Comments on: Backlink Research : Essential Checklist

By: janetluison

janetluison — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:28:41 +0000

oh.. so you’re talking about me here.

@ marcus, “blatantly bad paid posts” huh.

By: Brent King

Brent King — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 03:09:05 +0000

Interesting, I have been doing my research and still looking for the all inclusive right answer, as we all are.

By: mirc

mirc — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:22:09 +0000

We still recommend a competitive analysis, but I agree, careful in following the crowd.

By: Ann Smarty

Ann Smarty — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:10:42 +0000

@Doug, lol… I wasn’t expecting 100% positive comment from you any way :) (ok, kidding). The page you are referring to outlines some tactics that can be done in various ways… You can submit to hundreds of spammy (networked) directories or pick just a few niche ones – and still call it “directory submission”. You can choose to trust my word or not but SEJ is doing quality work.

@Christopher, I wouldn’t be that sure. And the post wasn’t all about link buying. Most of the comments focused on that – that tells me the ‘paying for links’ hasn’t really topic grown stale yet.

@Purple, you are quite right, there are really good niche directories (which are few but still can be targeted).

By: Purple Widget

Purple Widget — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:29:40 +0000

Great article as always but I was a bit surprised to see the comment that directories are a time waster. Aren’t there still high quality, niche directories that provide value and can be a good kick start for links to a new site? I think yes.

The best line in the article, sums up SEO in general: You never know for sure which one of those links really matters.

Great stuff!

By: Christopher Regan

Christopher Regan — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:14:09 +0000

Hasn’t the ‘paying for links’ topic grown stale, as it’s obvious that, in the longish-haul, it’s a waste of time and money. Get reciprocal links with your partners, with your company set within the landing pages URL (common sense is terribly uncommon, as is forethought). I can’t see the Google link algo having an issue with this suggestion.

By: Adam Maywald

Adam Maywald — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:05:34 +0000

I always love these link debates. For me, I do whatever it takes to get a site ranked. Regardless of what Google says, they’re really about controlling spam. If a dog bowls website is ranking for “dog bowls” and is buying links, should they be penalized? What if they have a really low bounce rate…should they be removed from the first page? What if conversions are 25% of traffic, does that make them irrelevant to the keyword “Dog Bowls” in which they’re spending money on inbound links for? …no.

It’s Google’s fault for the whole link algo anyway, they need to make better indicators of quality, like bounce rate, social aspects, etc… rather then focus on who’s purchased a link.

By: Marcus

Marcus — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:50:03 +0000

@Gary – its surprising to see them still doing so well when everyone knows their doing obvious link buys (now back at #2 for credit cards). I guess it means the less obvious buys like blatantly bad paid posts such as http://www.janetluison.com/2008/10/new-project.html will also continue to be effective.

Nice article Ann – thanks

By: Doug Heil

Doug Heil — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:35:12 +0000

Very good. Essentially you are saying that one should never get a link just because of a search engine. At least I think you are saying that.

You blog for sej; just wondering how you feel about some of these ways?
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/link-building-services/

By: Wayne Smallman

Wayne Smallman — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:15:44 +0000

Great advice, Ann!

“Secondly, the real algorithm is a mystery even for most advanced experts: you are never sure how much value can be passed through some link.”

I don’t think it’s worth fretting too much over the mechanical minutia. For a lot businesses on the web, all that counts is: did someone follow a link, and 2. did they perform the desired action on arrival?

Even a nofollow counts for nothing if you’re an ecommerce shop, so long as people are visiting from those links and buying something!

Of course, the long-term lack of link value will hurt in some respects, but there’s a lot to be said about the transaction and timeliness of a link, too…