The Best Places for Your Links

or am I crazy?

[dataguy]

It all started as a hunch. Google has traffic information for many if not most pages on the Internet, through AdSense code, toolbar installations, etc. It would make sense that G would start using this data to weight pages and links. This has been confirmed time and time again. Then MC makes a few statements which perfectly align with this theory without actually saying it, and the whole webmaster community starts arguing over obscure ranking methods that have to do with reciprocal linking, cloaking, link location, etc.

What about actual traffic patterns?

I mean, come on, Google has ALL the referral information for any page which contains AdSense code. It would make sense that they would know which links are actually being clicked on by real people to get to those pages. Most recip links are placed on pages of links which never get viewed, much less clicked on, making recip linking automatically devalued. Same with cloaking and links in the footer, ROS links, etc.

Relevant links? Think Marketing 101. If you place a link on a page which never gets clicked, it probably is out of sight or not relevant to that page. BINGO, that link should not be counted as much, if at all. Shoot, Google easily has enough data to know the approximate click through percentage of links on our pages, so they can tell if a link is a legitimate advertisement (good link) or link spam (bad link).

All this falls perfectly inline with what MC and others from the 'plex have told us, yet we are still debating whether or not we should exchange links with others. It is easy to comprehend that what Google wants to see is which links people are clicking on, outside of Google. Hey, what do you know? Maybe their webmaster guidelines of "Would I do this if search engines didn't exist?" really does mean what it says. Maybe they have told us the truth from the beginning. Try to get links placed where people who would like your web site would see them and have the opportunity to click them. Again Marketing 101.

[phantombookman]

I wonder if Google's algo is quite as clever as we think/presume. I think they like to talk and drop hints etc and just scare people into line.

I see plenty of hidden text, hidden links, pages with no virtually content on etc etc.
There are a lot of things out there that are not supposed to work, in terms of SEO, and still do.

I suspect there is quite a gulf between what they would like to do and can actually do.

[jimbeetle]

Aw shucks, DG. Why did you have to put what's been talked about over many beers the past couple of years all in one tidy easy to read post?

Great post. A lot of it has been mentioned here and there but ignored or misread by most folks.

[dataguy]

I see plenty of hidden text, hidden links, pages with no virtually content on etc etc.
There are a lot of things out there that are not supposed to work, in terms of SEO, and still do.

The thing is, there are plenty of cloaked pages and pages with hidden text which have good content that many people find useful, and those pages should rank well. Using actual traffic data, they would.

Why did you have to put what's been talked about over many beers the past couple of years all in one tidy easy to read post?

It's funny how this is rarely discussed on message boards, almost like webmasters don't want to believe it.

[jimbeetle]

almost like webmasters don't want to believe it

Yeah, many didn't, or just chose to ignore it thinking that what worked before will continue to work. And those that didn't ignore it chose to play it close after seeing it disregarded when mentioned on the boards. There were a lot of hints over the past so many months, nothing one could actually hang a hat on, but that you just had to keep in mind.

We still don't know that this is what's happening, but many signs do point to it.

[julinho]

Google has ALL the referral information for any page which contains AdSense code. It would make sense that they would know which links are actually being clicked on by real people to get to those pages.

I agree.

Google also knows the keywords people used to get to pages (e.g., lots of people searching for "keyword1 keyword2" mean that there is correlation between the words), the anchor text of the links clicked (which tell much about neighbourhoods), time spent on pages, and many other information that *users* provide to them.

I think most SEOs underestimate the power that such a huge database of user provided information gives to Google.

[Bennie]

yer nice post dataguy!

[moose606]

To me links are all about relevance. Every conversation I have ever had with someone from G or Y! points toward the end user experience. If it's good for the visitor, link away!