Google and links pages

Question regarding GG and remote links pages!

[dcallan]

Hi folks,
Last night I signed up to a reciprocal links management system, whereby almost everything to do with running a links page will be taken care of.

Linksmanager provides the option of remotely hosting a links pages on their site / servers or allowing me to have it uploaded and updated via FTP on my site after me giving them my access information. My question is however how would this effect me as far as search engines are concerned. Particularly with Google, as outbound links are well known to leak PR.

My lines of thinking would be that a remotely hosted page would only be one outbound link from mydomain.com and my link partners links would be outbound from the linksmanager.com server. Whereas if I hosted it myself I would have lots of outbound links.

Also one more point, if I do decide to host my page on my own server, I'm considering putting the links pages down a level or two directory wise, will this cause the outbound links to leak less PR as they are much deeper within my site?

Any thoughts on these matters would be greatly appreciated.

[rogerd]

Hi, Dcallan. Several questions in there! First, the PR-leakage issue: Linking off-site isn't like opening a hole in a bucket that will drain the PR you have worked so hard to accumulate. Each page has an amount of PR that it can distribute. A page with two links on it will give more PR to those pages than if there were fifty links. If you bury your link page, it will have lower PR and will be less attractive to savvy link partners. When I look for a link partner, I like to see easy, clear navigation to the links page(s), preferably from the home page and/or main navigation menu. Visible links pages that are well-designed, relevant, and not too crowded will drive clicks, not just PR. Likewise, a high PR, easy-to-find links page will draw link partners to you rather than you having to seek out every one yourself. (Of course, the best draw for links is great content!)

I would not recommend a link page on another site, particularly if the site has something to do with batches of links. This will cause many potential link partners to run for cover. If your site is about widgets, your widget-related link partners want a link from you, not a link farm or a site about something else.

I don't know the firm you have apparently signed up with, but be very careful that they aren't posting batches of links to the same group of sites on each member's site. This will get your site penalized if it is discovered. I hope what you mean is that they will seek out fresh, relevant links and post them to your site as they get inbound links.

Dcallan, I'd recommend rethinking your link strategy. Make your links page(s) visible and relevant to your topic, and seek out quality links. PR leakage is largely a myth (think more in terms of PR distribution or PR sharing). Good luck!

[dcallan]

rogerd

I don't know the firm you have apparently signed up with, but be very careful that they aren't posting batches of links to the same group of sites on each member's site. This will get your site penalized if it is discovered. I hope what you mean is that they will seek out fresh, relevant links and post them to your site as they get inbound links.

This company will manage your links pages but it wont actually find links for you, it simply offers its scripts as it's service, my links will be unique.

Also I think you are right regards your other points, this new links system is for my redesigned version of my site, but in previous versions I had my links page directly off my homepage and had a PR 6 for a long time (recently dropped to 5 :-( ) PR 6 Is very good, aint it so leakage mustnt have been a big deal. Thanks for your comments

[rogerd]

Your link management setup sounds OK. Some link programs upload a bunch of standard links to your site, which is definitely not a great idea. As long as your links are unique and relevant, you should be fine. Also, keep some text next to the links (like a DMOZ or Yahoo directory page).