Should I backlink even if my hubs get traffic?

1. 74

   David 470posted 13 years ago

   I did not send some backlinks to some of my hubs recently, and yet they are receiving good traffic. Should I still backlink them anyway? Whats the primarily difference if I did or did not. I usually send 5-10 backlinks or so....

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2. 94

   Susana Sposted 13 years ago

   The reason you would do some backlinking is to improve your position in the search engine results for your chosen keyphrases.
   
   So for instance if your hub is at number 6 on page 1 for the search term blue pigs and you wanted to increase the traffic, you would create some backlinks with the anchor text blue pigs to push up your position. Just jumping up one position in the serps can double traffic.
   
   So the first thing to do is to determine where your page is in the serps for a particular search term. If you are already at number 1 you might not want to bother with backlinks, if you're not then creating a few backlinks will be beneficial.

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      Wystan Wellingtonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I feel that even if you're already #1, you should still throw some backlinks to it. You don't know when someone will come in to boost their rankings and overtake you. Some backlinks will at least help to secure your ranking better.

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      1. 94

         Susana Sposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         That's cool, we all have our own ways of doing things For me it's a time thing - I'd rather work on boosting articles that need it.

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            WryLiltposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Firstly - Even if you're number one for a search term, it doesn't mean you might not rank higher for a different term. For instance you might be #1 for "Red striped santa socks" but a few more backlinks might rank you up a spot for "Red striped socks".
            
            And I personally don't backlink. I tweet now and that's it. Why?
            
            It's not my site - I'm only helping HP. Not that I don't love HP, but in the end I'm only getting backlinks for one page, while it benefits their whole SITE.
            
            Secondly, I'd rather write 100 hubs that mature in a year than 10 hubs I spend ages backlinking and mature in three months. Eggs in one basket and all that...

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            1. 59

               saleheensblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               +99

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            2. 94

               Susana Sposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Like I said, we all have our own ways of doing things. What's good for one isn't necessarily what's good for someone else. If you want to wait around in the hope that your pages might mature that's fine, it's no  skin off my nose. I think I answered David's question though about the reasons and benefits of backlinks Or maybe it wasn't up to scratch?
               
               Yeh I know one page can rank for plenty of search terms - mine do.
               
               Backlinks not only help Hubpages but they also help your own pages increase in traffic and earnings.

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               1. 86

                  WryLiltposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Sorry Susana, that wasn't meant to be directly back at your comment; it was at Wystan as well as the OP.

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                     Susana Sposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Ok, no problem

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                  2. 79

                     PurpleOneposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     To WryLilt or anyone else who believes in the aging theory (not saying I don't myself - I have lots to learn!):
                     
                     Do you feel that sales hubs - hubs designed specifically to sell Amazon products, for example - will really generate organic backlinks all by themselves? I can see informational hubs perhaps getting their own backlinks, but for me at least, I feel it's a stretch to think that someone would want to backlink to one of my sales hubs..  Take my latest sales hub, for example.. why on earth would someone want to backlink to it? I'm not saying it couldn't happen, just very unlikely..
                     
                     Have you so far received many organic backlinks on your sales hubs? Just wondering. I haven't myself but I'm clearly no expert here and like I said, have lots to learn. Thanks.

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                     1. 59

                        saleheensblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        I support Pcunix and WryLit but you have a good point on sales hub.
                        
                        Now, why back linking is important? It's the tool to measure page rank. And it always happens that a low PR page overtakes a high PR page because of the difference of quality. I think even in sales hub quality is a matter.

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                     2. 83

                        Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        There are sales hubs and there are sales hubs. As I have said in other places, I almost never specifically write about a product, but if I do, I try to find a way to make it link-worthy. That might be humor or even a rant, it might be a novel use, or it might be a way around some limitation. 
                        
                        Sure, if all someone has done is publish a dry, uninteresting review, they are unlikely to get a single genuine link.   That type of bland page is all too common and - in my opinion - pollutes the Internet because it has no value to anyone.
                        
                        Value add is the answer to many a sales problem, isn't it?

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                        1. 59

                           saleheensblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           10 on 10, this is what I was trying to say.

