Link Analysis: Internal and External Links on Business Blogs
The fresh winds that swirled around the World Wide Web with the arrival of blogging some ten years ago are still swirling. Blogs are a source of new Web site and technology discoveries. Blogs speed up news discovery and provide a way for Web users to engage in conversations, as writers or commentators. Blogs have been trendsetters for Web site content, how and when Web sites publish content and the way Web sites link to other Web sites.
One of the most discussed topics in search engine and content optimization is the hyperlink. How many ingoing or outgoing links a Web site should have, how and where to place the links and if the quality of outgoing links affects a Web site's performance within search engine results and user experience from visiting the Web site.
Generally, the consensus is that blogs have many links, both for on-site navigation and pointing to other blogs and Web sites. The data table shows various frequency of links from two samples of business blogs compared against large sample of general Web sites having favorable search engine positions.
| Internal and External Links: Average Frequency | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Observed Element | Business Blogs | Business Blogs SE | Prominent SE Position |
| Links Total | 253.0 | 204.6 | 101.1 |
| Links Total Unique | 189.0 | 149.4 | 76.4 |
| Links Internal Total | 153.7 | 130.3 | 75.7 |
| Links Unique Internal | 111.7 | 93.2 | 56.1 |
| Links External Total | 100.2 | 75.1 | 28.0 |
| Links Unique External | 77.9 | 56.9 | 22.4 |
| Nofollow Links | 3.9 | 4.2 | 1.7 |
| Links within List Blocks | 107.2 | 101.0 | 74.9 |
The above table and chart clearly shows the difference among the three different types of Web sites. Links on business blogs are in much higher volumes than on general Web sites. The ratio of unique internal vs. external links is much higher on business blogs than on general Web sites where the ratio is very close to 1:2.
It has been known that excessive number of internal and external links might not help Web site's performance with search engines. Where the exact ratio and number of internal and external should be is debatable despite many theories, but this data shows patterns that are very interesting and might be of help to create the perfect combination for best performance.
Related links:
- 18 POWERFUL LINKING STRATEGIES
- Outbound Links - An Endangered Species?
- What Can Outgoing Links Do For Your Website?
Related video:
Video on link building methods.
