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Sep. 17, 2007 at 8:30am Eastern by Eric Ward
Show Your Linking Acumen With Chipmunks
Let's play a game to illustrate some not-so-silly linking strategies. Imagine you just launched a new web site devoted to breeding chipmunks. If I gave you a choice of the following three sets of inbound links, and I told you you could have one set and only one set, which set of links would you want pointing at your new chipmunk breeding site, and why?
Set one
http://web.ncf.ca/dg300/links.html
http://www.zoomschool.com/subjects/mammals/rodent/Chipmunkprintout.shtml
http://www.maaoravat.com/Maaoravat/links_eng.html
http://www.fishbc.com/adventure/wilderness/animals/chipmunk.htm
http://www.starpulse.com/Television/Alvin_and_the_Chipmunks/Links/
http://www.eagle.ca/~diane/index21.html
Set two
http://www.angelfire.com/ca/albrit/
http://www.chipmunk.cwc.net/links.html
http://danielwright.wikispaces.com/page/links/Chipmunk
http://web.ncf.ca/dg300/links.html
http://www.wildlifesearch.com/chipmunk.htm
http://www.pestproducts.com/chipmunks.htm
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/wild/wildlife/animals/mammals/chipmunks.htm
Set three
http://www.animaltrek.com/mammals/chipmunk.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipmunk
http://www.britishcolumbia.com/Wildlife/wildlife/landmammals/cw/cw_chipmunk.html
http://www.aftagley.com/chipmunk_links.html
http://www.animal-protection.org/tierhaltung/welchestier/sh.html
http://www.technorati.com/tag/chipmunk
Each set of links offers something different than they others, and each set of links would be appropriate and 100% on-topic. So which set of links would be better? set one has several high rankers at Google, but set two has that sweet .edu and some high rankers at both Google and Yahoo. Then again, set three offers you a Wikipedia link and a Technorati tag link.
It's not as easy as it might seem. You could argue for each set depending on what you value. Search rank? Click traffic? Trust over time? What set of links is more likely to help you not just today, but tomorrow? What if I said your new chipmunk site is an ecommerce site that sells chipmunk posters and calendars? What if I said your new chipmunk site sells pest removal traps and cages? Would that distinction change the links you desire? Do tools like this help you decide? There's many ways to skin this cat, or, um, breed this chipmunk...
So take one more look, and remember, the set of links you choose will be the only links you can have. Forever.
Which set do you want, and why? Tell us in the comments section below.
Eric Ward has been in the link building and content publicity game since 1994, providing services ranking from linking strategy to a monthly private newsletters on linking for subscribers. The Link Week column appears on Mondays at Search Engine Land.
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By Eric Ward
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Reader Comments
I'll take set three with the Wiki link. Although this link won't help me rank, the traffic will be substantial. I don't see the search engines (you know who you are!) devaluing Wikipedia anytime soon. Wikipedia has rank, authority, and trust that for the time being, is extending beyond technorati, or .edu domains.
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Set #3!!
Wikipedia is nice ...but more importantly, all of these links are from sites/pages that are more related to my topic. In addition, they are information resources and have substance ...which, supposedly, is what my site is supposed to be.
I'll take a link from a good quality neighborhood then a link from a .edu any day.
You are known by your friends:
Set #1 is shallow,
Set #2 is slutty, and
Set #3 is a classy , well educated fellow.
Group one is definitely bad neighborhoods, one that starpulse page is pure webspam and two its got a canuck site.
Group two is also in need of some gentrification and its not all that relevant....and still we can't shake that damn canadian site.
Group Three is my clear winner here
***no actual canadians were harmed in the production of this comment
I'll take set three with the Wiki link. Although this link won't help me rank, the traffic will be substantial. I don't see the search engines (you know who you are!) devaluing Wikipedia anytime soon. Wikipedia has rank, authority, and trust that for the time being, is extending beyond technorati, or .edu domains.