17 replies to this topic

[Darren]

Hi,

For the past month I've been working on my link building program which involves reciprocal linking with sites relevant to mine.

Could a SE pick up on my "sudden" increase in outbound links and think that I'm some form of link farm and therefore penalise me?

Should I increase the number of outbound links gradually or does it not matter?

Thanks in advance.

[Randy]

In the end, it doesn't matter Darren. Building and marketing a web site is a long-term process. Very, very few things happen immediately.

FWIW, the only way you can get penalized for linking out is if you link to a so called Bad Neighborhood. But since you're actually looking at the sites that you're linking to in order to determine if they're relevant to your site or not, that's not likely to happen.

[Jill]

Darren, you need to be very discriminating with which sites you link to.

Your link is essentially a "vote" for that site. You're saying it's a good site and are recommending to your visitors that they visit it. So your own reputation is on the line with every link you point to.

All this means is that you need to make sure that you really and truly like the content offered by those sites. As long as you've checked them out and do feel that they are worthwhile to your site visitors, then you won't ever have to worry about them, because you will be using your head to link to only great stuff!

Good luck!

Jill

[BrianR]

Could a SE pick up on my "sudden" increase in outbound links and think that I'm some form of link farm and therefore penalise me?

Probably the worst that could happen is that Google 'sandboxes' your site while they check out the sudden increase in links. All that generally means is a delay in receiving credit for the links - just needs patience, that's all.

BrianR

[rcmedia]

I'm sort of going through the same thing right now.
I have about 145 potential link partners already linked out to from our links pages but I haven't heard a response back from in over a month and I wonder if it's time to remove them in case it's hurting our inbound/outbound ratio.

[qwerty]

Hm... in other words, the real reason you're linking to them is the hope that they'll link back to you. Are any of these sites worth recommending to your audience even with the link back?

I don't personally believe there's a right ratio between inbound and outbound links. If there were, that would imply that every time you found out some number of new backlinks were created, you'd need to find some number of sites to link out to in order to keep the ratio correct.

[Jill]

That's right, if you're only linking to them for the link back, you might want to rethink your strategy. I'm sure many link builders would disagree, but to me, it means you will potentially make the wrong decisions when deciding who to link to, by doing things that way.

Remember what the true meaning of christmas erm...I mean linking is for. Linking is a recommendation. That's why Google treats them with respect. Unfortunately, those who've messed with the true meaning of links, have really started ruining Google for the rest of us.

Yes, that's Google's problem, but as a Google user, it's also my problem.

This isn't meant to single out you rcmedia, just to illustrate the real reasons for doing the SEO things that we do. Always keep in mind, good intentions, not rankings, and you'll be better equipped to make the right decisions for your site.

[Randy]

That's all true Jill. And I agree 100%.

The solution for Google is simple though. Stop giving such an inordinate amount of weight to links and specifically linking text. Starting with looking at each site as a Whole instead of individual pages.

Give links some weight, and the linking text some weight... But don't make either a force that can be (ab)used to push a page to the top all by themselves.

Google just needs to hire a few ethical SEO's to teach their PHDs that a truly good web site has many factors that make it Good. Not just one or two.

[Jill]

Agreed Randy.

They sure have made their bed...no?

[Randy]

They might as well lie in it now Jill. Which it appears they're doing.

I feel an Alta Vista coming upon us on all over again. Especially when Larry and Brin jump ship with their billions to buy an NBA franchise, a South Pacific Island or something.

Perhaps they'll get smart and call you for some help. Go whip those geekoids into shape! Call in Torka when you need a whip to get 'em to listen to the straight dope.

[torka]

I'm ready...



--Torka

[OldWelshGuy]

There is no end to linkmongering in Google. Google seems impotent.

<thought> will the Google biography be called 'from Important To Impotent'?

Anyhow, G is just at a loss about how to deal with linkmongering without throwing the whole system into the can.

[sunsoft30]

Link building is a slow and continous proces for the success of a web site. One should be careful in selecting link partners. Their web sites should have a PR for considering by google for our site ranking. I hope so.

Thanks. Happy and careful link building.

Edited by qwerty, 02 September 2004 - 06:51 AM.

[qwerty]

Welcome, sunsoft30

I agree that you should always be careful who you're linking to, and the absence of PR should certainly make you more careful, but I wouldn't say that no PR should automatically mean you shouldn't link to them -- just that you should be extra vigilant in trying to figure out why they don't appear to have any PR. If you don't see a reason that they may have been penalized, I'd say it's still ok to link to them.

[BrianR]

Welcome to the forum, Tim - hope you enjoy being with us.

BrianR