SEO Tycoon

**vultren** · 06-03-2012, 03:28 AM

This is a question to all users:

If someone offered to link your website from theirs with a no-follow, would you accept? Why or why not.

**Disclaimer** I've posted this in the SEO section as I know this is the only sub-forum that will get users responding as you for some reason believe links are optimization. This could be generalized as marketing, for the sake of idiots, I'll post it here (oh snap, did I just optimize a forum post to best convert readers to responders?!)

**jelebiby** · 06-04-2012, 07:03 AM

If the Home Page of the link is higher & if the link is from a On Focus site I'll accept it.

**chrishirst** · 06-04-2012, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jelebiby

If the Home Page of the link is higher

higher what?

Sea Level?
Temperature?
Altitude?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jelebiby

if the link is from a On Focus site I'll accept it.

What if it is a bit blurred?

**payment proof** · 06-04-2012, 10:37 PM

I'd accept it. The no follow link may not help directly with SEO. But what if the page, article, etc. on their website with your link ranked really high in Google for instance.

**vultren** · 06-05-2012, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by payment proof

I'd accept it. The no follow link may not help directly with SEO. But what if the page, article, etc. on their website with your link ranked really high in Google for instance.

It wouldn't help with SEO regardless.

**jelebiby** · 06-05-2012, 04:57 AM

[QUOTE=chrishirst;1210408]higher what?

Sea Level?
Temperature?
Altitude?

Sorry, I've missed to mention the PR. If the PR of the Home is higher than my website's PR, then I will accept.

**chrishirst** · 06-05-2012, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by payment proof

I'd accept it. The no follow link may not help directly with SEO. But what if the page, article, etc. on their website with your link ranked really high in Google for instance.

Typical of the blinkered vision of "expert SEOs", where Google ranking is the ONLY way to get traffic.

To mis-quote/paraphrase W'm Shakespeare

"There are more things in this Internet world than are ever dreamed of in SEO philosophy"

Links do much, much more than promote a URL through the ranks of Google so you MAY get traffic . The secret life of links

**payment proof** · 06-07-2012, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vultren

It wouldn't help with SEO regardless.

I know that.

But what if the page, article, etc. on their website with your link ranked really high in Google for instance, that no follow link could still bring you more traffic.

**payment proof** · 06-07-2012, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

Typical of the blinkered vision of "expert SEOs", where Google ranking is the ONLY way to get traffic.

To mis-quote/paraphrase W'm Shakespeare

"There are more things in this Internet world than are ever dreamed of in SEO philosophy"

Links do much, much more than promote a URL through the ranks of Google so you MAY get traffic . The secret life of links

I was just using Google as an example:

I'd accept it. The no follow link may not help directly with SEO. But what if the page, article, etc. on their website with your link ranked really high in Google for instance.

I could have just as easily used Yahoo or Bing.

The point I was trying to make is if something picks up the post with your no follow link and it ranks well, it could still bring your traffic.

**vultren** · 06-08-2012, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by payment proof

I know that.

But what if the page, article, etc. on their website with your link ranked really high in Google for instance, that no follow link could still bring you more traffic.

I'm not sure about the website that ranks high on Google, but the part about bringing in more traffic is the correct answer to this question if you would like to succeed online. That's why I'm asking this simple question, seems now a days no one wants a link unless it benefits their PR... their forgetting the reason why links exist in the first place!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by payment proof

I was just using Google as an example:

I'd accept it. The no follow link may not help directly with SEO. But what if the page, article, etc. on their website with your link ranked really high in Google for instance.

I could have just as easily used Yahoo or Bing.

The point I was trying to make is if something picks up the post with your no follow link and it ranks well, it could still bring your traffic.

It doesn't matter if it's Bing, Yahoo, Google, Dogpile, Ask or any search engine! It really doesn't... It's about marketing... promotion! A search engine is just ONE part of a marketing campaign.

I understand the hype of getting high rankings and free leads/clicks for doing nothing, but you've GOT to work for them. Again, not all about search engines.

**nikrety** · 06-08-2012, 04:44 AM

In Google, nofollow links don't pass PageRank and don't pass anchortext! i wont accept it!

**vultren** · 06-08-2012, 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikrety

In Google, nofollow links don't pass PageRank and don't pass anchortext! i wont accept it!

YES!!! This is what i've been waiting for!!! Thank you!!!

Oh and by the way, you're technically right. I guess you and your SGB and PR are all that matter huh?

**saira01rose** · 06-08-2012, 06:27 AM

Yes I will allow no follow links links as well but not in great ratio but in small fraction only. As search engines prefer site whose links are natural and coming from all techniques.

**chrishirst** · 06-08-2012, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikrety

In Google, nofollow links don't pass PageRank and don't pass anchortext! i wont accept it!

So why are you posting on a forum where search engines are not even shown signature links??

**payment proof** · 06-10-2012, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

So why are you posting on a forum where search engines are not even shown signature links??

LMAO.

You should think about removing the link in your signature nikrety.

