Inbound vs outbound links

does external vs. internal links really matter

[espmartin]

Hello,
Do inbound links really hinder your link appeal, as does
external links?

I have 42 links total on my page, 32 are internal, and
8 are external.

My link appeal shows a 1 out of 10.

So, does external vs. internal links really matter?

PageRank: 3/10
Outbound Links: 42
% of links to HTML 24%
Traffic: 2,612,563
Computed Link Appeal: 1/10 (7)

[espmartin]

Have I stumped you all

Patiently waiting...

[prairie]

Well, what exactly is 'link appeal'?

[espmartin]

Hello,

Link appeal is how "appealing" your site is for another
site to have a backlink from you. It takes into
consideration your PR and link count.

My question is if your site has many external (outbound)
links, which would saturate the link quality you provide,
should they be turned into internal (sub-pages within the
site) links.

Am I clear (as mud)?

[Teknorat]

*blinks* Riiight.

[espmartin]

Sensing sarcasm, I think you do not believe that it matters
at all about the so-called "link appeal"?

I am taking it with a grain of salt myself, but on the
slight chance that it DOES matter, any bit will help my
site (believe me!)

[prairie]

The more relevant a page is to a potential link, the more "appealing" ;)

[espmartin]

So, since Content is King (as you point out), external vs
internal links have no weight what-so-ever? I can have
50 external, or 50 internal, links - and they do not have
any barring?

Yes, I understand ,~) that the relevance of the content will
superceed in a decision to trade links with someone. There
are tools out there that can measure (hence, why I am posting
this question) "link appeal" - and draw sites to yours.

[ogletree]

Any value that an external link can bring you can be done with internal links. G looks at pages not sites for the most part unless they are banning. Do an experament. Change your external links to internal instead and see that your ranking will stay the same. Of course this is hard to do since there are so many other factors involved that change on a regular basis.

[espmartin]

Thanks ogletree,

G looks at pages, not sites. Now I Know. That clears it up
for me.

Thanks!

[annej]

G looks at pages not sites

When I look at sites and the sites of those above me in the serps it seems that way to me too. But I can't help but think that extenal links would somehow have more value.

[girish]

Ogle- what do you mean "Change your external links to internal instead and see that your ranking will stay the same"

Are you saying change the <a href> targets of OUT BOUND links to point to other pages within your site - leaving the anchor text unchanged?

[ogletree]

Yes

[buvar]

We are talking about self generated inbound links here aren't we. Cos obviously external inbound links are the real rankers.

However, I have noticed that google counts (perhaps in error) some sites 'self generated inbound links' along with 'external inbound links'.

This is sadly not the case for us with out hopeless 17 real white hat 'external inbound links' being counted by google :-(. All our 'self generated inbound links'are ignored.(fume!)

Some sites have a glorious 99,999 links but 99% of them are 'self generated inbound links'.

Why the double standards?

[annej]

My question is if your site has many external (outbound)
links, which would saturate the link quality you provide,
should they be turned into internal (sub-pages within the
site) links.

In the first point I think we overworry about outbound links. Putting in quality links to relevant pages on our own or other sites adds to the usability of our sites. They are what the internet is all about. SEO shouldn't take away from the value of our site. Though it's not certain if this is true now it appears that quality outbound links will eventually be a consideration in serps.

I guess what I don't understand is how you could turn outbound links into internal links.

We are talking about self generated inbound links here aren't we. Cos obviously external inbound links are the real rankers.

I'm talking about those inbound links that naturally develop simply because other people decide to link to you because they like what they see there and the links we personally encourage by getting our sites into directories, trading links and such. I personally think these inbound links carry more weight.

But I am continually amazed at how much internal links appear to help in rankings. Some people here are saying that internal links could carry as much weight as external inbound links. Whether the same or not it's obvious to me that internal links are worth expanding on.

I do think the clout of internal links is related to the PR of the page the link originates from. So links from low ranking pages may not help much. Has anyone else noticed anything along these lines?

[ogletree]

The title of this thread is a little confusing. This conversation does not involve links from other sites to your site. This is just a talk about on page SEO. That is my understanding. There is a theory out ther that says that linking to authority sites helps. It has something to do with themeing I think. Some say that linking to other related sites will help you. This may be true. I have not done much research on it. What I was trying to say is that internal linking within a site is very important as well.