The Perfect Link is a Unicorn – By Jen (Link Ninja in Training)
Finally, my stealth Ninja abilities have allowed me to infiltrate Jim Boykin’s blog. I have come here because there is something I feel you should know. I think it is best that you hear this from someone who has spent 40 hours a week for the past few months seeking the perfect link.
It does not exist.
That’s right, I am certain I hear SEO tempers flaring around the globe,. But as I have pursued that one perfect link that would earn me a coveted laser pointer from my Sensei’s prize closet, I have come to understand, that no link is perfect.
We had some fun at our Ninja Master’s expense recently looking at his golden links and offering up criticisms that many of us have gotten all too frequently in trainings, meetings, or early morning e-mails from him.
“Well, the backlinks are great but if you had used this anchor text instead…”
“The placement is good but if you added co-citation …”
To be fair the boss took it like a champ. But in this it occurred to me if we could find fault with my master’s links, the wisest of all Ninjas, then perhaps my quest for the perfect link is in vain, and that laser pointer will remain forever out of my grasp. No matter what link we get, if the backlinks are amazing, the title tags could use tweaking. If the relevance is perfect the Page Rank could be a little better. I said to him, “Even if by some miracle one of us did somehow find the “perfect link” I guarantee, you would show up in the morning with a new revelation that makes it flawed.” Thus, is the nature of SEO.
However, perhaps it is that inherent nature of Internet Marketing that keeps me here. The unending quest to conquer what is essentially invincible. The ever changing world of Google and the Internet is the essence of what makes any of this thrilling. If the perfect link were in fact obtainable, there would be nothing more to learn, or master. If SEO was simple we wouldn’t be link Ninjas, we’d be link Monkeys and that’s no fun at all.
– Jen (Link Ninja in Training)
10 Responses
That link I got on Monday was near perfect…it was relevant…that page had over 3k backlinks to it, nearly 200 .edu’s linking to it…I was in a rush and didn’t work on my co citation and could have have better link text…so close…
but ya know what they say:
“Reach for the stars and you might, at least, grab the moon.”
Jen, you’re not a ninja yet, but well along your way of the ninja path…the fact that you saw improvements for my links shows you’re learning fast…and yes, you will get the unicorn one day and the lazer pointer to boot.
Hi Jim,
Coming to the point of link monkeys, i think a valid conclusion that I have drawn is that the link:operator in google displays the work done by either monkeys or work done that is of no importance to Google. The other day I was comparing some relevant Yahoo backilinks with the Google backlinks. Then I tried (on Google) with my company name. Both (yahoo and company name search) gives results that appear to be atleast quite relevant (if not very popular in terms of back links) results. Is google just showing worthless reults in the link: operator search and hiding all the important ones? Somewhere I read that any link below a PR 4 is never dispalyed. I don’t beleive this as I my research shows something totally different. any word on this Jim?
Ashish
I beg to disagree; there is a perfect link (or damn it’s close). It’s a static link on the Google homepage 🙂
Marc, or even better: your link installed on all windows computers as an “integral built-in feature” (not abusing any monopoly power btw).
Ah Jen, doubt is not the path of the link ninja! As Aristotle once said, pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. I have no doubt you’ll get that laser pointer one day 😉
The thing is, there are different kinds of links and you can only setup a good link, if you control the page.
Most often, you’ll have only several parts of the equation, but the best links are from within context with relevant anchor text – and that’s what a natural link is. So a natural link is the best, the search is over 🙂
I find it quite interesting reading items like this when I have enough trouble getting links to my site.
Marc: I do not think that a static link on the Google homepage would be a perfect link. You will find that such a link would first overload most webservers and by the time you get your server ready to handle it the link would have been replaced/removed.
“Aim for the moon, if you miss you’ll hit the stars”
The search for the perfect link should be neverending… once we had achieved it, what would we strive for next! 😉
Hey Jen, great advice. I don’t believe there is a best link. Every link that you seek for should be treated as your best link. Always search for quality backlinks that have backlinks pointing to that site and if you get many of those, you should have no problem ranking with any keyword. Good luck and take care.
I keep searching for the perfect link only to find the Link Ninjas doing the same. Good luck on your black belt Jen.
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