gain the ‘trust’ factor with search engines. A fast flurry of incoming links can indicate spam and actually have a negative effect on rankings.
Content courtesy of: https://www.stepforth.com/blog/is-this-link-any-good.php
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