How many inbound links?

[TWD-Tony]

We all know (or I presume we do...) that inbound links are a MAJOR factor in SERPS - This little tool http://www.bestcatalog.net/link_popularity/ will tell you how many inbound links your website has at any one time. NOTE that this is total links from current spidered pages and NOT the total number of websites that are currently linking to you....

Who has the best score then?

My main business site has 6652 inbound links at the moment...

[Paul_KY]

I believe the notion the more inbound links the better, to be a myth.

One inbound link can kick a site/page to the top of the SERPS within days.

[TWD-Tony]

I believe the notion the more inbound links the better, to be a myth.

One inbound link can kick a site/page to the top of the SERPS within days.

How does that work then?

The Major SE's (including Google) use complicated algo's to calculate the SERPS - using a points system... Inbound links is regarded as one of the major point scoring factors.
I don't claim to be an SEO expert - but this is one of the fundamentals of SEO.

I would be pleased to hear how the "one" link theory works...

[Paul_KY]

I think OWG would agree, the SEO community is at constent odds within its own ranks, proving to me no one really knows exactly how the search engines determine their SERPS.

"I would be pleased to hear how the "one" link theory works..."

Easy, say you have a widget-Z site and it's filled with useful content, as well as your own little money making goodies. You get a link from a well ranked widget-Z site, with ancor text that fits the bill, and BAM!, your site/page goes straight to the top 10.

This isn't a, "theory" at all. I see it happening on this end on a monthly basis. That's why I'm constantly making new sites/pages, instead of begging for links.

I hope this helps.

[TWD-Tony]

I think OWG would agree, the SEO community is at constent odds within its own ranks, proving to me no one really knows exactly how the search engines determine their SERPS.

"I would be pleased to hear how the "one" link theory works..."

Easy, say you have a widget-Z site and it's filled with useful content, as well as your own little money making goodies. You get a link from a well ranked widget-Z site, with ancor text that fits the bill, and BAM!, your site/page goes straight to the top 10.

This isn't a, "theory" at all. I see it happening on this end on a monthly basis. That's why I'm constantly making new sites/pages, instead of begging for links.

I hope this helps.

Ah - so you hold with the good link / bad link theory?

I totally agree that a link from a high valued (ex high PR) rated site is worth a lot, but I have to disagree with the "bad link" theory... (if you believe in that?)
The reason I disagree with it is because Google has always stated that nobody else can do anything to damage your own ranking - if there were such a thing as "bad links" then a competator could add your site to one of these "bad" websites to lower your ranking, and infact a whole new business would emerge selling "bad links" for such a purpose.

I will say that I am NOT an SEO expert - I only guide clients on basic SEO techniques but i'm on the fence with the "one good link" theory. One thing that I absolutely believe in though is constantly changing and relevant content... That seems to give websites a good Booooost!

Anyway - SEO is one of those things I think, everyone believes there own methods and I don't think that there will ever be a GOLDEN RULE that boosts site's rankings - The major SE's are always "tweaking" the algos

[OldWelshGuy]

HI Tony, no one said 'bad link'. worthless link sure, but that don't make it bad does it. One thing though, you say a link from a high PR site, this is not always the case, as PR can be fiddled no problem.

The one big link theory depends on the competitiveness of the phrase being targetted, but there is no problem getting weaker phrases to the top with one decent link. The key factor here though is how the site is viewed by the search engines. If the linking site is an authority site, then your going to get a massive boost, and that is one thing that ALL Seo's are in agreement over. The PR of the linking page really doesn't matter, if that page is part of an authority site, or a hub site, then BANG it is worth your weight in gold.

Links, together with the page title are the most important things for rankings, but rankings alone are not going to earn you money. A good SEO should be able to look at the site, and make it convert the best as well as get you placed in the SE's.

Personally I look to link for traffic above all else, as that way, regardless of the worth of the link, you get traffic.

[Paul_KY]

What I meant by getting a link from a well ranked site, as it makes sense to me, if their site ranks consistently high in the SERPS, my page/site may have a better chance at hitting page one also. I do this as apposed to getting a link from a site on page 159 (www.kewlsite.geocities.com, etc.). But what I really think is the true key to obtaining links from high ranked sites is (And yes, you can throw PR out the window), they most likely get spidered often, and I want my site/page to get spidered often also.

I don't buy into the good link/bad link crapola, I just think a link from a highly spidered site has done better for me than others.

My ideal link is a link from a site, which has other high ranking backlinks.

Again, IMHO, it only takes one link. And if you put together 100 pages a month, and get one link to each one of them, in less than one year you'll have plenty of traffic and if you use affiliate programs correctly, you'll make money.

This is all, of course, JMHO.