Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Backlinks

I'm confused about the number of links I need to get a lens on page 1 of Google. For one of my lenses, I am on page 2 of Google. I have 45 links total, 18 from sites other than Squidoo. In analyzing backlinks for sites on page one, there is a YouTube video with 4 links, and there is a site with only 1 backlink. WTH? My lens is optimized, I have my long tail kw with low search volume for my anchor text on lots of links I have also done blog commenting with my name as the anchor text. Why is my lens behind these other sites with such few links?
This is the kind of thing that really drives me crazy.

Well now that was a big "Duh" on my part LOL! I must have been having a blonde moment. Thanks for the response Jackie.

June ~ when I said to use your keyword in the name field I also encouraged you to look around the site ~ to see what others were doing ~ to get a feel whether it was an acceptable action or not, as well. If you look at comments on a blog and NO ONE else is using their keywords I wouldn't use my keywords there. Links with just your name will count as well ~ and can help by providing keyword diversity.

You can also look for blogs that use the keywordluv and commentluv plugins. You will know keywords are welcome there.

Anything you do online will take some level of common sense ~ you will have to look at the situation you're in and assess it ~ if there's the possibility you can be seen as spam then don't do it.

I agree that I wouldn't pull pingbacks out of akismet and ok them ~ whether you accept pingbacks or not at all is a personal decision ~ however ~ if a real person links back to my site I appreciate that and feel the link is worth it.

I will have to bookmark this page and come back to read all the links you have posted as not enough time in the day to sit long enough to read them all at one setting. This appears to be a great resource page so thank you for that.

Something that got posted here has put me in a bit of a quandary. A while back, I was using keywords in the "name slot" as you have suggested here, but I stopped doing it because a few marketers had told me to stop and desist as the blog post would be considered a spam post. One of these was Andy Jenkins. A couple of others said they won't even approve a post unless there is an actual name in the "name slot" and will delete post that are using keywords instead of a name. So now I am wondering what your take may be on that?

I have found over the years that often, people will parrot information (especially on forums) without really knowing the facts themselves. Now, I haven't actually done any tracking on this to find out one way or the other, so I may be one of those parrots, but the years that I followed Andy while he was still working in Stompernet has taught me a lot of valuable information about SEO, so I do tend to believe most of the advice he gives as he is one that tracks everything. I am curious about this and now am not sure which way to wiggle. Perhaps things have changed in the last year or two and it is not so important to blog owners as it use to be.

One thing that I do know for sure, is that you don't want to be linked to spam sites. Google does frown upon it, and will devalue the backlinks. IMHO it is just better to get rid of them in the Akismet spam folder than to allow them as they won't be counted anyway other than bringing down the value of your blog because of linking back to these bad neighborhoods. Askismet is usually pretty accurate about what sites are known spam sites. That's my 2 cents for what ever it's worth. LOL.

Thanks for these great leads. I hurried over and signed up for Zimbio!

yeah keywords are good.

It's a personal blogging decision whether or not you allow trackbacks/pingbacks to post. It may not provide content value ~ however ~ if they are legitimate sites linking to yours then it does add value in the fact it is a way to cultivate a relationship with the other blogger. If someone links to your site ~ for real ~ why wouldn't you want to do them the favor of giving them the link? Then hit them up with an email (if you like their site) and say hi ~ or stop by and make a comment on their blog. When building an authority site the key is really in building relationships with other people in your niche.

Thanks Jackie, I'll look into it.

Re the pingbacks and trackbacks... I see when I provide a link in a post to other relevant posts, I sometimes receive these in my comment section and am asked to approve it. Again, should or should not?

If I approve and it appears in my comments, does it add value to my site? I once read a post about comments and the site owner said that having a lot of comments on your posts shows that you are providing value to your visitors?

PS - keywords ok now?

They are probably spam blogs that are scraping content out of your RSS feed. Leave them in the spam folder and yes they will probably count as links if Google finds them.

You might also check if you have "pingbacks and trackbacks" allowed in your settings area ~ that is what's called a pingback when someone links to you in their post you get notified. Akismet may be picking it up because it's a spam site or it may be because you have it set that way ~ not sure which.

