Too Many Links???

[Sarah O]

Can anyone tell me generally how many links you are allowed to add to your site a month from sources such as article directories, directory submissions, reciprocal etc without being smacked from Google for building links too fast and not in a natural way. Is 30-50, 50-100, 100+ ok?

Just a general idea as I want to really get my link exchanges going but do not want to get into trouble from Google for being too aggressive with my link building efforts.

Thanks
Sarah

[dburk]

Hi Sarah,

Google doesn't have a problem with you getting links, the more the merrier. The only thing Google is against is artificial link building that is designed to manipulate PageRank. So if you learn which methods are okay with Google you can build all the links you want.

Matt Cutts, head of Google's anti-spamdexing team, has gone on record in support of merit based links. This is where a webmaster gives a link to another website based on merit. It could be for contributing useful content or just because the webmaster thought it could be useful to their users. If the linking website doesn't want to vouch for website then they can add the nofollow attribute to the link.

If a link is from a relevant page and not overly spammy then it should be fine. If it is marked with a nofollow attribue then it will be okay as long as it's not too spammish.

Paid Links
You can get some serious traffic from paid links on the right page. If you instruct the webmaster to include the nofollow attribute then you and that website owner will benefit in long run. Their page doesn't get de-indexed or devalued and you get a lot of targeted direct link traffic. You can get as many of these type of links you want without any concern.

Merit Based Links
If you can convince other websites to add a link to your page based on merit. You can get all those kinds of links you want without concern. You can write high quality original content and offer it to other webmasters, contribute useful comments, make useful forum posts, guest blog, write compelling linkbait and sponsor worthy causes all without concern.

Don't Spam
Now if you ever decide to use some sort automated software to generate backlinks you are crossing a line that is likely to get those links devalued. If you post links that appear to be be more promotional than useful then you will need to keep a low profile because you are the target of the anti-spamdexing teams.

[Sarah O]

Hello dburk;

First of all thanks for getting back to me. I had trouble finding my question in the forum after I posted it to see if I had any resonses. So if I understand you correctly I can go out and get as many links from both paid and free directories as well as by posting to article directories and not be penalized whether I receive 30 or 300 links in a months time?

The reason why I am asking is because I have the time and means to go out and get alot of links but certainly do not want to get into trouble with Google for going about this too aggressively. I was led to believe if I got say 200 links in a months time that it was not considered not "Natural Linking" in Googles eyes. On that note are these the 2 best places to get high quality links? I find reciprocal linking takes too much time and work.

Thanks.
Sarah

[dburk]

Hi Sarah,

As long as those links are merit based and not overly promotional, then yes, you can get as many as you want with no worries. If they are paid links that is fine also as long as they are not designed to manipulate PageRank.

The problems most folks run into is when they create thousands of spammy links, often with some automation tool or participation in a linking scheme. People will sometimes try almost anything in a desperate attempt to get traffic to their website. This seems to inevitably lead to PageRank manipulation. Google is protective of their PageRank model and are simply trying to ensure that their users find high quality and relevant content.

[Hyaku_Man]

I'm totally comfortable adding 20 or 30 links a day. But getting like 500 in one day could raise a red flag and especially if it's a new site get it dropped down to the bottom of the search results. It's better to do a bit every day and be consistent. There's no exact number though. And like the others said, link quality has a big effect.

[samcarson]

I just created a new blogger blog a couple of days back with just one good unique article. Today I used Angela's and Paul's packet to get high PR backlinks to this blog to get it indexed. Is this an overkill?

Thanks

Sam

[Sarah O]

Well Thank You Very Much all of you for your insight!

I appreciate it very much. I will now start building my linking campaign more aggressively than I thought I could. I shall continue to subscribe to both free and paid directories as well as start writing more articles and submitting them to the article directories unless you guys suggest getting links from another source(s) would make better use of my time as this is what I have been told is the best way to get relevant one way links to my site.

This forum is so great for helping out us newbees!

Thanks Again!

Sarah

[Sarah O]

Hello Sam;

You mention in your post :"Angela's and Paul's packet to get high PR backlinks" May I ask what it is that you are talking about?

Thanks.
Sarah