**vangogh** · 06-13-2012, 02:54 PM

I wasn't aware it was up to me to allow or reject other sites from linking to mine. If another site wants to link to a page on my site they can. Unless the site is spreading some kind of lies about me I can't think of a reason why I'd worry about whether no-follow has been applied to the link. Any link on a page pointing to a page on my site increases the chances someone out there will visit my site.

The main value of any link is that it provides another road into your site.

I will disagree though with the idea that links have nothing to do with optimization. Like it or not search engines consider links when ranking web pages. Many signals that search engines use have to do with links. You won't control every link pointing back to a page on your site, but you do have control over some and when you do you can optimize the link so it's more aligned with the signals that search engines look for.

Say you're writing a guest post for a blog that will include a link back to your site. You can optimize the anchor text of that link. You can optimize the words around the link. The can optimize the page title of your article. You might optimize the location of the link on the page. You might even have a choice of which site publishes your post.

Whether or not any of specific those things will actually help improve where your page ranks is another thing. I won't pretend to know every signal a search engine considers. Just saying they do look at different aspects of a link and assuming you have an idea which aspects will help you do have the ability to optimize things.

With no-followed links the idea is that don't pass any value, though I think Google only says they don't pass PR, which isn't the same thing. Real PR would only be one signal of the value of a link and not all of them.

Ultimately any link back to my site is fine with me. It's another opportunity for someone to find me. If there's some seo value in the link great. If there isn't so what.

**chrishirst** · 06-13-2012, 06:19 PM

Quote:

I will disagree though with the idea that links have nothing to do with optimization. Like it or not search engines consider links when ranking web pages.

Only if your idea of "optimising" is all about "rankings" and only about rankings.

Way back around 1995 when the term SEO was coined, ranking for any words that were almost, sort of related to whatever you sold was an "optimal" position to be in. When cheap, reliable and faster Internet connections started to become available and more and more people "discovered" the Internet, it ceased to be the case. Optimising became more about conversion (for the clued up at least) and being found for the "right" words and phrases became more important, unfortunately the name never manage to reflect the change and the "experts" still kept alive the idea that links were the be all and end all of getting results, even though the infamous "Florida" update in 2003 started the decline in the effect that links have.

**vangogh** · 02:28 PM

I agree there's more to optimization than thinking about rankings and search engines. I just don't think it makes sense to say that it has nothing to do with them either. I don't think you have to see optimizing as only about rankings to in order to consider rankings.

I've said a number of times that my approach to seo is about understanding search engines. I want to know how they work and what they look for and what they value. When I build a website my goal has always been and always will be to build the best website I can for people. In designing and developing a website you make a lot of decisions and the more information you have the better those decisions will usually be.

Search engines do look at links when determining where to rank pages. They look at a number of aspects of links to determine the value of those links. Assuming you know what those aspects are (a big assumption I know) you can optimize the link so it has more value to a search engine. You can do that while still doing everything else well too. Tweaking a link so it contributes more to ranking a web page doesn't automatically mean the web page won't convert as well or that real people won't click through on the link. It doesn't have to be either/or.

You can do things that please both people and search engines without displeasing the other.

**chrishirst** · 06-14-2012, 06:39 PM

Quote:

I want to know how they work and what they look for and what they value

The problem is there is people get hung up with "What search engines want", and start algo chasing and looking for tricks

Search engine developers/engineers have only ONE thing they "want" and it is the same thing they have wanted from day one of search, "to show the best results to their users" if people realised that and stop looking for "the latest methods" and trying to find tricks to fool the SEs algorithm.

Make pages for users, promote them to users and let the search engines do what they will.

**vultren** · 06-14-2012, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangogh

I will disagree though with the idea that links have nothing to do with optimization. Like it or not search engines consider links when ranking web pages. Many signals that search engines use have to do with links. You won't control every link pointing back to a page on your site, but you do have control over some and when you do you can optimize the link so it's more aligned with the signals that search engines look for.

Search Engine Optimization is about your content and what you are going to do to ensure that your URLs and documented located in those are better fit for search engines customer's queries. Optimization is about the performance of your web documents when it goes against a search engine's algorithms. Linking, promoting, marketing, whatever you have to call it can go to your Search Engine Marketing campaign, but not your optimization campaign.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangogh

Say you're writing a guest post for a blog that will include a link back to your site. You can optimize the anchor text of that link. You can optimize the words around the link. The can optimize the page title of your article. You might optimize the location of the link on the page. You might even have a choice of which site publishes your post.

When I design a flyer and post it around town, I can optimize the content on that flyer so it is attractive to potential customers as well. It's optimizing, modifying, changing, whatever you want to call it, but it's not optimizing documents for search engine performance. Rankings are not optimizing however.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangogh

Ultimately any link back to my site is fine with me. It's another opportunity for someone to find me. If there's some seo value in the link great. If there isn't so what.

Your ranking value, sure. Your "getting the word" out value of course. Point of the thread was to see if people only care about PR.