Link analysis software tools

Are automated link analysis programs as bad as automated rank checkers?

[ralph mellor]

Hi y'all,

Great forums. Thanks.

I'm considering buying some software tools to help with link analysis and management. I've searched on 'link analysis' and read some interesting threads, but none that talk about a software tool to aid in analysis (especially of inbound links).

In particular, are automated link analysis programs as dangerous (in terms of having an IP banned by Google) as automated rank checkers? Has anyone used a link analysis product? Anyone used OptiLink?

TIA,

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ralph

[Brett_Tabke]

They can be, but they are a great deal less aggressive. If you link check - it might pull 10-15 pages from the se where a rank checker can pull hundreds.

[Trodder]

I'm also interested in finding out how effective these products are (Optilink in particular), and whether they are worth purchasing. Any comments would be appreciated.

Trodder

[Brett_Tabke]

Well, the recent buzz on that particular one is that it can/will get you banned from some se's. You are far easier to associate with a site from your dialup ip than most would ever fathom.

[ralph mellor]

> Well, the recent buzz on that particular one is that

A search for optilink only pulls up this thread in WebmasterWorld. Where's the buzz?!?

> it can/will get you banned from some se's.

Urg.

> You are far easier to associate with a site from your dialup ip than most would ever fathom.

Ooh, this sounds vastly worse. Are you saying that use of these tools from a PC can get a web site, running on a different IP, even a different class-c, banned from google's index?!? That would far more catastrophic than just getting banned from using google from a particular PC (though that would still be a huge pita).

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ralph

[Winooski]

Brett, my understanding is that SEs don't penalize for oversubmitting a site, because there was a time when "bad boys" would purposefully oversubmit their competitors' sites in order to hurt their rankings.

If this is the case, why would SEs then penalize for using a rank/link-checking tool? I'm not saying there haven't been people hurt by their own overzealous rank checking --I believe there are a few WebmasterWorld contributors who will personally attest to that--, but if SEs really penalized as often as you're suggesting, every 2-bit saboteur would be flooding the SEs with fake rank checking to trash his competitors' sites.

[kris]

I heard some "buzz" on optilink from Brent Winters most recent newsletter. In there he states:

The best link analysis tool on the market is Optilink

Brett when you say "banned from se's" do you mean banned from searching or banned from the results? I know Google will ban IPs from searching their site for excessive automated queries but they have never said it can hurt your positioning.

[Windrose]

As to the 'buzz' about OptiLink, you can take it from the bee's own buzzer -- me.

First, OptiLink is not an automated query any more than IE or Netscape can be called automated. OptiLink does require far fewer keystrokes to do the same job and does some (IMHO) very valuable automated data analysis, but the query is done with the user's butt planted firmly in front of the computer -- just where you would expect the operator of a browser to be located.

Second, OptiLink _is_ detectable, but it is uneconomical to do so. To trap an OptiLink analysis would require procedures that would likely result in blocking every corporate domain on the planet.

Third, there has never been a single reported case of an OptiLink user being detected, let alone banned.

Forth, if your IP is banned, just change it! This is trival to do. Once had to do it myself because Google did a view headers on an email I sent them and banned the originating IP. Swap network cards, reboot, back in business. Total time lost was less than an hour.

Fifth, the only banning Google engaged in with regards to OptiLink is (1) banning the OptiLink home page [despite an Alexa rank of 27,634] and (2) the personal abuse of a couple of notable OptiLink affiliates. This second item was resolved through the appropriate a** kissing. The first one remains, but who cares.

Sixth, there is simply no way to connect the IP used when running OptiLink with the pages being analyzed so there is no way for your domain to be banned by running a desktop tool -- any tool, OptiLink included.

Seventh, there is no way to map your desktop IP to your real identity, so there can be no way to find your domains through whois data.

Eighth, don't call Google and tell them you use OptiLink, I won't, and I no longer place domain names with testimonials. But then, you shouldn't call up your competitors and give 'em a dump on your superior business practices either!

Finally, Google is not in any position to prohibit so-called "automated queries" -- assuming they could even define how to establish an http connection without "automation" -- any more than the telephone company could prohibit voice recorders and autodialers or the cable company could prohibit VCRs and TIVOs. It is really a simple matter of "jurisdiction".

Best regards,

Leslie Rohde
creator of OptiLink

[RossWal]

When one restructures a web site such that nearly all the pages have moved, renamed, etc., what is the accepted approach to identifying incoming links in order to implement 301 redirects?

Thanks for comments,
Ross