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                        2. 0

                           shazwellynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           With due respect Pcunix - the question was to do with sales hubs.  I agree with much of your ideas about content being king but, as an exception to disprove the rule, we dont know where we stand six months down the line.  Will the items be out of stock, for example, or will you have missed the boat as regards to that great new product that you have yet to review because you havent tested it yet?
                           
                           At the end of the day, remember, there is always some blighter that will get that review top ranked using backlinking strategies, whilst 'one' waits, taking the moral ground.  And, you know that I take the moral ground to my detriment (it seems).
                           
                           Backlinking might be useful in putting a great review, with quality content, where it wouldnt be if it was an ever green article - NOW and NOT in six months!  People really miss the boat waiting for natural links with product sales.  It is as if you need a crystal ball.
                           
                           So, here you are.... the terrible dichotomy of this whole backlinking thing!

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            3. 83

               Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Ayup.
               
               Besides, it makes me feel icky.
               
               Good content attracts organic links. That takes time, but so what? As WryLit says, we can make good use of the time.

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               1. 70

                  Moxylposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Thanks for this reply as it completely flipped my understanding, since most people focus on backlinking.
                  
                  I realize that when i'm posting new hub links on twitter, digg and she told me, my page view increases but the viewing time is in generally low. That actually negatively affects my Page eCPM it seems.

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                  1. 78

                     thisisoliposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Try focusing more on creating article backlinks than social bookmarking.

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                     1. 83

                        Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        And again, I'd suggest spending more time on your content.
                        
                        Aside from anything else, amateurish attempts can get you in trouble with Google. It can negatively affect this site also, which has caused HP staff to issue warnings against it and to even take down hubs when their owner went overboard with spammy link creation.
                        
                        I see no need for it anyway, but if you are convinced that you must, at least learn from a pro like Misha or keep the activity level low.
                        
                        I do not do this and earn close to $2,000 monthly from all my Internet income sources.  People like Misha of course earn more, but that stuff isn't my main income and I wouldn't want it to be - you never know what the future may bring.  If you are earning $10 a month, you aren't going to earn $1,000 by throwing up social bookmarking backlinks.

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                  2. 83

                     Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Well, lots of useless traffic of course affects your RPM (Google's new term, Revenue Per Thousand).
                     
                     I have had the misfortune to be hit by slashdot and other big idiot sites a few times.  Thousands upon thousands of visitors, even crashing my site on one lovely day. No income, no residual benefit.  I hate that so much I have a standing request at the bottom of my articles there NOT to post them on any social site!

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            4. 74

               David 470posted 13 years agoin reply to this

               I may end up sending a few backlinks to ones that are super high in traffic, but I am not going overboard. 5-8 is not overboard is it?
               
               I agree though, content is overall more important

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               1. 83

                  Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  No, 5-8 is certainly not overboard

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3. 77

   skyfireposted 13 years ago

   Bingo.

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4. 0

   awesome77posted 13 years ago

   Simply put, you will even get more traffic with some backlinking!

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   1. 65

      Mishaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      This

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5. 59

   saleheensblogposted 13 years ago

   Well, I don't backlink at all. If I do I should go for article back linking through other reputed revenue sharing sites so that I can generate income from each and every article. I would not write one 1000 word hub and 5 other 200-300 hundred word summary to promote a central content. Rather I would write five complete 1000 hubs on one topic and link them together[not reciprocally] to create one way backlinks to each content.

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6. 38

   xboxps3wowposted 13 years ago

   backlinks will help you get higher in SE

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   1. 83

      Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You see, that's the kind of empty statement that leads people to wrong conclusions.
      
      Throwing up a few self created backlinks on a social networking site is unlikely to change Google's opinion one bit.  Having a respected Wikipedia editor add your page to a matching entry there could make a big difference.
      
      There are links and there are links.

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7. 86

   viryaboposted 13 years ago

   .......and link them together[not reciprocally]....... Saleheen, can you explain what you mean here. I was wondering because i link relevant hubs topics together, each one to every one, but not sure if its good to do that. Could i be wrong?

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8. 60

   Randy Godwinposted 13 years ago

   I don't bother with backlinking either other than an occasional post to FB or twitter.  But I do try to make informational hubs which feature products used for the particular subject. 
   
   I try to write information about subjects which will remain useful for quite a while, even if the products change overtime.  I still must update the improvements in the products occasionally, but the time seems well spent.

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