PS when you enter your keywords after the @you can separate them so they look right. :)

Hi Jackie

At the moment I have 10 spam comments (according to Akismet) on my Wordpress site. I followed the links to the sites and found that these sites featured snippets of some of my posts with a link back to my posts/site.

Does this count as backlinks and if it does, why does Akismet pick it up as spam? Should I approve these comments or leave it in my spam folder?

Jackie -- thank you for the information. Very thorough and educational. I've booked your site.

Jackie, this info is right on time for me as I'm working right now on building my backlinks. You can be sure that this post is getting bookmarked for future reference! You rock!

It's still a good way to get links, it's just harder to not seem spammy with such niche products/keywords.

Hey Jackie!

I ran across the Comment Hut in one of your posts... I was wondering if you think this is still a good way to get backlinks or is it outdated??

Thanks!

Cindy

Shall give it a go. The more the merrier!
Thanks Jackie

This is the first I've heard of it, but it does look like it would be a great place to get another link to your lens. ~ There are quite a few squidoo lens directories you can submit your lenses to and that's a good idea. :)

Hi Jackie,
Quick question and hope I'm not repeating someone else's.
Just tripped across SquidUp. I think it is quite new. Do you know anything about it? Would it be good to use for backlinks?
Your an awesome internet marketer, thanks for all the advice.

It certainly is one of my best friends. ;)

Thanks, I seem to need a google next to me all the time.

Hi Pat ~

As with anything I need to know I just went to google and typed in "what is social bookmarking" (without the quotes). Here's a great video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x66lV7GOcNU

Then I googled "how to use social bookmarking and came up with these great tutorials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcgloI3Zw4Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGbMx0JTWFc

So as you can see ~ if you just ask google whatever it is you want to know it will give you the answer. :)

I don't think I have a bookmarking video. The purpose of bookmarking is to save a page you like somewhere where you can find it again. So you have to register as a user at a bookmarking site. Take Delicious. Sign up ~ create an account. Then when you want to save a site there you just click the delicious button and save it to the site.

I'll see what I can do about creating a video.

If I understood what to do it may not be confusing. I just don't really understand what to do in them and how to do it. These bookmarking things are like blogs to me. I'm not really a blogging person. I just want to do what I have to do and get back to work. I don't like to spin my wheels so much.
Do you have a video on a bookmarking thing anywhere? One like that bing or ping thing that you did, with the cash for Christmas, pick a product , page rank stuff.

Hi Pat,

If bookmarking is too confusing then choose something else ~ it's not the most effective way to do backlinking. Some people find it very easy, if you don't then pick something else.

Do free ad blogs ~ very easy ~ just sign up and post.
or set up a blog of your own

I have no clue what I'm doing to create social bookmarking. I get on theses sites and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. Where do I put my site in? Do I have to log in to each one and what do I do in them? How do I do each site? I am lost in network marketing outerspace here!! Wasting time, trying to backlink but getting nothing done at all. How do you do this nightmare of unknowing?

Thanks, Jackie. You are really helpful. Now I can stop obsessing and create new ones. LOL. I know you said that in the e-book. Can't help it. :(

Again, thanks.

-Roth

They are working ~ you're moving up. Don't worry about getting an exact number of your links or how many links such and such a tool is showing you have. If you're not where you want to be, keep adding new links.

Hi, Jackie, it's me again. My lens is slowly crawling its way up now. But it has no "official" back links (BL) yet. When do the BL's I created start working their magic? I created a lot, but the tools I am using could not detect them yet.

Thanks for the help.

-Roth

they will probably count as two. It seems like they count about up to 20 from the same domain ~ if you want exact numbers you'll have to do some research on it, but I think this is what I've read. So yes ~ 2 links on the same page should count.

Yes ~ it will count as a backlink ~ in fact, it will probably help some. When you use the exact keyword phrase over and over it doesn't appear natural to google, (it can look over optimized) having some off keyword links like your name in a blog comment will make it appear more natural. (when people naturally link to your content they will not always use your keywords ~ google knows this, and accepts this because they like natural linking, but if you are the only one linking to your stuff you probably WILL use your keywords all the time ~ that doesn't look natural to google. Google likes natural.)

You want to use unique content in the free ad blogs. The only place I would use the same content over and over is if I was submitting to a bunch of different article directories ~ but I wouldn't really do that because I would use Unique Article Wizard so I could have unique content there as well.

