How Many Links Do You Need?

Every industry on the planet has its’ own set of frequently asked questions and SEO is no different. Some of those questions can be tough to answer…some might be super basic…just depends. In our little microcosmic world of link building, the most common question asked of me is:

“How many links do I need?”

Now, as simple and straightforward as that may sound, it’s pretty much the equivalent of asking me, “Where did we come from?” because to be perfectly honest with you, nobody really knows. Some people may think they know, but they don’t know exactly. The bottom line is there are too many ingredients in the casserole that is SEO to know for certain. It’s like asking exactly how many granules of salt you need to make it taste “just right.” You just eyeball it, right? Add some and if it needs more…add more. We all do it that way. And we should.

So how do I answer this all-too-common inquiry? My answer is always the same: MORE. More, more, more.

It’s not that I’m looking to push sales here, either. Seriously. If you’re asking that question to begin with it’s because you want higher rankings. And the way to higher rankings is through more inbound links. (I didn’t make the rules here, folks, I just play by ’em…it is what it is.)

Obviously, there is much, much more that goes into a highly successful SEO effort than just links, but once you’ve done all the “other stuff”….links are what you’re left with. Really, if you’re confident that your code is in order, your architecture & navigation pristine, and you’re loaded with enough great content to rival the Library of Congress; the only option you have is to get more links.

How many? Only YOU can know the answer to that, young grasshopper.

As I mentioned before, if you ask me…I’ll always say you need more. But how many more is unanswerable. My suggestion would be to keep acquiring them until you’re where you want to be. Eyeball it, you with me?

There’s no secret recipe, no brilliant mathematical equation, and no higher-power that can give you the answer. You just have to believe that more links will work…because they normally do.

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Search Engine Battles – Google vs Yahoo vs MSN

Came across this today and thought I’d share it, just in case you haven’t seen it yet. Search engine battles. . .

Google vs. Yahoo

Yahoo vs. MSN

MSN vs. Google

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The Showdown of Search and Social

Microsoft Live Search, the third most used search engine after Google and Yahoo with less than a 10% market share of online searches usually doesn’t come up in the conversation too often, but it made an interesting ripple last week when it was incorporated in the social search results of the immensely popular social networking site Facebook.  This got me thinking about who stands to benefit more from this action,  Facebook or Microsoft?  While I’m sure both sides stand to benefit; Microsoft can potentially increase the use of Live Search by tapping into the social networks millions of users and Facebook adds yet another functionality to their site.  However upon reflection I believe the convergence of Search and Social is clearly more important towards the Social Network, which has yet to establish its ability to effectively monetize through ad revenue the same way Search Engines have successfully done.

7 Examples of Marketing Plan and Why They Work (2022) - Shopify Philippines

In the last two years Facebook has made continual changes in their advertising platform, they call “Social Ads”, hoping to increase their ad revenue, which like many other websites is their primary method of income thanks to many big marketing companies like indexsy.com we are now able to get businesses to another level. The selling point for these ads is the ability to target market to very specific audiences based on the information in user profiles (location, interest, hobbies, age, gender, religion, favorite music, books, movies, etc).  They have also implemented several free tools such as Facebook Pages to help companies build brands on Facebook, pushing companies to promote these pages through paid Social Ads.  Yet among Marketers the success of Pages and Social Ads is often a matter of controversy on whether or not advertising on Facebook yield desired results.  They have ad models for both PPC and CPI, but the results of these ads have been abysmal when compared to the results of attainable through Search Engine Marketing.

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I think there are many factors involved in Facebook’s lack luster income but most involve the fundamental difference between Social Networks and Search Engines.  Information in someone’s profile is passive in that a person doesn’t input that data hoping to receive ads for it, they put it there for their friends to see which is the cornerstone of social networks.  Compare this to a search query in which a user is actively seeking information for a very specific topic of their choice at that specific moment in time.  I’m not saying that Social Marketing is a waste of time, but I think it has yet to find it’s rhythm and believe me they are searching for that rhythm as we speak. There is much potential for Social Marketing, I believe that with the right strategy and the right marketing companies cardiff, companies can engage their users in new and beneficial ways.

This comparison between the core products of Google and Facebook (search and social networks) is important because the two companies in some respects seem headed for a showdown with competing products such as Facebook Connect and Google Friend Connect.  Both companies are attempting to spread their influence to all corners of the net, with the advantage clearly to Google which has already established their dominance is so many areas, not to mention making a ton of money in the process.  The underdog, Facebook admits to being focused on growth not income right now, and with their partnership with Live Search they are treading further into Google’s territory.  As both companies vie for your time online, I predict we will see many interesting developments and an increasing convergence of search and social among all parties.

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Banner Ads Coming

Holding true to being a one stop shop for all types of online marketing needs, we are in the beginning stages of development for banner ads.

This method of media used to dominate the market, but then disappeared as a type of advertising that most people never paid attention to.

Lately the display ads have been making a comeback and we’ve decided to create the ability for advertisers and partners to participate in this area through LinkWorth.

Stay tuned.

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Larry Page – Sergey Brin and Hubert Chang?

A new video has surfaced from a guy named Hubert Chang, who is claiming he was the 3rd founder of Google. He says that “PageRank” was his idea he gave to Larry & Sergey.

