The Truth About Backlink Value?

by inxie
18 replies
  • SEO
  • |
As a newbie coming into off-site SEO and the world of backlinking it's very hard to grasp the real value of a backlink. It's common to find people offering High PR backlink packages or services which turn out to be misleading.

They are links from a high PR homepage, often buried in profile links or signature links that have essentially no PR.

Here's a "PR8 Profile Backlink"

Homepage (PR8) > Forum > Members Page > Profile Page (PR n/a)

Going off my understanding, by the time we actually get a link from that PR8 domain, the value has reduced significantly. I know that PR is passed on, but how can we know the real value of that backlink?

How do we know if say...

50 profile backlinks

are worth more than...

5 direct PR3 backlinks

or worth more than....

2 direct PR6 backlinks

or even worth more than....

1 direct PR7 backlink

How can we we really estimate the value of these links and make good use of our time with our link building methods?
#backlink #truth
  • Profile picture of the author inxie
    Can anyone shed some light on this?
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by inxie View Post

      Can anyone shed some light on this?
      Sure, domains don't have PR.
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      • Profile picture of the author inxie
        Originally Posted by yukon View Post

        Sure, domains don't have PR.
        Another informative and helpful post from Yukon.
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        • Profile picture of the author jovykhan
          Originally Posted by inxie View Post

          Another informative and helpful post from Yukon.
          It's true. Domain index does... but I might be wrong.

          High PR doesn't mean high rankings. Backlink value depends on the website authority, if it is trusted by Google or not. Even if you link from a page with PR n/a but it's coming from WSJ I'm pretty sure there's a value on that link.
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          • Profile picture of the author paulgl
            Originally Posted by jovykhan View Post

            It's true. Domain index does... but I might be wrong.
            No, your index page does. That is, the page that one gets to when one types
            in domain.com, hits enter.

            Nothing by itself can determine the overall "value" of a backlink.

            Except when talking about PR. The PR of the page the link is on,
            is split (theoretically) by all links on that page. So even if one
            got a link on a PR3 page that had a million links, it's still worth more,
            PR-wise, than a link on a PR n/a or PR0 page.

            People get links for all sorts of reasons. What reason do you have for
            the link? Traffic? PR? Branding?

            A link high up on a high PR page, in content of your niche, on a website
            that has authority, non-nofollow, is probably the best overall link you can get.

            And you wanna know where these things exist for you to get em?
            Right there on your own online empire. Nope, won't happen overnight.
            But where do you think you would be at the end of 2013 if you
            started created this stuff?

            Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author Cosmit
        Originally Posted by yukon View Post

        Sure, domains don't have PR.
        That's weird, all this time I've been checking PR of my website's domain and now I find out that it doesn't exist!
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  • Profile picture of the author inxie
    How can we evaluate a websites authority with Google though?
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      Your reply to Yukon was snarky - but he's right.

      You've been given a lot of good advice (and some bad advice) about your website and until you address that and identify a smaller target audience there is little you can do to "position" your site.

      Everything you do to get backlinks or traffic is based on getting people to visit your blog. There's no point to it if they leave immediately after seeing what you have on your site.

      Don't fall into the trap of listening only to people who tell you what you want to hear. Do enough research on this forum to identify who walks the walk and who is only talking about walking.

      One thing I notice on your blog is this: Your writing is good but there are too many words packed into your sentences. Tighten up the writing to give it more "punch" no matter what niche you decide to focus on.

      kay
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      • Profile picture of the author inxie
        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

        Your reply to Yukon was snarky - but he's right.

        You've been given a lot of good advice (and some bad advice) about your website and until you address that and identify a smaller target audience there is little you can do to "position" your site.

        Everything you do to get backlinks or traffic is based on getting people to visit your blog. There's no point to it if they leave immediately after seeing what you have on your site.

        Don't fall into the trap of listening only to people who tell you what you want to hear. Do enough research on this forum to identify who walks the walk and who is only talking about walking.

        One thing I notice on your blog is this: Your writing is good but there are too many words packed into your sentences. Tighten up the writing to give it more "punch" no matter what niche you decide to focus on.

        kay
        Thanks for your honest feedback. I try to take the good and the bad when it comes to this and I am currently working on a big change to hopefully rectify many problems I am facing.