Another one:

Is it safe to use the same articles in the article submission sites (free ad blogs) you mentioned in the mindmap?

Hey Jackie,

I've got another question. Actually, two questions:

First, for example, I have 2 back links in one page, do they count as two back links or just one?

Second question: About your answer as using my name as anchor text -- will Search Engines still count that, I mean, would my site still benefit with that comment? Thanks again!

- Roth

I wouldn't waste time for this purpose using Yahoo answers. There are plenty of other ways to create backlinks. If you were trying to brand yourself as an expert in something it might be worth using Yahoo answers, but not for this purpose.

I've got a question about backlinking, Jackie -

I've read about using Yahoo Answers as a place for backlinks, but I don't see a way that it's possible to link using my keywords (linking in html). I've done some linking there just using my url (which converts automatically to a link there) and it's brought traffic - BUT, my biggest concern is really getting a backlink.

So, my question is, is using just my URL as the backlink to my lens better than nothing? Or is it worthless as a backlink?

(and maybe i'm just goofy, and it is possible to link with html in the answers?)

Kelly

Hi Roth,

Every blogger is different. Some will be ok with it, some will think of it as spam. It's important to look at other comments and see if anyone else is doing it. If not I suggest you not use keywords as the anchor text. You can always use your name and the url ~ some of those kind of links are good too ~ to provide variety.

That's good to know about the do follow links.

Rajays just taught me a great way to know if links are do follow or not. The modules are do follow, Jackie (I just answered my own question, hahaha!)

Hey Jackie, I just read the comment above my first, and I'm just wondering if it is acceptable to post a in context comment using not-in-context anchor blogs. For example, the blog is about gardening, my comment would be in about gardening tools, but my URL and anchor is about a Christmas gift? Thanks again (changed anchor!)

- Roth (again)

This post IS the secret. :) There is no secret, you just keep making backlinks until you get where you want to be.

LOL, it's too late. Well, my long tail is still in the anchor, so it is okay, right? Well I got it right this time.

Oh my God. You know, I checked your ranking in Google yesterday (Iron Man 4000) and it was no where to be found. Now it is on the first page. Show us your secret!

When you copy the title off your lens be careful not to grab the "close edit lens" part as well. :) It is definitely another way for google to find your lens ~ not sure if those are nofollow links or not. Will check into it.

Hello Jackie!

Are is the module: Featured Lenses a back link? Thanks. I will be trying to interlink all my Christmas Shopping Lenses. Thankyou.

Roth

You don't need to worry about putting your keyword in your comment ~ just make a quality relevant comment. Just put your keyword in the Name field and your url in the url field and you'll be fine.

Jackie,

One other question, is it necessary to get your keywords in you comment as well? I'm guessing that since I'm just focusing on a backlink, the keywords are necessary. Thanks again,

Jolene

Hey Jackie,

Many thanks as always. I read this post before and had to come back and reread it as most information had slipped my mind.

Question, in leaving comments in blog posts, (and yes these are valid comments, questions, etc.), do I need to place my website link in the comment section itself or will the link be there simply by filling in the box where the website address is requested?

Thanks,

Jolene

Hey Jackie, I have been on your list for a while now and just wanted to leave a thank you note. Backlinking has been PAINFUL for me and this info is just what i needed. Thank you so much for sharing. Wishing you success.

I'll take most of that ~ my family might disagree about the cleaning part. ;)

Thanks Jackie for this great list of backlink resources.

You're every internet marketer's dream mom- a super mom who not only knows how to cook and clean but also knows how to make Squidoo lenses, get backlinks to them and rank them in Google. :)

@Jade,

Yes I still use Zemanta and still get many links back from posts with my blog posts on them ~ every time you see the word "reblog" on a post Zemanta's been used for it. :)

Hi Jackie,

What a great list of resources and posts, thank you, from a newbie marketer.

Do you still use and recommend Zemanta and is it still working for you re backlinks? Have never heard of it before reading your post.

Thanks, Jade

Thanks so much for this great resource! I bookmarked it & will definitely refer to it!

:) Thanks Kelly ~ glad I could help!

I swear, I'm naming you in my will. This is an amazing resource page. Stumbled and tweeted.

Kelly