Number of Links

Flipflop · 07-09-2007, 11:10 AM

What is the current recommended total number of URL's (including internal) recommended per page for the 3 major SE's, I believe it used to be 100, not sure if that has changed?

TIA

NavyCS · 07-09-2007, 12:05 PM

100 is the current recommended maximum by Google. It really depends too on the current power the page has - the more outbound links the page has the less power will be transfered to the internal links on you site. Having low PR on your internal pages will send them to supplemental. I see a number of sites which have outbound sitewide links, each one of those take a fraction of the link power away from all your internal pages. To sum it up, be picky about your outbound links - ensure they lend value to your visitors.

Flipflop · 07-09-2007, 12:27 PM

Thanks, I've just reduced the number of internal links by changing my main navigation menu so that instead of for example having 3 or 4 tiers of navigation, Forum > General Discussion > Saying Hi Forum , I now have just Forums > General Discussion. This (and some other editing) has reduced the number of links on the home page from over 200 to 100, will this have a negative impact on my internal PR do you think?

NavyCS · 07-09-2007, 02:53 PM

Each page that has a link to it will have some PR value - it may be so little that you only see a grey bar/in supplemental. You want to maintain a link structure that each page of your site can be accessed. Each page linked to a single page (unless a nofollow tag is used) will gain a proportionate amount of PR juice from the host page. You ultimately want each page to be no more than 2-3 clicks from the page with the backlinks - your site index usually has the most backlinks, you may have a forum which has a bunch of backlinks. Each of those pages should have a link chain from those passing/distributing PR throughout the site. Multi-level sitemaps for large sites is not a bad idea - nothing says you only can have one sitemap. Now, all that being said - look closely at the outbound links to other sites, they will take some of the juice meant for internal pages. If you sold a link for the purpose of passing PR then your obligated to keep the link as is, if you sold/placed the link for the purpose of advertising then place the nofollow tag on it. Take your affiliate page, you can nofollow each of those links and the link juice passed to your other links on that page will be more than current. From a trust perspective you want to ensure your outbound links are to relevant information for your visitors. Google has stated (Matt Cutts blog) that link evaluation is entering a new era (I'm not quoting), they are manipulating the algo to devalue links which are not helpful - links from non relevant sources and reciprocal links have been starting to carry less weight since the last update. A large number of sites who used to carry a greater PR have dropped - SERPs included. There is obviously some debate going on about what is really going on but when I try and interpret the messages the one I have no trouble understanding is the fact Google's main customer is the searcher - this is why you saw hidden text, meta tags and other things the customer can't view normally ignored when determining SERP placement, the next logical step is, and has been, actually dissecting each link and the amount/type of "vote" that link should provide. I think the way we look at what we have to do needs to move from how do I make money on my site to how do I provide the best experience for my visitor, which will translate to more income from the site. Just a basic paradigm change

Flipflop · 07-09-2007, 03:37 PM

Well thank you very much for taking the time to write such a detailed explanation. I would give you some rep, but it still says you need to spread some around etc.... even though I have

I've replaced some of my deep links in my menu and left off the duplicate ones and ones that (I think/feel) are less important.

I guess I should wait a little anyway before making any drastic changes as I have only recently made some changes, with H1 and topic titles, also removed meta keywords.

Once again thank you

OldWelshGuy · 07-09-2007, 03:40 PM

One thing to keep in mind here also is that when Google talk about keeping the 'outbound links' on a page below 100 they mean ALL links. Google does not differentiate between internal links and links pointing to another site for the purpose of base evaluation. (although outbound other site links ARE used in theming as NCV alluded to in his post)

Flipflop · 07-09-2007, 04:12 PM

So I should be aiming to keep all links down to a total of 100?

It's inbound links that are my main issue, to be honest I don't that many outbound links.

*Putting back my deep menu links I have 175 urls on my index page.

OldWelshGuy · 07-09-2007, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flipflop

So I should be aiming to keep all links down to a total of 100?

It's inbound links that are my main issue, to be honest I don't that many outbound links.

*Putting back my deep menu links I have 175 urls on my index page.

Hell no. pay no attention to inbound links with this reagrd (assuming that by 'inbound' you mean from sites other than your own)

Time for a bit of a glossary check LOL

Backlinks - links that point TO your site from outside the domain

Inbound links - Same as backlinks

Internal links - links that are pointing to pages within your domain

External links - Links that are pointing to pages outside of your domain

Outbound links - same as external links

BUT when google talks about outbound links on a page, they are referring to ANY links that point away from that page (over and above anchor links to points within the same page).

so the 100 links we are speaking of refers to links on a page that are pointing away from that page be it to within the domain name or to another domain name.

NavyCS · 07-09-2007, 05:01 PM

OWG - Good post. Maybe we should develop an entire glossary of terms

Flipflop · 07-09-2007, 05:09 PM

I don't know where inbound links came from, I must have had a brain freeze, I meant internal as per my first post.

webguide · 07-19-2007, 12:14 PM

I would say a bit above 100,<150! Would do

trichnosis · 08-05-2007, 10:52 AM

google is suggest you to use max. 100 outgoing links on one page

07-09-2007, 11:10 AM	#1
Flipflop Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Somerset, UK Posts: 219	Number of Links What is the current recommended total number of URL's (including internal) recommended per page for the 3 major SE's, I believe it used to be 100, not sure if that has changed? TIA __________________ █ Pregnancy and Parenting Advice █ Windows Hosting and Windows Reseller Hosting by Stormhosts █ 10% Discount on all hosting plans for iWebTool Members

