Is Long Term Link Velocity An SEO Myth?

[Pjman]

I built a site that I am very proud of. The content is top notch and most sites are charging a monthly fee for what I give away for free.

About 10 months ago I started sending 10 emails a day to webmasters that link to my competitors (pay sites). I see a huge success rate and people love to link to it. I'm running out of sites to contact that are in a similar niche.

As a result of all the solid links my rankings have jumped leaps and bounds.

Is that all going to start to tank, if I don't continue to find new links?

Any input is greatly appreciated.

[aristotle]

Of course I can't predict what will happen in your case. But my impression is that the Google algorithm looks for correlations between the growth of new backlinks and how much traffic a site receives. To take an extreme case, a site that only averages 5 visitors per day shouldn't be acquiring 10 new backlinks per day (on average) That would look suspicious. On the other hand, a site that gets 10,000 vistors per day but hardly ever gets a new backlink would look suspicious too. So what happens in your case might depend on how much traffic your site generally gets.

[deadsea]

I'm sure that the type of site that is giving the links matters too. Getting lots of links from blog posts, on sites that have a good reputation and actual readers would not be suspicious. Especially if those articles were accompanied by a listing on a social news site. But getting lots of links from seldom read blogs, blog comments, or forums might be much more suspicious.

[storeowner]

I supplied a couple of reputable blog sites with a sample product for review and received a link from them in their editorial posting.

Is that one link good enough from one domain? Or do I need to periodically get some more backlinks from them?

[Receptional]

My advice would be to stop getting lots more sites and start to make the relationships with the sites you DO have link with much stringer. Try and get to know the owners on twitter/Linkedin etc and learn to know them on a personal level. Then - when you have something new worth saying - it is much easier to get that message out to a good audience.

If you do want to find more sites - there are many ways to do it... but again - seek out people that are influential in your niche - they will only talk about you if your content is up to the mark.

[storeowner]

My advice would be to stop getting lots more sites and start to make the relationships with the sites you DO have link with much stringer.

Thanks, thats really good advice. I have never really reached out to some of these sites that I already know more often.

[ZydoSEO]

Why not stretch your remaining link placements out? Start sending 10 every 3-4 days for a few weeks... then 10 every few months... Also, you can recontact those that never responded the first time you reached out to them.

If you have only been copying your competitors by seeking links where they have received them then you are likely missing MANY potential link placements. Look for patterns in the types of sites that actually link to them. Find other sites of the same type that are not linking to your competitors. They may link to you. Look for other sites that are complimentary yet relevant to your site, and reach out to them.

Use your head. Get creative. I'll bet there are literally thousands of other potential placements that you've totally overlooked.

[ZydoSEO]

Eeek! Should have read:

Start sending 10 every 3-4 days for a few weeks... then 10 every week for the next few months...

[Pjman]

Yes, focusing on high quality links is most likely the answer.