PINNED: Discuss Google SEO: Backlinks, Link Building, Link Popularity

[#1]

This thread is for discussions and questions about Google SEO: Backlinks, Link Building, Link Popularity

Google (and Yahoo and Bing) uses the the number and quality of backlinks to determine which web pages come up first, second, third . . . etc in Google search results.

Building backlinks for your shop is the best way to move your shop and individual listings up higher in Google search results. But there are many pitfalls, many ways you can make big and costly mistakes.

Post your questions and comments here.

[GraceEarrings]

~~~ slow & steady win the race ~~~

[Former_Member]

Grace,

Slow and Steady has been my life-long pace. I am surrounding by fast moving hares but insist going at my own pace. It works for me.

Google also seems to prefer long-time slow and steady rises in the search engine rankings. Any Web site that goes up high quickly raises red flags at Google.

[JewelleryByJora]

I just typed my shop into the website you mentioned in a previous post, http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/ It shows 8 inbound for my shop, mostly from comments I've left on one blog. It shows a link from a list I added my shop to very recently too.

What happened to all the other links?! I link to my shop on my own blog (blogger) every time I post and that's not showing at all. I'm a bit disheartened now.

Also am I right in thinking domain authority would be for etsy and page authority my shop alone? It's showing 95/100 and 49/100 for domain & page respectively.

[Former_Member]

Rachael,

opensiteexplorer.org updates only once every few months. Any recently added backlinks will show up on the next round of updates. Just keep working on those links and you will see them eventually.

The domain and page authority both are about Etsy.

Blog comments are usually blocked from passing any link value. Look for the "nofollow" tag on the links in opensiteexplorer.org. These tags will show you which links do not add any value to your link building efforts.

If you bought my SEO guidebook, take another look at step #5 which goes into great detail about building backlinks, including how to tell when and where links have the "nofollow" tag added.

[kikisjewelrybox]

In the last 30 days I've only had one view through google search and the rest by other. What is going on?

Maybe the keywords I use for the new item I'm adding soon will get better views. I'm working really hard to choose the best keywords. I guess I'm still learning.

:)Karen

Mary from WingsDoveSEOGudies responded:

Hi Karen,

It takes more than using great keywords to do well on Google and get many views.

Mary,

What else would you say it takes to do better on Google? I'm still wondering if my keywords are good enough since I'm not seeing searches from Google. I tried something different this time with my new listing. I'll see how that goes and if it goes all well I'll try this way with my other listing's keywords.

Would it show up a link to my shop directly from google or it only shows searches of all sellers who have listings with those keywords? If so, how long does it take for new listing's keywords to show up in google searches directing to my actual listing in my shop? I saw my listing in the google search that link leads to all results of searches with those keywords.

Thanks,
Karen

[Former_Member]

Karen,

Your listings can show up on Google separate from any searches from Etsy that you see listed on Google. There are Etsy shops that do very well on Google.

Keywords and other text on an Web page is 1/2 of SEO. The other half is backlinks. Google, and other search engines like Yahoo and Bing, counts backlinks as "votes" to determine the popularity of a Web page (something like "favorites" on Etsy). The more backlinks and the better quality backlinks your Web pages have the higher up they will go in the search results on Google. The higher the placement of your shop or listings on Google search results, the more views you will get. Most shoppers do not look past page one of Google search results which is why, without backlinks, your listings get very few views.

You can read more about backlinks on our SEO Team blog:
http://e-seoteam.blogspot.com/2012/07/what-is-link-building-backlinks-link.html
http://e-seoteam.blogspot.com/2012/07/googles-penguin-update-overoptimizing.html

[kikisjewelrybox]

Hey Mary,

Thanks for the backlink info. I have three questions. One, is putting links between your blog and facebook a backlink? I'm trying to understand this. Second, I see that you stated Etsy doesn't have backlinks but I have posted links to my Etsy shop on my facebook pages. Why is that not a backlink? Third, can you just use your facebook as a backlink without a blog or linking those two together is the only way to create a backlink?

Thanks!
Karen

[kikisjewelrybox]

Hey there,

I'm thinking of creating a blog for my jewelry. Can anyone recommend any sites that are good and free or reasonable in price to create a blog on?

Thanks!
Karen

[Former_Member]

You need so many backlinks that you have to look beyond the one link between blog and Facebook. There is only one link on Facebook that Google counts - the link on the Information page of your FB business account.

