Link Building
While many of the tools and techniques on this site will show you how to build links, where to get them from, how to approach webmasters, what sort of site constitutes good authority and trust etc. The one question I am asked perhaps most often is; “How many links should I have”.
Previously published on my site demondemon dot com. Updated for digital marketing in 2020.
The simple answer is “More links of better quality than your competitors”. However even that needs some explanation. And of course there is the thorny issue of Google’s anti spam link assessment. How many is too many? What factors affect whether a link profile is safe? How fast should a site’s link profile grow?
Here we look to answer these questions.
First of all I’d like to say a massive thank you to everybody who has contributed their sites statistics to this analysis many of you who have already commented on it or sent me e-mails and PM’s asking further about some of the topics raised in these link building statistics. Special thanks to Daryl Green for fantastic job of proofreading version 1.0 of the stats allow me to get out the far more legible version 1.01 the same afternoon.
This is exactly the response I was hoping for. So thanks to everyone.
The need for safety in SEO combined with effective methodology
One topic that does seem to need some clarification is the number of inbound referring sites that you should create in an ideal situation. Here is the calculation again;
(Age (in years)+7 * Number of landing pages) + (Number of referrer sites referenced in Google Web-master tools /2) to a maximum of 72
So for a brand-new site with only one landing page and no current inbound links, and therefore no referrers, then the number of entities you should create in your tier 1 structure would be seven.
((0+)7X1)+(0/2)=7
If you had two landing pages on this brand-new site, this number would be 14.
((0+)7×2)+(0/2)=14
If you had three landing pages and already had 10 referring sites with links pointing to you on a site that was a year-old then the answer would be 27.
((1+)7×3)+(10/2)=27
The calculation takes the important factors of your existing link profile as well as the metrics of your site as it currently stands into account. Link velocity is tricky to measure with a one off “reading” of your inbound” – velocity by it’s very nature requires at least two points of reference. It is however perfectly possible to establish your current “link mass”
Importantly we are talking about the number of referring sites according to Google webmaster tools. If you use Majestic SEO or similar, then the number will be much higher. Just use the Google figure.
If you’re building an authority site and have 10 or 12 pages that you wouldn’t mind visitors arriving on (number of landing pages) Then the number of inbound referring sites is increased the maximum of 72 quite quickly.
A viable landing page needs at least 550 words on it (unique) You can balance some of this with a video element, but to get good onsite SEO and keyword relevancy, I would go for at least 550, preferably far more (I tend to go for between 800 and 1500 – but then I have some sort of “compulsive typing issues”)
So, that’s the first area where I haven’t perhaps been as clear as I could have been. I am talking about referrers not links – and Google acknowledged referrers and not “total found by 3rd party link checking tool”
Where my original explanation seems to need a little more clarification is in explaining that each tier 1 structure that you create is capable of giving you more than one link.
Every Web 2.0 site, Wiki site, article profile could and should be utilised several times.
Here’s an example;
My current technique is to post a “scout” article first to my tier one sites and profiles. This is something that is handwritten, on topic, un-spun and contains no links. I submit the exact same article to every tier one side at the beginning of a campaign.
This is done to get your account approved and in good standing with the webmaster moderated sites. These days most decent sites (and these are where you want your links to go after all) are moderated by human or have very good anti spam protection.
Having received several emails and even had conversations with some of the webmasters of these sites I can confirm that a lot of high Page rank sites do indeed have human moderation or excellent anti-spam, that’s part of the reason why they have survived as high page rank and not been penalised by Penguin. (Makes sense when you think about it).
The bespoke custom coded high PR sites in SEO Autopilot are very powerful, but they maintain their power and status by stringent anti spam policies. It pays to play the game to their rules rather than try and bluff your way in
Sites that allow anyone to post anything often fail. And let’s face it, you aren’t going to get a lot of benefit from an inbound back-link from a site full of spam anyway
By submitting this quality first written piece to all of your chosen tier 1 sites at the beginning of the campaign it is likely to be approved by all or most of the sites before it gets indexed (and therefore possibly seen as plagiarised – even if it is just by yourself over syndicating). It often takes a few hours or days for a site to get their content indexed, and by then, if all goes to plan, most of them will have already approved your account.
From then on submitting subsequent articles, perhaps using well spun but legible content, this time with embedded links should prove much easier.
Each individual entity in your first tier structure can be used several times over, and indeed gains authority in its own right if you use them in this way.
I tend to get a couple of links to each of my landing pages from every Web 2.0, article or WIKI site I create, with the understanding that I never put more than one self-serving link in any article.
It goes without saying that each landing page should be written for a particular keyword or phrase or set thereof.
This should give you an idea of how many times you might consider submitting to the same profile.
During the course of this campaign, which will likely take a few weeks, you may find some sites do get deleted despite your best efforts, there are enough viable link targets for most market sectors that can be found with a tool like Buzzbundle that this should not be unduly concerning. I found the survive-ability of sites where you take the time of the content and post regularly is far greater than when you just send in one post with a self-serving link in straight away.
Obviously, I know I’m “flogging the point” here, but the quality of your content in human moderated sites is also vital if you want to get them approved. That doesn’t mean “no spinning” but it does mean “no total junk”
Hope that clears up the calculation.
I’m really enjoying the feedback here. Thanks again for all the comments. This article was originally published on my old site demondemon.com and has been updated slightly and moved here for convenience, I can see the next few posts being aimed at explaining myself a little better, and hopefully this will help me improve and refine the calculations.
Hi, A quick introduction. I’m Paul Rone-Clarke. Some of you may know me as “Scritty”. I’ve been in DM/IM for almost 21 years at the time of writing this. Full time for almost 10. When I started Google did not exist, social media was almost a decade away (even MySpace), email marketing was too expensive for most to contemplate and the internet was quite a jumbled and disorganised place.
The organisation and legislation of the last 20 years has changed the landscape considerably, and these changes are likely to continue for many more years to come.
What this means is that, in practice, the lessons of the past are often not applicable to the present and may well move on again the future. Yourmetalife is an attempt to make sense of these changes and is particularly aimed at creative and web design agencies looking to break into digital marketing via cost effective, efficient, repeatable white label services and automation. And lone internet marketers and affiliates looking for a way to scale their operations effectively.
Please browse the site, comment, criticise and suggest. You are all most welcome.