Backlinks, Google and Barack Obama

[freetraff]

Was doing a surf today and saw a funny SEO thing.

Position #4 for keyword 'website' is Barack Obama official site (website - Google Search)

I think this is another good example of how the Google algo treats relevancy, backlinks, onpage and offpage optimization.

If you visit the site like I did, you will see that this is not the best example of onpage optimization for keyword 'website' - in terms of SEO I would call this type of onpage optimization for keyword 'website' a complete wreck.

But, I guessed that this site got HUGE amount of backlinks from all possible pages (both relevant and irrelevant) and these sites linked to Obama site using 'Barack Obama website' or 'official website' or 'Obama website' in the anchor text of the backlinks.

Yahoo tool shows that I was right about the number of backlinks, the site has over 2,5 mln backlinks (Site Explorer - Search Results)

Of course, I would not simplify the issue. This is not just about the anchor text of the backlinks and the number of backlinks. It is also about the SEO trust/value of the pages that gave backlinks and other factors.

Still, this is a very good case of showing how fragile the term of *relevancy* is for SEO (I do not believe Obama site to be among the best top 10 info sources for the 'website' topic) and how powerful the backlink power is.

[krishananda]

I just remembered from your analysis above, adobe reader has always be the #1 in google for the keywords click here.

I'm not in US but I do know that the Obama's team do a great job in online campaign, BarrackObama has the most followers in twitter too.

[peterwhyte]

so how can i get lots of back link to this my site if i want to rank high ?and how can u guys be of help ?
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[freetraff]

I was discussing this with my business partner today - Barack's online media campaign was the best - they covered nearly everything what possible:

- social networks
- file sharing communities
- huge impact on bloggers
- lots of pre-made online ad tools

... this is really a big and separate topic for the discussion.

(and now they do a backselling - check Obama store )

And in terms of SEO this showed how powerful good backlinks are.

[dburk]

Hi freetraff,

I wouldn't be too quick to discount relevance. After all, it was the relevance of the anchor text that made this site show for this term. You will also see that the term "website" is prominately featured in on-page elements, including the meta description tag.

[freetraff]

Originally Posted by dburk

Hi freetraff,

I wouldn't be too quick to discount relevance. After all, it was the relevance of the anchor text that made this site show for this term. You will also see that the term "website" is prominately featured in on-page elements, including the meta description tag.

I also wouldn't be too quick on discounting relevance, and this is what I was not doing (otherwise I would not be offering the members of my service to choose relevant blogs for backlinks).

I highlighted how fragile and vague the notion of relevancy is, and that quality backlinks rock (even from non-relevant pages - check the Yahoo site explorer randomly and you can see even "cooking and recipes" type of sites had their opinion about Barack )