Does The Number Of Links On A Page Affect Ranking?
Lots of research has focused on inbound links to a site, but little has focused on the number of links actually on a page (outbound or to other parts of a site). Many SEO gurus have recently been talking about something they call "PR Leak" which seems to be a theory that the more outbound links you have, the more your page rank on Google "leaks" away. That concept isn't found in the academic papers published by the founders of Google, but does seem to be accepted by a majority of SEOs. I decided it was time to take a look at the number of links present on a page and how that number correlates with ranking.
The methodology: I gathered the results of the queries that were naturally performed last month by myself and three associates using the two leading search engines and analyzed them. I counted the number of links on the page (references to "href") and tabulated the results against the ranking of the URL in the search results. The tabulated results were finally converted into a normalized "ranking correlation." The results for each of the two leading search engines were kept separate so that we could discover any differences between the two leading search engines for this factor.
The resulting graphs show the results for groupings of number of links normalized into a number between -100 and +100 showing the likelihood of being ranked higher/lower. A value of +100 shows that all 10 rankings were in the proper order to show that pages of the studied value ALWAYS rank HIGHER than pages of another value. A value of -100 shows that all 10 rankings were in the proper order to show that pages of the studied value ALWAYS rank LOWER than pages of another value. Numbers in between show the varying likelihood of rankings proportionally between -100 and +100.
That is the number you see on the Y-axis. On the X-axis, we have the number of links found. They are grouped into sets of 10 in order to increase the statistical significance with the amount of data we had available to analyze. Here are the graphs for the two leading search engines:
http://www.SearchEngineGeek.com/graphs/dey01.gif
http://www.SearchEngineGeek.com/graphs/deg01.gif
(Note to webmasters: Feel free to hot link to the above graphs or copy them to your own site if you publish this report. Feel free to remove this note as well.)
The number of links were grouped in this way in order to increase the number of data points available. Unfortunately it also reduces the precision of the results. One is able to see that 91-100 links rank much higher than 1-10 links, but you are unable to see if 77 links rank differently than 79 links (for example).
The result is very conclusive. Both leading search engines rank pages with more links much higher than pages with fewer links! Once again, it appears that the SEOs touting the "PR Leak" theory are simply wrong. If their theory held any weight at all, we should see the exact opposite. Pages with more links should rank lower on average.
Notes:
1. There was no exercise to attempt to isolate different keywords. I merely took a random sampling of the queries performed by myself and three associates during the month.
2. This is merely a correlation study, so it cannot be determined from this study whether the leading search engines purposefully entertain this factor or not. The actual factors used may be far distant from the factor we studied.
Copyright 2004 Jon Ricerca
About The Author
Jon Ricerca is one of the leading researchers and authors of the Search Engine Ranking Factor (SERF) reports at SearchEngineGeek.com. For access to the other SERF reports, please visit: http://www.SearchEngineGeek.com
Related Articles:
Is Exchanging Links Better Than One Way Links
When establishing links and exchanging links this helps your rankings with the search engines and builds on connecting with other business owners. When exchanging links with other webmasters you will need to give them your code and you will need to use their code on your site.
Increase Your Search Engine Ranking With Non-Reciprocal Link Building
You don?t need to be taught over and over that one of the most effective and powerful ways of obtaining the best position in search engines is through link building Because of this, there are already a lot of webmasters that would either send you an e-mail or drop you a call, requesting for a link exchange with you
15 Proven Ways For Link Building To Improve Search Engine Rank
Almost all webmasters know that incoming links are food for website. The website will rank high in the search engine result pages as long as they have great quality incoming links with related anchor text.
Link Building To Improve Search Engine Rank
As the competition increasing every day so when you are planning to make business online then you need to optimize your site For this Search Engine Optimization or SEO is getting popular every day
Link Building and Link Strategy for Increased Web Traffic
Toronto, ON November 26, 2007 ? There are millions of websites in cyberspace. The challenge becomes how to ensure that your website is found on search engines and is seen by potential customers.
Link Building: To Link, or Not to Link, That is the Question
Lately, there have been a lot of heated discussions regarding link building. Is it ethical to create a link building campaign? Does Google or any other search engine penalize for "link farms" (a bunch of non-related links created for the SOLE purpose of increasing search engine ratings)? Is the "link building era" over?Link FarmsMany webmasters claim that Google penalizes websites for link farms.
Rock Your Rank With a Dynamite Text Link - Yahoo Directory Explodes Rankings
Last week a client called me excitedly exclaiming that their
Google PageRank had jumped a notch and their targeted keyword
term now ranked #23 (up from #45) for their competitive search
phrase. I asked the client if he'd been notified by Yahoo that
his site was now included in the index after we had submitted
it three weeks ago.
Linking for Traffic: The Shift from Link Directories to Hyper-Targeted Linking
There's a stiff wind blowing in a new direction on the web. And you'd benefit from taking the time to notice the direction its headed.
Using Back Links to Get Top Search Engine Ranking
There are no hidden secrets on how to rank high with the major search engines. All that is needed is a basic understanding of how search engines work and a bit of know how.
Reciprocal Link Exchange Rampup - Winning the Link Popularity Contest
Getting links to your website all over the Internet is one of your best methods to get a higher ranking in the search engines. The reason for this is the more links you have, the more popular you are in the eyes of the search engines, and as a result you will be rewarded with a higher relevancy ranking than other websites with fewer links.
Link Survey Version 1.6: Improve Search Engine Ranking by Learning About Competitors
AntsSoft today announced the release of Link Survey version 1.6, the first software in the world which can check link popularity of multiple relative websites, make comprehensive analysis, and generate a detailed report.
Boost Your Search Engine Ranking And Generate Free Traffic With Reciprocal Links
Reciprocal links are an important step in your overall plan to get site visitors.What are they? Reciprocal links are mutual links you and some other web site owner agree to post on your respective sites.
Buying Links - How To Make Sure That The Links You Buy Are Worth It
Before you start looking at links to buy you need to know that not all links for sale are worth it There are many things that you need to look at before you buy those links
Smart Link's Local Submit Enhances SEO for Vertical Search Engines
Smart Link Web, a Michigan based (http://profiles.smartlinksolutions.com) leader in search engine optimization (SEO), now offers a method for small and local businesses to climb to the top of search engine rankings. This is in response to Google's recent change in its search results through the vertical search system. It introduces Smart Link Local Submit to give local and small scale businesses an edge in the field of online business. Unlike the traditional horizontal counterpart, vertical search results place local businesses above the normal organic results. Vertical searches are focused on the particular - and the online user is given ...
Build Links, Increase Page Rank, Increase Traffic
Search Engines in the last couple of years are giving more weight to one way links with a similar theme, these links are a vote of trust and confidence for your website, they are so important that they help your site in the rankings of search engines. One search engine in particular uses link popularity, that search engine is Google. When you improve your link popularity it will eventually move your site up in the serps, this is the goals of every webmaster.
