Google's Matt Cutts discusses "Good quality links.."

[admin]

Some webmasters and site owners do not realize how important it is to keep your linking relevant and from quality websites that benefits your end users.

And now we hear it right from the "horse's mouth".

Google's Matt Cutt's says "In general, getting good quality links would probably help us know to crawl your site more deeply." Read more from his blog here:

http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/q-a-thread-march-27-2006

[nozzmoking]

This also brings to light an interesting question.

Let's say you have a site that was created way back (pre Google), and that stage linking guidleines didn't exist. You exchange links with anyone who will reciprocate and a couple of years later, you find yourself no. 1 in Google for your main keywords.

Roll forward to the present time and you become aware of the Google guidelines relating to quality, theme-based links.

Do you: A, remove all non-themed links, or B, leave them in place as you still have your no. 1 positions in Google and it doesn't seem as though any penalisation has taken place?

Anyone have any thoughts as to what the 'older' sites on the net should be doing to maintain their position?

Is it better to have a couple of hundred 'quality' links, rather than a few thousand non-related links? (I realise Google would say 'yes', but has anyone proof of this in a real world situation?)

Has anyone here tried any experimentation on the above they would care to share with us?

[giftsofblessings]

I have seen in the past month some sites in the top ten if not in the number one spot on google that dont have any link pages, a blank links page, or one with just a couple. This is under a "gift basket" search. I cant seem to find what makes them rank so high. Anyone have any thoughts?

[simons1321]

Do you: A, remove all non-themed links, or B, leave them in place as you still have your no. 1 positions in Google and it doesn't seem as though any penalisation has taken place?


Option B, do nothing. If it ain't broke, dont try to fix it! I wouldn't do option A until the sites rankings dropped drastically from number 1.

I have seen in the past month some sites in the top ten if not in the number one spot on google that dont have any link pages, a blank links page, or one with just a couple. This is under a "gift basket" search. I cant seem to find what makes them rank so high. Anyone have any thoughts?

They probably have tons of one way links. (ie. People linking to them without having to link back) This happens quite frequently when someone visits a site then decides to link to that site without engaging in a reciprocal link request of any kind.

This most frequently happens on news sites, .edu's, .gov's, and blogs as they are referencing or quoting the site they visited. Because no reciprocal link exchange took place, search engines prefer these types of links over reciprocal links. Most of the time it proves that the site is relevant, popular, and an authority on a certain topic.

[elliot]

A large number of one-way links could result in a higher rank than seems likely from visually examining a site, but so could a large number of hits regardless of how they are generated.

Like the electoral system, Google favors incumbents. Sites that have been around for awhile and built up "sticky" relationships with lots of web surfers are going to get Google "bonus points" compared to new sites with few visitors.

This is, of course, somewhat of a generalization and operators of old, established sites that get complacent and don't regularly refresh their content and their links will eventually wind up in the penalty box.
________
Civic (first generation) (http://www.honda-wiki.org/wiki/Honda_Civic_(first_generation))

[Martin]

They probably have tons of one way links. (ie. People linking to them without having to link back) This happens quite frequently when someone visits a site then decides to link to that site without engaging in a reciprocal link request of any kind.
Gift baskets sounds commercial and they probably have bought many links. How likely is it that a .gov or .edu site will link to a gift basket site?

[simons1321]

I was just giving an example of the type of websites that most commonly one way link to websites. I wasnt saying that a .gov or .edu is the specific reason for the website referred to.

But...
harvard.edu links to adorablegiftbaskets.com... #1 for "gift baskets" on G.
Its contained on a page that talks about Ip addresses with multiple domains, but nonetheless its still a .edu link.

In addition I also did a project on SEO and the ability to manipulate search engine rankings in which my team placed hundreds of links to a random sample of sites on a page located on my school's .edu address to try to determine the amount of link strength a .edu carries vs a .com. Just think about those 300+ lucky websites that got a .edu link without even asking for it.

