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Off-topic inbound links - a problem?

Off-topic inbound links

         

Micheal_7

4:01 pm on Feb 20, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Hi!

More than half of my inbound links are off-topic (let's say 3/4 of them).
I read that any incoming links can not harm the site's rank. It can harm it's SERP?
Should I trade for an incoming link from an off-topic Rank 4 or for an incoming link from an on-topic Rank 2? I have a Rank 2.
Which way is the best?

glengara

4:59 pm on Feb 20, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



*Which way is the best?*

The "received wisdom" is the off-topic but higher PR link is better.

However, for Google, in an either/or situation, I'd probably go for the on-topic/lower PR one;-)

jorj

8:23 pm on Feb 20, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



avoid using off-subject links otherwise you'll get penalized by G and never get a PR more than 0!
It happened to me once.

defanjos

10:07 pm on Feb 20, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



avoid using off-subject links otherwise you'll get penalized by G

Interesting... how do you figure, then, that Adobe is not penalised? They have thousands of off-topic sites linking to them.

jorj

10:21 pm on Feb 20, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



How will you explain that I had 7000 (thousands) incomming links on yahoo but 0 on google after 4 months?

My believe is that if the site is selling widgets then google will expect to find widget-related links to it. But if the site is about 'red' (or an un-categorizable term) then G will probbly consider any incomming links.

defanjos

10:47 pm on Feb 20, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Out of these 7000 links, were the majority from a handful of sites, or were they from 6 to 7 thousand different sites?

graywolf

1:20 am on Feb 21, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



avoid using off-subject links otherwise you'll get penalized by G

If you search on "leave" you'll see Disney is listed number 1, since many p0rn sites link to them using the word "leave".

jorj

7:02 am on Feb 21, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Out of these 7000 links, were the majority from a handful of sites, or were they from 6 to 7 thousand different sites?

There were about 300 different sites although all shared 3-4 IPs. That can be a reason to ban too, I know that, but there are other sites doing well although they are linked in the same way but they covers general subjects (i.e. online website building).

If you search on "leave"..

I think this example is too general. Anyway, disney has around 300 incomming links and it's an authority on its field therefore their high ranking comes from many other factors than incomming links.

Micheal_7

2:08 pm on Feb 21, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Thanks a lot for your posts... They are good advices and really helped...
Now, I hope I will get more from my site using only on-topic links. I tried to make a higher PR taking links from higher ranked pages... but it really didn't work as I hoped..
I have another site that dropped his ranking and didn't knew y (I used to exchange links a lot)... probably because of the off-topic links ... as you said.
If I remove them all, after how long will G reRank my site? Should I make another one? (I heard that G can penalyse your site for 6 months, it's a little bit too long to wait)

jorj

3:07 pm on Feb 21, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



As I know the only chance one have to be reconsidered by G is to send an email to their support stuff. You'll find the info somewhere intheir help pages. In the meantime I would cleanup the 'environment' :)

Crush

3:31 pm on Feb 21, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Get links from anywhere. It does not matter, yet, but it may in the future.

martinibuster

4:53 pm on Feb 21, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



and it's an authority on its field therefore their high ranking comes from many other factors than incomming links.

What are these other factors that confer authority? I would really really really like to know.

Last time I checked, authority was conferred on a site by the amount of inbound links. In my opinion, Graywolf as usual is correct. Brilliant illustration. ;)

justdave

5:06 pm on Feb 22, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Inbound links are good, even if they are off-topic. Unless, of course, you exchanged links with them. If you have hundreds of off-topic outbound links, that might be an issue.

jorj

9:10 pm on Feb 22, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I've just read this thread:
Google PR Basics [webmasterworld.com]

It really worth reading it. Somewhere there you will find that you can even hurt your competitors by buying links of PR0 or off-topic! Watch out