link or content which one is more important to get high rank?

[Jack_Smith]

Can you share your knowledge about the following topic:
No of Links or content of the site, which one is most important to get high ranking in the major serach engines? If my content is so so and back link is good then is it possible to get high rank or I have to improve my content quality also?

[Jack_Smith]

Is there any one?

[Essex_boy]

I doubt Google could recognise a site full of good content as its a machine so I imagine links first then Mr G thinks it must be good, up goes your rankings.

Thats my thought anyway

[Essex_boy]

[webmasterworld.com...]

This answers your question with solid proof of what ive just said.

[wheel]

You can get a darn good start with just onpage stuff if you're not in a too competitive industry. I've done a couple of things lately with mostly content and just one or two links (non-competitive terms in competitive industry) and popped into the front page just from that. I'm assuming that means I'm ranking based on onpage stuff.

Competitive terms, or to take it above that it's going to take some linking.

[neuron]

this is like asking, "what should I eat? vegtables, fruit, nuts, meat, or fish?"

You can have a lot of links to a site with no content, and the site will be virtually worthless without content.

Likewise, you can build a great content site, but have no links to it and it is still virtually worthless.

A site needs both to grow and survive. You need at least some nominal amount of content to begin getting links, but you are not going to get a lot of links without a lot of great content.

Sites with truly great content, once given a few links, can continue to grow links without a concentrated linking effort, but these kinds of sites are pretty rare. A site with minimal content but great links, can get a lot of ranking, but if it has nothing for the visitors, the site won't do much.

Get links AND build content. Fetch wood AND carry water.

[Jack_Smith]

But I have seen there are so many sites have 10 or 15 links and that site is no 1 or no2 in major search engines. And another site having 200 links in lower ranking comparing to the first site. But content is more or less ok. And it does not mean that all 15 links are from pr4 or pr5 page. Most of the links are genneral. So How is it possible for that site to be listed in the top.
Can you tell me what is the reason behind this?

[neuron]

I can give you an example.

wholesale-widgets.com outranks waterproof-widgets.com for "widgets". While there are a lot more people looking for waterproof widgets than there are for just widgets, but the main keyterm for waterproof widgets is "waterproof", not widgets.

if you can think topologically, it's a hilltop inside a zone that has a higher footprint.

for an example. I have a site that is currently ranked #2 for a single-word keyterm that has been swapping the #1 position with another site. They have 50 to 100 times as many links as mine, their links are virtually all one-way links, from dot edu's and org's. a high percentage of my links are reciprocal, but I'm swapping place, sometimes ahead of them for several weeks at a time. They also have a lot more content on their site than I have on mine. So why do is my site with just 1/50 the number of links they have basically equal with them?

It's because they only sell waterproof widgets, a special form of widget, and I sell all sorts of other widgets that even if you waterproofed you still couldn't call "waterproof widgets".

So, even though I have fewer links, my site more exemplifies the general rather than the specific, I'm on a distinguishable hilltop, and he's on another, and the term is relevant to several hilltops, some more so than others.

[topsites]

Links ARE content!

Just ask anyone has built a site with nothing but hand-picked links, which by the way, hand-picked links are the only way to build a decent link list... And for those who think link lists get no traffic because everyone gets tired of seeing them, think again!

The text link is the foundation of the World Wide Web.
The text link is the oldest, simplest form of dynamic, interactive content.
The text link has the fastest load-time and gets the highest CTR.
Search engines use link lists to fill their db's.
And, link lists can get a *TON* of traffic!
But, the links have to be good, hand-picked works best.
You want quality links? Then be a little bit picky!
Sorry, I know it kinda sux but to have a quality link list you will have to be a little bit picky (just not overly so).

So, build a link list and while you're surfing and listing, ask each webmaster might they mind reciprocating...

Best way to do it is one / day, take about 20-30, maybe 45 minutes to go look for the hidden trove of secrets, don't list stuff everyone already knows about, list the secret places (secret meaning it's hard to find but it also has to be good).

You do that, in 1 year you will have 300 odd links (well 365 but some will break).

I should know, I got 1700 of the little clicketty-clicks indexed (5 years of it, lol).