Link
Popularity - When Will Google Backlinks Show?
By Jill Whalen 2003-07-08 (From the High
Rankings' Advisor Newsletter)
From: Joshua Friedman
Hi
Jill,
I'm pretty
new to this sort of thing and there's a LOT of info out there
so I'm hoping your newsletter can help me out. My site comes
up great on MSN and ok on some other sites, but I'm having a
hard time getting it on Google. I've been spending my days trying
to get reciprocal links with good (high PageRank) Websites so
hopefully that will help in the coming weeks.
I guess
a quick question I would have (2 actually) is:
Roughly
how long after someone adds me to their link page should it
come up in a Google reverse link search? I've been on a few
other sites for about a week now but the Google backlinks only
show me on one site.
The second
question is (and of course this is the $25,000 question): any
other quick pointers for a beginner trying to get on Google?
What would your 1 main point be for someone like me who has
a pretty small budget but would really like a top 10 or even
20 listing on Google? I am all the way up to #3 on MSN when
you search for one of my main keyword phrases, but I'm nowhere
to be found on Google. I've used their AdWords a bit but would
really like a ranking.
Thanks
for any further help and I look forward to reading your newsletters.
Regards,
Joshua
Friedman
~~~Jill's
Response~~~
Hi Joshua,
Once a
site adds a link to yours, it can take anywhere from a few weeks
to a couple of months before you'll see it showing up as a backlink
in Google. If the link is on a page that has a PageRank which
is less than 4, it may not show up at all. That doesn't mean
that it's not counted towards your overall link popularity quotient,
but you may not see it in the list of links to your site.
In regards
to your second question, I don't usually take a look at the
sites that people email me (cuz I'd never get any work done!),
but for some reason I took a look at yours. Unfortunately, whatever
advice you were previously given was very bad. Your site is
basically "spamming" the search engines, and because
of this it is doubtful that you will see high rankings in Google.
(Kind of interesting that MSN doesn't care.)
You're
focusing on way too many keyword phrases on the home page, and
then you have *stuffed* them everywhere on the site where they
don't belong. Your Title tag is way too long and keyword stuffed,
and you have comment tags that are spammy, along with all kinds
of other keywords stuffed into non-standard tags which are not
even supposed to be used for search engine optimization purposes.
None of
this will help you with Google, and most of it will probably
hurt you.
I would remove the link to the spammy search engine optimization
company who did all this for you, and start over from scratch.
I hope you didn't pay them too much. It's companies like that
who give us a bad name. (And they always seem to be the ones
that require a link back to them too...sheesh.)
Please
read through my articles and the past newsletters to learn how
to do things correctly, and hopefully you'll eventually have
a chance at high rankings.
Think about just 2 or 3 targeted keyword phrases per page when
you optimize, and don't simply stuff them places. Have a writer
create some great content based on your phrases. Professional
copywriting is worth every penny!
[Jill's
note: I was going to go into a bit more detail on what the spammy
SEO company had done with Joshua's site, but since I emailed
him this info yesterday, I see he's removed the spam already!
Good work, Joshua.]
One thing
I just noticed that you still have on the site is a link to
a "link farm" type of site. They are smart enough
to claim that they are *not* a link farm, and yet they require
a link to them if you want to add your site to their directory.
I would strongly suggest that you get out of that program quickly.
It doesn't appear that the link-swapping site is considered
a "bad neighborhood" at this time (it has a PageRank
of 5 on the main page), but it could very well be penalized
at some point in the future.
A better
way to build high-quality links to your site would be to have
something interesting to offer potential partner sites. Have
you written some articles on your area of expertise? Many sites
are looking for well-written material they can publish online,
and will be happy to add your article (which could include a
link back to your site). This is a much smarter approach, as
you won't have to worry about whom YOU are linking to. Plus,
you can establish yourself as an expert in your field at the
same time.
Good luck!
Jill
Jill
Whalen is the owner of HighRankings.com
and moderator of the free weekly email newsletter, the High
Rankings' Advisor. She is also known for her moderation
of the critically acclaimed, Rank
Write Roundtable. Jill specializes in search engine optimization,
directory submissions, SEO consultations and workshops. She
has obtained hundreds of number 1 and 2 spots for her vast array
of clients throughout the years. Clients include multi-million
dollar companies, major universities, real estate agencies,
attorneys, surgeons, dentists, and small-medium sized businesses.
