19 replies to this topic

[BeGlobal]

I think we need to pop the question again... Are Irrelevant Backlinks Bad For Ranking NOW?

Please advise.

If I have received one of these Google warnings during the last week, but the links pointing to my site come from genuine websites some strongly related to the website's niche, some not.Is it more likely that the penalty is because:

- Google's Mistake
- Exaggerated and repeated use of a small list of anchor texts
- That some of the links pointing to my site come from unrelated websites?
. Other?

Please let me know.

Edited by BeGlobal, 24 July 2012 - 12:30 PM.

[Jill]

Are Irrelevant Backlinks Bad For Ranking NOW?

Yes.

See Wed's HRA, coming to an inbox near you.

[chrishirst]

Nail on head statement ->

Exaggerated and repeated use of a small list of anchor texts

in my opinion of course.

Simple solution or avoidance methods

A: Don't "link build" for "rankings"
B: Don't garner links with "your most important keywords"
C: Don't garner links that ONLY point to one URL (the "home page")


In fact! do NOT do most the things that "experts" have been suggesting since 1998.

And the biggie is:

Comprehend that your "site" does NOT need anywhere near as many links as you think it does.

[tonyhr]

Nail on head statement -> in my opinion of course.

Simple solution or avoidance methods

A: Don't "link build" for "rankings"
B: Don't garner links with "your most important keywords"
C: Don't garner links that ONLY point to one URL (the "home page")


In fact! do NOT do most the things that "experts" have been suggesting since 1998.

And the biggie is:

Comprehend that your "site" does NOT need anywhere near as many links as you think it does.

OK got it, sort of but ... there is a weird feeling about this having been a heavy user of some great link building software in the past, which is ... how do we help our site to rank now?

Meanwhile I am spending a lot of time removing blogs and links and I keep telling myself that Google probably didn't give them much importance anyway and now the effort of removing them is Google karma.

The other point is ... think of non-Google ways to get traffic.

[Michael Martinez]

I'll still happily take an irrelevant link from Yahoo! or CNN any day but in general if the link is irrelevant and it isn't editorially placed by a trusted site I would not expect to help much or for very long if at all. The average doggie blog doesn't typically link out to paper clip sellers with keyword-rich anchor text, in my experience. Your mileage may vary.