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Measure inbound links

Written by: Jeremy Spiller

Article Overview: Most search engines like Google use inbound links or back links, depending on what you call them, to measure if a site is relevant for a specific search query made by an internet user. Even if inbound links are not all to get top of Google, they play a very big part in the process alongside other factors.

Measure inbound links

Most search engines like Google use inbound links or back links, depending on what you call them, to measure if a site is relevant for a specific search query made by an internet user.

Even if inbound links are not all to get top of Google, they play a very big part in the process alongside other factors. With inbound links, the quantity is not always important, but a lot of people only see the numbers instead of asking what is behind. There is absolutely no point in having thousands of links just naming your site. First, it is better to use anchor text links. This means that the link back to your site is on a word or phrase. So as a result, it is better to have fifty links to your site using one of your target keywords as a link rather than thousands of links simply using your URL as the link as it will make no difference on your ranking.

Going back to how we measure those links, there are various sites and software offering to do it for you. Strangely enough, you will find that the number of inbound links you have will vary depending on the site or software you use. As a result it is better to always use the same to look for an improvement or not.

You can also just go to the search engines page and ask them where your inbound links come from, as most search engines offer a method to measure them.

While you would need to use the link:www.... command on Google, Yahoo will requires linkdomain:www.... Unfortunately, MSN doesn't tell you anymore the number of links you've got.

It is important to note that using those commands on the search engines will not show you all your links. It is also important to know that Google will only show you a small sample of links, so do not get scared if you only see a few links. Yahoo is usually doing better and is in my opinion the best choice when it comes to looking at your inbound links.

Using Google webmaster tool, you can also find out what some of your links are.

An SEO company will use those SEO tools regularly and will usually know a few. So if you ever use one for SEO services like link building, you can ask them about that. But remember that number is not all. Good links coming from relevant sites are the best.

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Article Tags: back links, links, SEO



Related Forum Posts
Re: S.E.O The Essential's parts of S.E.O for your website - Hey, thanks for these SEO tips. I agree that inbound links and keyword anchor texts are important for ranking high in the SERPs. There were other factors that you mentioned that were also important too (e.g. title tag and age of domain). It's always nice to see these SEO tips because I'm in the process of doing SEO myself.
Re: Bad SEO techniques? - [quote="terriz":3ls0vj4y][quote="markrollies":3ls0vj4y]Aside from that, unrelated links are also considered spamming?[/quote:3ls0vj4y] I don't know if I'd call it spam, but it's definitely a bad idea. I learned the hard way...accepted advertising that turned out to be links totally unrelated to my site content. Google didn't like that and my search traffic took a huge hit. Took 6 months to build it back up again.[/quote:3ls0vj4y] I think he was referring to getting inbound links from unrelated sites. In this case, there's nothing wrong with that and won't hurt or penalize your site. As long as the site has authority, the relation doesn't matter. In your case, then I can see why that would be so. I'd be very careful about who I would let advertise and what kind of sites they're linking to.
Re: How can I promote my site? - You could promote your site through numerous methods. Some of the proven methods are 1) adding valuable content to your website, 2) increasing the inbound links to your website via article marketing, 3) PPC advertising through google adwords, 4) running a blog in your web site, 5) of course, social bookmarking etc. Thanks, Mr.Ven
Re: Kevin's Case Study #9 - How do you increase forum traffic? - Another point re: URL, from my view, is that a single factor of your site isn't usually a deal breaker. Whereas it takes a decidedly significant amount of effort to brand your own name, since Evan's done that work, he is ok to keep it going. He could buy other relevant URLs that redirect to his name site for the purposes of PPC or other more keyword dependent campaigns. Also, since Evan has garnered such an extensive amount of keyword rich, relevant content that does have the trigger words in it (entrepreneur, specific names of great entrepreneur, business, etc.), his SEO is solid in the best of ways, he is hitting all the high marks. Also, he has a mega number of links in. So, when inbound links are coming from relevant, niche sites elsewhere, you're bound to be successful. I would not do it for my own name at this point, but I can see doing it. But, for those that can pull it off, it is a viable option. IMO. Vicki Flaugher
Re: EC Forum Badge? - Looks good David! I'm wondering if Evan could possibly be tracking the banners and report once in a while how the inbound traffic is doing from them? Would be interesting to see, and how it did as time goes on.


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