Inbound Links: Are Links To Your Site Really That Important?

I believe they are. But I also believe no links are better than "diluted" inbound links. There you have it. The "mixed messages" of search engine speak! Let me explain myself.

First, why would search engines like RELEVANT inbound links to your site? Imagine this, you build a site about "thingys". You submit to a search engine. This is your way of saying:

"Dear Search Engine, I know you want your visitors to find great and relevant information. You really should consider adding my site. I am an authority on "thingys".

The search engine spider visits your web site and says: "if you are that great, then why is no other website on the whole World Wide Web telling its visitors to check you out?"

Inbound links to your site from other relevant or complementary sites are like letters of reference. And we all like letters of reference. It makes us feel good about an unknown.

Now, in some ways webmasters have lost sight of what matters. There is a belief that volume rules alone. We all know that if you have enough hits someone will buy. But having many inbound links to your site does not automatically make you important.

Low quality inbound links - that is links from unrelated sites for the purpose of linking - does not create lasting advantages. It is not simply a numbers game. Quality rules in the long run. The way to get ahead is repeat business and multiple recurring income streams. The way to get there is creating a name for yourself in your selected market.

This is by no means easy. But it goes hand in hand with keyword selection and finding a niche to dominate. If you focus on the keyword "books" you are up against some pretty stiff competition. And the keyword is so general in its nature that most of your competitors will hesitate to give you a link. Even if you do link back.

But if you instead of "books" focus on "Books about sailing" you are bound to find other sites selling books but focusing on other niches. Now it gets interesting.

You find a site selling "books about framing prints". A competitor in sorts but hardly a direct competitor. No one is going to say: "I was going to buy this book about sailing, but framing prints sound much more interesting." Possible, but very far fetched. So, you exchange links with your friendly competitor. Now, would you not consider this an inbound link with high relevance? I would.

Another example would be to seek out a company selling boats. The key is that there should be a logical link between you and your linking partners. In the first example the common denominator is books. In the second instance, someone looking to buy a boat would also be interested in books about sailing.

Will links to your site with low relevance hurt you? I honestly do not know. There is a trend that webmasters learn about the importance of a specific promotional technique, like inbound links to your site. Webmaster start using and then abusing the technique. Search engines start penalizing the abusers. If you are unlucky, you get caught in the cross-fire. Back to square one.

But would you not agree that it is unlikely that you will EVER get penalized for relevant inbound links to your site. That would go against the whole idea that gave us search engines in the first place.

So, once again, back to basics and think inbound links to your site with quality. You shall be rewarded in the long run.