Other than that I use Bookmarking Demon and some of Incansofts solutions but I find the captchas a pain! Looking forward to their launch of Project Enigma or whatever its called that sounds interesting….

It actually really pains me that I have to build links at all…. I like to believe that if you build the quality they will come… Sadly it just doesnt seem to be true….

Great article and very useful information. I wondered if you could answer one or two questions regarding 301 redirect.

A year ago, I set up an online store through Cafepress and I was provided a domain: http://www.cafepress.com/mysite. Since the domain was long and hard to remember, I purchased a domain (ex. http://www.mysite.com) for marketing reasons. The site I purchased I made one page with an enter button that took my customers to my Cafepress store when it was clicked. I submitted both domains to major search engines and they were indexed in about a month.

Recently, I transfered my domain for http://www.mysite.com to Godaddy and set up a forwarding service they have. It forwards my site to my Cafepress store using a 301 redirect code. I like this better because it takes my customer straight to my store. However, I noticed a few weeks ago that my site is no longer indexed with google as it was before. Yet, it has a Pagerank of 3. I have read various articles stating that a forwarding URL hurts SEO and indexing, and I have read others who say it does not.

Is the set-up I am using hurtful for the SEO of my site? Further, when I build backlinks, which should domain should I use? The actualy URL of the store, or domain that is Pageranked 3?

Great question — the short answer is that I start with 2x more than the competition on that page. So if the number 1 listing has 50, I go for 100.

Then I watch and keep adding links over time until I win or give up.

For a new site, how many backlinks do you do before moving on to the next site or project?

Thanks for your informative post.

I have been trying to get as much information as possible about back linking as it seems to have become the ‘holy grail’ of website performance. There are so many methods out there and so many opinions on what to do that, it’s good to get a balanced view on it.

I will be very interested in your testing results 🙂

I am waiting for your review. Anything that makes backlinking easier and faster is welcomed.

I agree with both the deep linking and the use of linking with anchor text. I believe even Google published that this is preferred in their SEO guide.

– Rupps

At least we can all be lost together!

I made a video on creating a php redirect, it’s fast and easy 😉

Hope that helps Christine!

I feel that way alot Loretta – just keep reading Mark and others.

Will do!

You definitely want to use your keywords (and related variations) whenever it is allowed. I don’t mind. In fact, you are reminding me that I need to play some tonight. Cannot wait to check out your podcast. Thanks for stopping by.

You will be the first to know, I promise.

Hey Lynsey — who is Paul?

Well, let me end one confusion for you. Google considers the anchor text. Google the term “click here” (without the quotes). That is the adobe download page. It ranks for click here because there are a zillion pages that say “To Get Acrobat Reader, Click Here” — and click here is the link. So, anchor text does matter. I promise.

Me too. I think the answer is to use a combination of 4 or 5 of these medium – aggressive strategies together — like 1 way links + automated article submitter + mystery package 1 + mystery package 2. That is the theory that I am testing.

Oh — comments manages with Lucys Link Love or something like that.

He promises it will be a one off fee (No monthly membership) with early bird discount and free upgrades for life, this is the one we should be waiting for and hopefully Mark you will be throwing in a bonus or two to come on board …. ps how did you set the DoFollow backlinks after 3 approved comments ?

One thing I’ve wondered about recently is if it cool to use your keyword instead of your name when leaving a relevant comment on a blog like I’m doing now. I believe it helps because of the relevant anchor text.

Another really interesting thing I’ve come across is seeing sites that rank well with very few links and sites with loads of links not ranking that well. I guess all links aren’t created equal! Cheers, Charl

This is a tricky question. Site links are always easier to get “approved” in these situations. But it depends on what you need. If you have a page that you need to rank, you may want to go for deep links for a while until you win the ranking that you need, knowing that you will lose some to moderation.

Another trick — 301 redirect a subdomain to the page and use the subdomain in your links. sometimes that is more likely to be approved, and the 301 (not 302) should pass the link juice.

HTH

Thanks, Susan. When you comment on another site, two things can happen. First, someone can read your comment and click through to your site. You might be surprised how much that can add to your traffic if you are commenting on high-traffic pages. Second, your signature link can be a backlink in the eyes of the search engines.

Here is the next level of learning/complexity. Some links are DOFOLLOW and some links are NOFOLLOW. The webmaster at the site where you left the comment decides if he/she wants to have DOFOLLOW or NOFOLLOW links. A DOFOLLOW link helps your ranking, but search engines are supposed to ignore NOFOLLOW links. So, you want to try to comment on DOFOLLOW blogs. For example, my blog gives you a DOFOLLOW backlinks after you have 3 approved comments. I do this to keep the spam down.

Make sense?

Kent F.

Thanks… am definitely keeping those links and I’ll check them out later.
Say HI to Aaron for me… I was once his Babe of the Month…. LOL

Christine Tabor

Hey Christine;

Thanks for the nice comment…I still talk to Aaron from time to time.

Redirects — many ways to do them. I prefer php http://php.about.com/od/learnphp/ht/phpredirection.htm
Split testing — I recommend Google Website Optimizer
See DO/NOFOLLOW — I recommend SEO For FireFox plugin
My comment policy is here http://www.masonworld.com/comment-policy/ but the DO/NOFOLLOW stuff is missing

Hey Mike. Well, anything is possible. I have very little data on this (no one has data). However, I am quite sure that if you go get (somehow) 100,000 backlinks on a new site in one day, G will notice. On the other hand, 10 is no big deal. So the truth is in the middle between 10 and 100,000.

Now, most schemes create things that must be indexed. For example, if you submit your site to 100 website directories, it will be days (or weeks or months in some cases) before G gets around to indexing all of that. So, my rule of thumb is to stay between 10 and 100 links per day, since I know there will be a random indexing delay.

I’ve built a lot of sites. Only once, I had one deindexed. It was a cheap site built for a test. TeethWhiteningProfessor.com. It never returned. I never figured out exactly why, but on that site I was testing a new social bookmarking automation. The site was deindexed the next day.

That site is for sale, by the way — $1 obo. LOL

Ouch.

Thanks for the informative post. I heard that adding too many links too fast can cause Google to penalize or sandbox your site. Can you speak a little about this issue?

I have two questions… I hear alot of talk about redirects but never info on HOW to do one… can you elaborate?

Also, somewhat unrelated is how to do a split test on a landing or offer page… is that something your hosting company manages for you?

2nd question about this post… you said you get a “do follow” link after 3 posts here. How do you determine 1) the nofollow / dofollow setting on a blog you are visiting and 2) what the setting is, like for your blog, for instance? Is it posted somewhere?

Thanks for all you do, Mark… you are one of my favorite Bloggers…
I think I was first introduced to you through Aaron at Full Tilt Blogging. 🙂

Christine
http://www.tasks-to-go.com
http://www.imwebgraphics.com

I’m looking for ways to automate (or semi-automate) my backlinking system without hurting my websites. I look forward to hearing about the two semi-automated backlinking tools you are testing and the results.

Thanks
Lynsey Pat