07-09-2007, 12:05 PM	#2
NavyCS iWEBTOOL SEO Advisor Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 242	Re: Number of Links 100 is the current recommended maximum by Google. It really depends too on the current power the page has - the more outbound links the page has the less power will be transfered to the internal links on you site. Having low PR on your internal pages will send them to supplemental. I see a number of sites which have outbound sitewide links, each one of those take a fraction of the link power away from all your internal pages. To sum it up, be picky about your outbound links - ensure they lend value to your visitors. __________________ Memphis Website Design Military Benefits

07-09-2007, 12:27 PM	#3
Flipflop Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Somerset, UK Posts: 219	Re: Number of Links Thanks, I've just reduced the number of internal links by changing my main navigation menu so that instead of for example having 3 or 4 tiers of navigation, Forum > General Discussion > Saying Hi Forum , I now have just Forums > General Discussion. This (and some other editing) has reduced the number of links on the home page from over 200 to 100, will this have a negative impact on my internal PR do you think? __________________ █ Pregnancy and Parenting Advice █ Windows Hosting and Windows Reseller Hosting by Stormhosts █ 10% Discount on all hosting plans for iWebTool Members

07-09-2007, 02:53 PM	#4
NavyCS iWEBTOOL SEO Advisor Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 242	Re: Number of Links Each page that has a link to it will have some PR value - it may be so little that you only see a grey bar/in supplemental. You want to maintain a link structure that each page of your site can be accessed. Each page linked to a single page (unless a nofollow tag is used) will gain a proportionate amount of PR juice from the host page. You ultimately want each page to be no more than 2-3 clicks from the page with the backlinks - your site index usually has the most backlinks, you may have a forum which has a bunch of backlinks. Each of those pages should have a link chain from those passing/distributing PR throughout the site. Multi-level sitemaps for large sites is not a bad idea - nothing says you only can have one sitemap. Now, all that being said - look closely at the outbound links to other sites, they will take some of the juice meant for internal pages. If you sold a link for the purpose of passing PR then your obligated to keep the link as is, if you sold/placed the link for the purpose of advertising then place the nofollow tag on it. Take your affiliate page, you can nofollow each of those links and the link juice passed to your other links on that page will be more than current. From a trust perspective you want to ensure your outbound links are to relevant information for your visitors. Google has stated (Matt Cutts blog) that link evaluation is entering a new era (I'm not quoting), they are manipulating the algo to devalue links which are not helpful - links from non relevant sources and reciprocal links have been starting to carry less weight since the last update. A large number of sites who used to carry a greater PR have dropped - SERPs included. There is obviously some debate going on about what is really going on but when I try and interpret the messages the one I have no trouble understanding is the fact Google's main customer is the searcher - this is why you saw hidden text, meta tags and other things the customer can't view normally ignored when determining SERP placement, the next logical step is, and has been, actually dissecting each link and the amount/type of "vote" that link should provide. I think the way we look at what we have to do needs to move from how do I make money on my site to how do I provide the best experience for my visitor, which will translate to more income from the site. Just a basic paradigm change __________________ Memphis Website Design Military Benefits

07-09-2007, 03:37 PM	#5
Flipflop Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Somerset, UK Posts: 219	Re: Number of Links Well thank you very much for taking the time to write such a detailed explanation. I would give you some rep, but it still says you need to spread some around etc.... even though I have I've replaced some of my deep links in my menu and left off the duplicate ones and ones that (I think/feel) are less important. I guess I should wait a little anyway before making any drastic changes as I have only recently made some changes, with H1 and topic titles, also removed meta keywords. Once again thank you __________________ █ Pregnancy and Parenting Advice █ Windows Hosting and Windows Reseller Hosting by Stormhosts █ 10% Discount on all hosting plans for iWebTool Members

07-09-2007, 03:40 PM	#6
OldWelshGuy iWEBTOOL SEO Advisor Contributor Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 675	Re: Number of Links One thing to keep in mind here also is that when Google talk about keeping the 'outbound links' on a page below 100 they mean ALL links. Google does not differentiate between internal links and links pointing to another site for the purpose of base evaluation. (although outbound other site links ARE used in theming as NCV alluded to in his post) __________________ Umbrella Consultancy Internet Marketing Company - Rugby Forum - Google Expert Blog

07-09-2007, 04:12 PM	#7
Flipflop Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Somerset, UK Posts: 219	Re: Number of Links So I should be aiming to keep all links down to a total of 100? It's inbound links that are my main issue, to be honest I don't that many outbound links. Putting back my deep menu links I have 175 urls on my index page. __________________ █ Pregnancy and Parenting Advice █ Windows Hosting and Windows Reseller Hosting by Stormhosts █ 10% Discount on all hosting plans for iWebTool Members* Last edited 07-09-2007 at 04:15 PM. Reason: additional info

07-09-2007, 05:01 PM	#9
NavyCS iWEBTOOL SEO Advisor Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 242	Re: Number of Links OWG - Good post. Maybe we should develop an entire glossary of terms __________________ Memphis Website Design Military Benefits

07-09-2007, 05:09 PM	#10
Flipflop Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Somerset, UK Posts: 219	Re: Number of Links I don't know where inbound links came from, I must have had a brain freeze, I meant internal as per my first post. __________________ █ Pregnancy and Parenting Advice █ Windows Hosting and Windows Reseller Hosting by Stormhosts █ 10% Discount on all hosting plans for iWebTool Members

07-19-2007, 12:14 PM	#11
webguide Newcomer Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 11	Re: Number of Links I would say a bit above 100,<150! Would do

08-05-2007, 10:52 AM	#12
trichnosis Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 452	Re: Number of Links google is suggest you to use max. 100 outgoing links on one page __________________ Türkçe Bilgi \| Hobiler \| Satranç \| 2

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