It will be interesting to see what is dug up because you know people are already scrambling to investigate his claims. He has a NYU page, but has very little information there.

He does mention:


Google truth: The truth of Google’s birth. Google was designed in 1997 Feb by me(Hubert), Sergey, and Larry. What happened between Sergey, Larry, and me in 1997.

He then links to his youtube video that explains his involvement.

Thanks to webguild and to weberence for the story.

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SMX East New York City Coupon Code

SMX EastAnother trade show coupon post, but this one is less than a month away. SMX East is happening October 6-8 in New York City. The expo hall will be open the 6th and 7th, so stop by our booth (#416) and tell us how your day is going.

In addition to our booth, Matt Stoddart will also be giving a SMX Theater Presentation on September 6th from 1:30-2:00PM. The SMX Theater is a section that you’ll be able to attend with just an expo hall pass. If you’re in the area, please stop by and hear what Matt has to say.

Now to the point of this post. If you are still planning to register for the SMX East show, you can use the following code to receive a 10% discount on registration costs:

  • smx10link – 10% discount

Go to the SMX site to register. See you there!

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PubCon 2008 Coupon Codes

PubConIt’s almost that time of year again! PubCon Vegas – November 11-15. If you’ve been before, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you have never been, first of all, it’s Vegas. There really isn’t a second part, it’s just a blast to attend.

If you plan on attending, we have ten (10) 25% discount codes and unlimited 10% discount codes that you can find on couponscollector.com. I know some of you have asked about the PubCon coupons, so jump on the 25% codes ASAP if you know you’re going.

  • li-30325 – 25% off coupon code (first come first serve)
  • li-71010 – 10% off coupon code (unlimited)

Go to PubCon to register today. LinkWorth will be in booth 29 and we hope you’ll stop by to say hello. Who knows, maybe we’ll have another tattoo night. Anyone want a LinkWorth logo tattoo? If so, stop by our booth and we’ll make it happen.

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Buying Bulk For Cheap vs Buying Wisely

Einstein on LinkWorthThere are many fly by night services out there now that offer you thousands of links for a dirt cheap price. To the untrained eye, it will look like a great deal. Why pay for each individual link when you can save yourself tons of time & money by only paying a couple hundred bucks for 5k, 10k, 20k links or more?

You will definitely get what you pay for. Think of it like buying a car. If someone offered to sell you a car, one being $300 and the other being $3,000, which would you trust to get you where you need to be? Of course the $300 car sounds like the perfect deal, but what are the chances of that car actually working right? More than likely if you pay $300 for that car, you’ll end up spending thousands more dollars making it last more than a few weeks. Or you’ll just junk it, lose your money, and then spend money on a good car.

It’s no different with paying money for text link ads. An example of a $300 link service is called TNX. They promised people thousands of free links and extremely cheap links beyond that. Next thing you know, not only was their network wiped clean from the net, but their own site was as well. Helpless people that jumped into what seemed to be a great deal walked away with nothing but lost money and time.

Cars and LinksIf you are going to head down the link buying path, be wise about it. There are a few reputable networks (wink, wink) that aren’t going to sell cheap, worthless links. You’re also not going to stack thousands of links out there all at once. Take your time and do your link building the right way by finding relevant sites that make sense. Maybe even find someone that can lend a helping hand.

We (LinkWorth) now offer free account management to all advertisers. Let our Account Managers manage your account, or at least get you going in the right direction. Customer retention is what benefits us, so we’re not going to steer you down a dead end road with a junker car.

Just remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

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What does the word Chrome mean to you?

Google kicks ass in search. There’s no doubt there. It seems they are continually jumping into anything and everything they can, but nothing has really become as successful as their search product.

Now the talk is about their new open source web browser, Chrome. When I hear “Chrome”, I think of shiny metal on cars. I also think of a band I always dug back in the day called Catherine Wheel who put out an album called “Chrome”. Can Google recreate the word “Chrome” with a shiny, cool web browser? Tough road to climb.

I’m giving it a test run now and it will take some getting used to, but the initial look and feel is very ‘Google’; simple and clean. I’ll be waiting to hear of data collection claims by the smart people who will dissect the source code, but for now, I’ll use it sparingly.

Here’s a collection of features the current version has with a video.

Have you tried it out yet? Thoughts?

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Interesting Sight At Google Dance

Earlier this week we attended the SES San Jose show. The show was awesome, as usual. We met many new faces and noticed many familiar faces.

Unfortunately we made it a quick trip this year and missed the Search Bash, but we did attend the G00G Dance for a little while, which is always worth the trip.

Here are a few interesting thoughts I have looking back:

  • Quite possibly the worst food ever served at a conference I’ve attended.
  • Being that the show was in “Silicon Valley”, isn’t it odd that the Hilton, where we stayed, did not have wireless internet in the hotel rooms?
  • Should we hint to MCutts that we really don’t approve of what he does and maybe suggest that he looks for something else to do? A kind of ‘reciprocal link’.
  • Is there really anywhere in the states that has better weather than California?
  • There are so many good looking people that are in our industry these days, I’d say the “Nerd” tag is long gone!
  • 2 hours delay there and 2 hours delay return with American Airlines. Can someone say “NO MORE!”
  • While at the G00G Dance, someone left their “footprint” on the life sized globrite they had on display:

LINKS      Google Links

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