I'm not sure about this "unrelated link without much power" stuff. I have seen my website traffic increase as a result of getting links from other sites, with no real correlation between the content on the other sites and mine. I mean, my website is a bit complicated and rambling, and I'd have trouble telling you what it was about myself, so how does Google know? In Google's original specification about Page Rank, there was no mention of content relevance. So if they have added it in since then, I bet it doesn't count for more than 20% of the total weighting. I think that a link from a PR7 charity page to your website is going to give you a boost, regardless of the website relevance. Anyone got any experience or proof that contradicts this?
i think your right, and even if it doesnt affect Page Rank greatly, the visits they could generate would still make it worth it
I've noticed the same thing with high power sites. A good strong link from a trusted site will work very well even if it is not on topic. But for the regular links, it helps to have them on the same topic otherwise you need a ton of them before they make a difference to your search results.
You are right. PageRank has nothing to do with relevance. Search engine rankings, on the other hand, have quite a bit to do with relevance. Were you getting more traffic from organic search engine results? If so, you could see what terms you are ranking well for and that will give you an indication of what Google thinks that your site is about.
Awesome idea there! Repped for sure on this one. I do believe MrX said it all in his statement though. Very funny, going to happen. I am sure many lurkers here have already contacted thousands of charities across the internet. Leaving little old me just now reading the greatest thread in a long time in the dust!
I think that sums it up. The thing is that google tries very hard to find out which links are spam - there only to change the serps. Related links are more likely to be trusted, because they are more likely to be 'real votes'. But from a trusted site, that doesn't sell links, there is always value in the link - even if it is totally unrelated.
I doubt that would happen since charities aren't usually the type to try and scam people. You could also try a monthly payment plan with them.
Not a bad idea at all, you could then chime in on your site that you donate to.....If you decide to try this out, let us know how it works out, please. We're considering donating portions of our sales to a charity and are looking at all possible angles.