The Value of a Link

Posted on | May 1, 2006 | 3 Comments

I often get asked what a link is worth. Search engine algorithms are looking for quality â€œindicatorsâ€ and â€œsignalsâ€ to determine the amount of trust to place on any given site. Thereby, how much trust it can pass to your site.

Here are a few of the “indicators” I use to place a value on any given link.

Multiple Listing in DMOZ and Yahoo Directory
I love sites that have dozens of listings in DMOZ and Yahoo Directory. I use DomainTools.com (formally WhoIs.sc) for this data. Multiple listings demonstrate the editors of those two directories feel the site is a natural authority (Yes, I know everyone complains how difficult it is to get into DMOZ. I suggest you study the sites that get in naturally with multiple listings). Most sites with multiple listing in the Yahoo Directory are grandfathered in. Current annually fee for Yahoo Directory is $299 yearly.

Backlinks from Colleges and Government Sites (.edu, .gov, and .mil)
Link Harvester (from SEO Book) is my tool of choice to get an estimate of backlinks. Once you run it you can easily see backlinks from colleges and government sites. One can also see the major links from news sites, K12 (lower education in the United States), non-profits organization, and Wikipedia.

Quality of Backlinks
Is it obvious an SEO firm has worked on the site? A link from a site with natural backlinks is worth a whole lot more.

Age of Site
The older the site the better.

Traffic
Does the site receive a lot of traffic? I have this theory that Search Engines now or in the future will factor in how much traffic a specific link generates to determine the trust a link will pass.

Location of Link on Page
Will the link be located in the content? In the footer? In a sidebar? Ask yourself what will send the most traffic.

These are just some of the factors I use to determine the value of a link. My best advice is to find links that will drive traffic, branding and link popularity at the same time. That way you get the best of all worlds!

Category: Link Building

Comments

3 Responses to “The Value of a Link”

Neil Patel
May 1st, 2006 @ 12:02 pm

Another thing worth looking at is if that website currently has any outbound links and if those outbound links are relevant.
Justilien
May 2nd, 2006 @ 11:38 am

Thanks for joining in Neil!

I often use Web Developer Extension for FireFox. Great feature called “View Link Information”.
Robert Wetzlmayr
May 2nd, 2006 @ 1:07 pm

Re: Yahoo Directory. Aren’t they quite stalled by now and stopped accepting new entries during 2005, at least in Europe?

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Justilien Gaspard is a SEO/M consultant with over 8 years experience in organic search marketing. Professionally he's a columnist for Search Engine Watch, speaker at SES Conferences and has authored 3 advanced courses for SEMPO Institute. Learn more about Justilien.