Links between your blog and your Etsy shop would work very well as long as you keep using links in each article that you post on your blog.

It is true that you cannot create clickable links in your Etsy shop to any outside web pages.

I highly recommend Blue Host at http://www.bluehost.com/track/wingsdove for low cost blog hosting as well as their great and easy to use one-click installation of free Wordpress blog software.

[kikisjewelrybox]

I'm a little confused. Are you suggesting Wordpress.org? Or Wordpress.com?

Thanks,
Karen

[Former_Member]

Karen,

The right Wordpress software is installed when you use the one-click installation widget on Blue Host. The software comes from Wordpress.org

[BellesBijouxDesigns]

Hi Mary

Does Linked in count as a place for a back link?

[Former_Member]

LinkedIn does count as one backlink.

[AmyEstelleMetalworks]

You mentioned that on Facbook, the only backlink that counts is in the about section of your bus pg. Does that mean that when you post links to new listings in your shop that it diesnt count? What if a friend posted or shared a link to your shop on their personal or bus FB pg? Does that count? Thanks so much for all the info!

[AmyEstelleMetalworks]

When you mentioned that it's good to have a link to your shop in every blog post, do yoy have to work it into the text, or can it just be at rhe end of the post, like a signature with your name and shop link. Also, I'm assuming that photos that you post on yoyr blog and link to your sho counts too, right? If you have multiple photos within one post, all linking, will each one count?

[AmyEstelleMetalworks]

Sorry about type-os. On my phone.

[AmyEstelleMetalworks]

----If Google deems a web site to be irrelevant to yours (for example, a sports web site linking to a jewelry web site), Google will remove the link value passed by that link to your web page. If Google removes the link value from many web sites linking to your Etsy shop or stand alone web site, your rankings on Google will drop in the search results. ----

What if a lifestyle type blog features your jewelry shop in a blog post. Would rhat still be a bad link? What if they added your blog lunk to their blig roll list?

[Former_Member]

Amy,

Google cannot get past the Facebook password protected pages and cannot "see" the posts to your shop or any other web site from your FB page or any other FB page. No link value can be given when the posts cannot be seen.

Hint: Use Google+ where Google can see every post and every Fan reaction to every post.

All links from a blog, including text links, photo links and signature links are counted as links.

Google does not always remove link value from irrelevant web sites. From good but irrelevant web sites Google does not give as much link value to the irrelevant links. Links from great trusted web sites (such as news web site like CNN) but irrelevant web sites can get full link value passed along if these are know trusted web sites. This can get really complicated and not worth the worry. The ones I would worry about would be links from bad web sites such as known spammers.

[AmyEstelleMetalworks]

Thanks so much Mary!!! I really appreciate it!

[Nostalgianmore]

New to the team, and been reading a lot of great information here. I have a question regarding backlinks.

Do Pinterest and Wanelo count for backlinks? Stumblupon or Flickr? I need to do a lot of work to generate some backlinks, so I'm wondering if these sites are worthwhile.

Thanks!

[Former_Member]

Wow This is all pretty confusing and I thought I was getting the hang of it. I don't blog but have been able to get bloggers to interview me and share my Etsy store so I would assume that links to my products and store are considered backlinks from those blogs. Also, I signed up on a webpage called LinkReferral where websites (including mine) are listed and you review other websites and other people review yours. Do those links from LinkReferral count as back links.

[Former_Member]

Debbie,

I don't think so. I have never seen any of these Web sites on any back link checker tools, like opensiteexplorer.org

[Former_Member]

Barbara,

Articles about you on blogs are considered back links and are counted.

LinkReferral might be okay if the Web site that reviews yours or that you review is not a ink spam Web site.

[Former_Member]

****************** I am on vacation with very limited Internet access ***************

Please come back in August with your questions.

[EpiphaniesAfield]

When I imagine backlinks I think of something two-way, as if there's the link in my blog to some other site, and then a user or visitor out on that site being able to link back to my blog, maybe without expecting it will happen. Is this untrue, or sometimes untrue? I gather from reading through this section on backlinks that the chief value of having backlinks is upping your ability to be found, first via your blog, then your shop insofar as it's linked to your blog, and not much at all enabling people who, let's say, are visiting a site about pitcher plants to find my blog about pitcher plants or my Etsy listing of a pitcher plant. Are two-way backlinks--to and back from--sites owned and operated by big entities to whom I'm a complete stranger possible?