Students Of Success

I’ve been engaging in reciprocal linking with other websites
for some time. I’ve always been aware that a single incoming
link from a high PR website is worth far more than many links
from low PR websites (the actual ratio is known only to God).
I’ve also always been aware, at least over the last couple of
years, that incoming links from non-relevant websites is not
only valueless but can, in fact, have a negative effect on your
Search Engine ranking (*as opposed to PR).

I’ve written previous articles about linking, one or two of
which have been specifically about the practice of requesting
and accepting links from anybody and everybody. However, I’ve
never been armed with any ‘hard evidence’ with which to support
my plea for some sensible thought about the way in which some
people handle their linking practices. This time around, I have
this little offering from Google, the people who are responsible
for the whole ‘PR’ caboodle.

“How is PR effected if you have text links on a page that is
irrelevant to the website? Links from a non-related site will
still pass PR, but will have little or no effect on the SERPs.
Too many of these might even have a negative effect on SERPs.
Remember, PR matters when all other things are equal, but that
is never the case. You are much better off getting back links
from a relevant PR4 page (and site) with targeted anchor text
than getting back links from an irrelevant PR6.” - Ref:
http://www.prlookup.com/faq.htm

There you go. You may not have heard it here first, but it is
out of ‘the horse mouth’, so to speak. I don’t know how long
this particular piece of information has been available at
Google for all to see (I don’t spend much time in Google’s
‘support’ pages) but it’s there now and I hope that it becomes
common knowledge very quickly.

To some it may not be a revelation. It won’t be of any great
concern either, because like many, they have always been a
little particular about the ‘relevance’ of the websites from
which they accept or request reciprocal (or incoming only)
links. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about being ‘tight’
or ‘mean’ about linking with lower PR websites. I have always
agreed to link with any website that has relevant content.
Provided the website has the same (or related) subject matter, I
don’t care about the PR.

You see, that’s what it’s supposed to be about - supplying
worthwhile links and even alternatives to your users and making
your website available to users of other related websites. How
is this purpose served by supplying users with links to (and
accepting links from) totally unrelated material? Google, along
with the rest of us, tends to think there is no purpose served
at all, hence the possibility of negative effect on your SE
rankings for thinking otherwise.

I know there are many thousands of websites, which use software
to manage their ‘Linking Programs’. Some of this software is
‘automated’ and allows links from anyone who is willing to fill
in a form and post a link to their website first. This type of
‘Linking Program’ has turned many websites into ‘Mini
Directories’, with pages of categorized links which have
absolutely nothing to do with the theme of the website
whatsoever.

What good is a high PR if it doesn’t help your SE rankings, or
even hurts them?

I know this will be disappointing for those who have spent money
on these facilities (especially recently), as well as those who
have had them installed for some time. I feel for those who have
been doing what they have thought to be, or have been advised is
the right thing to do. But I’m sorry, it’s very clear, judging
by Google’s own advice, that these programs have been in the
very least, achieving nothing for the SE rankings by collecting
so many irrelevant links and it’s also possible that in so
doing, they have been “tying a millstone around your necks” and
your website may well have been penalized for it.

That’s not to say that the programs have somehow not done their
job. I believe they are for the purpose of improving ‘link
popularity’, and this is exactly what they have done. However,
link popularity ALONE is not a consideration in the SE ranking
algorithms when the PR has been established with unrelated
links. Remember - “Links from a non-related site will still pass
PR, but will have little or no effect on the SERPs”.

Every day, I still get emails requesting a reciprocal link from
an unrelated website, in which the sender informs me that
“reciprocal linking is a very effective way to increase your
website’s PR and SE rankings”. I hope now that we can all
realize and agree that when it comes to linking for the purpose
of improving SE rankings, it only works if it’s done properly.
This means, as with everything else, there is no quick way and
no ‘automated’ answer. You have to check each website that you
are considering linking to, in order to ascertain if it’s
relevant and consequently, of value to your users (and your site
to it’s users) and the Search Engines.

I wonder if there’s a software program that can quickly and
effortlessly remove incoming links from unrelated sites? I
seriously doubt it, considering it would involve removing
content from websites belonging to others. I feel that for most,
this will be the most difficult problem to deal with as once
they are there, they are there to stay. How do you undo so much
hard work?