Relative links and keywords

[baby_gifts]

I have a competitor that has placed multiple text links on the bottom of pages throughout their site. These text links are virtual, versus absolute, and each contains a single keyword (They are using major brand names as keywords).

The majority of these text links lead directly to the site's home page, where most of these keywords/brands are NOT even mentioned, nor apparently available.

I suspect they are getting some boost from the stuffing of keywords into their anchor text as relevant links in the SE algorithms.

Comments welcome...respectfully.

[edited by: heini at 9:08 am (utc) on Oct. 27, 2003]

[Marcia]

>>These text links are virtual, versus absolute, and each contains a single keyword (They are using major brand names as keywords).

There's nothing at all wrong with relative links; some folks use them over absolute links because it makes things much easier if the pages are moved.

I've got client sites being developed in a section on my site right now that would have to be completely redone for navigation if absolute links were used.

They have to be functioning when the pages are uploaded to the proper domain they'll be hosted on, and it would be impossible to test the links properly if they weren't relative.

>>The majority of these text links lead directly to the site's home page, where most of these keywords/brands are NOT even mentioned, nor apparently available.

Many sites, particularly in certain fluid high volume markets, carry a wide variety of name brands that may or may not always all be in current stock. Something can be in stock today and gone tomorrow if an item is sold. That doesn't mean they have to change their whole site navigation every time stock changes - that wouldn't be practical or feasible.

People wouldn't have time to run their business, and all their profit would go into paying a web designer to make almost daily changes as stock fluctuates if they had to do that. Or they'd have to program the site back end to have the navigation dynamically generated to reflect a current perpetual inventory system. They do not work on enough of a profit margin to justify that kind of expense.

>>I suspect they are getting some boost from the stuffing of keywords into their anchor text as relevant links in the SE algorithms.

Anchor text is definitely a significant factor, but it's really only "cheating" if someone is, for example, stuffing links with brand names for products other than what they sell. That would be irrelevant, not if it's what they sometimes do actually carry.