Moral of the story: Sometimes you never know who links to you and for what reason.

[Mike]

Hi Everyone this is my first post :) .

Interesting discussion, I have always wondered what exactly makes a link more relevant than others. I mean, I know that if you have an auto site (just an example) and get links to a Viagra site, the relevance would be non existant. But what if you had an auto site that got links from a boat site? They are not 100% relevant, but they are in a way relevant (i.e. transportation). So in your opinions would this be a logical relevant link? Or is it a non relevant link?

By the way, I am not sure how long the forums have been up, but I wish I knew about it months ago. :)

[Phil Staff]

Welcome Mike!

You pose a good question that has many different answers.

You are correct that a pharmacy/drug site would definately not be relevant to an auto site.

Yes a boat link to your auto site could be seen as relevant because they are both 'transportation' but if your site is strictly about autos then maybe boat links would not be relevant. Something you believe is relevant may not be considered relevant by another person.

Ask yourself,
"Does this site I am about to link to add value to my user's experience?"

If the answer is "Yes", then link to the other site. If the answer is "No, this site does not add value to my site visitors' experience", then do not link to the site.

Always make linking decisions on what is best for the end user, not the search engines, and you will have long term sustainable success.



Some webmasters and site owners do not realize how important it is to keep your linking relevant and from quality websites that benefits your end users.

And now we hear it right from the "horse's mouth".

Google's Matt Cutt's says "In general, getting good quality links would probably help us know to crawl your site more deeply." Read more from his blog here:

http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/q-a-thread-march-27-2006


Phil

[elliot]

Autos, boats, Viagra can they all be relevant?

Probably not if they're just homepage links, but if you convert to content links they might be.

For example, Phil raises the issue of whether or not an auto and boat site would be considered relevent to each other under the general topic of transportation.

His correct conclusion is that it depends on how specific the sites are to their topic.

But there's another way to do it ... years ago, the hot engine for jet-powered ski boats was the Oldsmobile 454. So if your auto site linked to a specific boat site page containing content about the Olds 454 it would seem to be relevent under all conditions.

And if you happened to have an article about hot rods being used as penis extensions, why not a link to a Viagra site?

OK, maybe that's an extreme example, but I think the point, that the content on the particular linked page counts as much as the nature of the site, is probably valid.
________
Medical marijuana patient (http://mmjp.org)

[pageperson]

Let's face it, it's sickeningly fashionable to attribute all sorts of magical powers to Google, powers that would make Superman blush. Able to leap tall buildings without raising a sweat and all that ...

Sometimes it's good to do a brief reality check. Here's one:

Google the word "garbage."

And the winners are:

In third place, a site devoted to the band <a href="www.garbage.net/">"Garbage"</a>.

In second place, the <a href="http;//www.garbage.com/home.php"> official site</a> of the band "Garbage."

In first place (can I have the envelope please):

<b>Garbage
Albums: Garbage, Garbage [Japan Bonus Track], Only Happy When It Rains, and more... Songs: Only Happy When It Rains, Milk, Dog New Tricks, and more...</b>

Interestingly, this particular site, the number one Google return for "garbage," has no URL listed under the anchor text. You have to click on it to find out that it takes you to <a href="www.google.com/musica?aid=C-XSjbZv4aC&sa=X&oi=music&ct=result"> Google's very own</a> ad-filled Garbage-band link pages.

Which just goes to prove that to really take advantage of rules -- SEO rules or any other kind -- it helps to have written them.
________
Volcano classic review (http://vaporizer.org/reviews/volcano)

[Painless Parker]

Which just goes to prove that to really take advantage of rules -- SEO rules or any other kind -- it helps to have written them.

It probably also helps not to have to worry about your link pages being dumped into the supplementary index.
________
Toyota rsc (http://www.toyota-wiki.com/wiki/Toyota_RSC)