        I'll try to keep my sentences a little shorter

        P.S I know Yukon was right, I knew and he knew what I meant it. It's just every post I see from him appears to be of a sarcastic and rude nature.
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        • Profile picture of the author nik0
          Banned
          Originally Posted by inxie View Post

          P.S I know Yukon was right, I knew and he knew what I meant it. It's just every post I see from him appears to be of a sarcastic and rude nature.
          Yeah Yukon is a true bitch :p LOOOOOOOL
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          • Profile picture of the author Kay King
            I think the words to use are "blunt and to the point". That happens at times when the person offering advice KNOWS what he's talking about

            Threads like this one fill up with "go you" type comments that claim your plan is spot on and "you can do it". Yet the best answers will point to weaknesses in your plan - and make you think instead of dream. Sounds like you understand that.
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            Saving one dog will not change the world - but the world changes forever for that one dog
            ***
            Please do not 'release balloons' for celebrations. The balloons and trailing ribbons entangle birds and kill wildlife and livestock that think the balloons are food.
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  • Profile picture of the author Make Money Ninja
    To get the value of a link i do the following:

    I check the pr, i check open site explorer pa/da, i check majestic, i check ahrefs... I gather up all the metrics and decide whether its a good or bad link.

    I also go through my competitors links (You know, the people ranking #1 in Google... i then copy their links)... this means buying, building, whatever... if it gets them to #1, just do the same and a bit more and you will beat them in the long run.

    As for actual backlink values... it should be based on the # of backlinks on a page, for example a pr3 with 5 links out on page, is worth more than a pr3 with 150 links on page, all other things being equal.

    Basically, what i am getting at is, you are trying to make SEO to hard. Its important to understand these things, but you dont need to obsess about them, your focus is much better on doing things that work. Like building links, buying links, buying pr domains to use as links, writing/outsourcing content...

    Its the action that makes money, the obsessing over little details does not.

    FWIW, my big money sites have all kinds of links. Thousands of pr0, dozens of pr5. Its a balance. The key is balance
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    Profile links are about the most useless link you can find. It doesn't matter what the PR of the homepage is. PR does not just magically flow throughout every page on the site. PR flows through links. How many links does it take to get from the homepage to your profile? Is there even a direct path? If there is a direct path, it probably takes so many jumps that there is little to no PR left to go to that page anyhow. Can you see the profile without being logged in? If you have to be logged in, that means Google will never see it anyhow.

    As for determining the value of a link, a few things to look at...

    What is the PR of the page where the link will actually appear?

    Will the link be close to the top of the page or stuffed in a footer? Closer to the top is better.
    Is the link in context? an image? a sidebar? footer? In context links in the actual content of the page are the best.

    How many other links appear on the page? The PR will be split up between all the links on the page.
    So all other things being equal, a link on a PR 3 page with 10 other links is going to be more valuable than a link on an identical page with 25 other links.

    Those are just some of the things to look at.
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    • Profile picture of the author oneself
      Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

      As for determining the value of a link, a few things to look at...

      What is the PR of the page where the link will actually appear?

      Will the link be close to the top of the page or stuffed in a footer? Closer to the top is better.
      Is the link in context? an image? a sidebar? footer? In context links in the actual content of the page are the best.

      How many other links appear on the page? The PR will be split up between all the links on the page.
      Hey Mike,

      Thanks for your insights. How much would you value/pay for a domain that has a footer link (including homepage) on several pages from a PR8 edu domain. This is the only relevant backlink the domain has.

      URL subD root
      Citation Flow 50 47 45
      Trust Flow 60 54 52
      External Backlinks 912 56,509 70,014
      Referring Domains 180 1,830 2,468


      PA/DA 63, mozrank 5

      Am new to backlink valuation and the difference between citation flow and PR is weird. Also, I do not understand how the root domain has the lowest Trust and citation flows. Based on the stats I would assume the EDU is more likely to be a PR5-6.

      Would be very grateful for some input from you.
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  • Profile picture of the author ProSence
    What I do is I build natural links, so I use almost all the methods of link building and it helps, I even use nofollow too..
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  • Profile picture of the author evilsaigon
    Apart from quality, another important thing is to diversify your backlinks.

    It's alright if they are all hidden in some pr0 webpage profile link. They DO COUNT. Even if it's just a tiny bit of link juice each, they do add up as long as they are not too spammy.
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by evilsaigon View Post

      Apart from quality, another important thing is to diversify your backlinks.

      That is complete nonsense. The only link diversity you need is to try to have links coming from a multitude of sources, but not a variety of types of links.

      Profile links are complete trash.
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      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by inxie

        P.S I know Yukon was right, I knew and he knew what I meant it. It's just every post I see from him appears to be of a sarcastic and rude nature.

        I know what I read in OP (PR8 domain). I gave you an honest answer when nobody else would (almost 24 hours & no replies).

        Your welcome.
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