Backlinks vs. Content

Discussion in 'Google' started by ddomingu, Nov 23, 2007.

  1. #1
    What is more important to google? Having backlinks or having good content?

    If you could only add one to your website, what is more important to have?

    Is having good updated content on your website better than building quality backlinks?
     
    ddomingu, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  2. rgerhards

    rgerhards Peon

    Messages:
    136
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #2
    I'd say it's not an either... If you have good content, you get backlinks. Of course, if you have good content and actively work on getting backlinks, you'll have more of them. But if you have little or no useful content, you will not get any quality backlinks, no matter how hard you try.

    So I'd always suggest to start with creating some decent content and then begin building links...

    Rainer
     
    rgerhards, Nov 23, 2007 IP
    Jim4767 likes this.
  3. Wealdie

    Wealdie Guest

    Messages:
    391
    Likes Received:
    31
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #3
    Obviously you need both, but to answer your hypothetical question - given only one choice it would be content
     
    Wealdie, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  4. ddomingu

    ddomingu Active Member

    Messages:
    229
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    51
    #4
    So everthing else being equal, if you have 2 websites with the same content, and you add good quality content on a regular basis and no backlinks to one. Then only add backlinks to the other, the website with content should rank higher?

    Is this safe to assume?
     
    ddomingu, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  5. glasshoper

    glasshoper Peon

    Messages:
    373
    Likes Received:
    4
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #5
    Yeah content is a way to go. as a blogger i realized i shouldn't waste commenting on blogs because i should be focusing on content, besides often times comment url has no follow tag, just to give an example.
     
    glasshoper, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  6. droper

    droper Active Member

    Messages:
    321
    Likes Received:
    3
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    60
    #6
    Content attracts natural backlinks.
    Google loves that, and of courese : is the best thing you can do for your future users.

    So i would choose content, as it is more valuable and difficult go get/create.
     
    droper, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  7. rgerhards

    rgerhards Peon

    Messages:
    136
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #7
    Yes, exactly - don't think you always must build backlinks. If you leave a good site alone, natural backlinks will happen. So there is no such thing like an excellent page without backlinks (at least after some reasonable period). Of course, you need to have some initial attention, else nobody will know about your site... So if you absolutely want to hide it, you may have success ;)
     
    rgerhards, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  8. leri

    leri Peon

    Messages:
    70
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #8
    hi guys,
    You all right that content is the most important factor to promote your site and Google and other SEs are loved it to crawl.
    Having good content, you do not need to do more tactics except link building to getting good PR and search result.:cool:
     
    leri, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  9. ddomingu

    ddomingu Active Member

    Messages:
    229
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    51
    #9
    This is good to know. thanks guys
     
    ddomingu, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  10. zee

    zee Banned

    Messages:
    1,789
    Likes Received:
    21
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #10
    Content

    Why? Because the more you write, the more chances you have to appear on odd keywords. However, having said that, I don't think that concentrating on content alone is going to take you sky high. You also need to build links. Some people say that the unique the content, the more links you'll get. While the theory makes perfect sense and to some extent also works for some people but you can't just sit back and write and wait for other people to link to you. Some people might even rip off your content and put it up on their websites and if they have have done their bit of the off-page customization then their site is likely to get indexed more and earlier than yours.

    Write more and try to write unique content but make sure that you also work on link building. It'll help you go a long way.
     
    zee, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  11. frets

    frets Peon

    Messages:
    35
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #11
    I totally agree. The more content you have the more you find yourself ranking high for those rare long tail's. Enough content and you'll be surprised just how many these can add up. But despite all that, unless the content has something outstanding or some kind of link bait then the links don't come quickly without a push. IMO, they are both as important as each other if you are trying to attract a large audience.
     
    frets, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  12. linkmanager

    linkmanager Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    2,432
    Likes Received:
    113
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    135
    #12
    Hmmmm the most importand NOW are baclinks :d But same results you can receive with LOWER count of baclinks if You have good content..

    IMO --> Quality content can gives You lots of niche targeted traffic ;) It is very useful when Your site is NEW and on hard keywords you are away in Serps
     
    linkmanager, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  13. Snout

    Snout Peon

    Messages:
    238
    Likes Received:
    10
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #13
    No matter what kind of stolen or unreadable content you got, if you have lots of quality backlinks, Google will not care about the content and rank the site high. Know it from experience too. So *TO GOOGLE* backlinks are more important.
     
    Snout, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  14. dreamsubmitting

    dreamsubmitting Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,279
    Likes Received:
    44
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    160
    #14
    yups its true that back links are important than content...

    Dilpreet
     
    dreamsubmitting, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  15. Nosfer

    Nosfer Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,799
    Likes Received:
    50
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    140
    #15
    i think backlinks are more important ;) i mean... if you can get a decent position [top 5 in search results] for your website and you have few content on it and many ads ;) you could earn really well from it.
     
    Nosfer, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  16. budin

    budin Active Member

    Messages:
    281
    Likes Received:
    9
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    58
    #16
    have to agree with you Snout.. I had an experience doing this thing..I tried finding more backlinks that I could for my experimental blog rather than emphasizing on the quality of the content.

    The result is pretty impressive.. I ranked no 1 in google for that experimental keyword ;)
     
    budin, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  17. rgerhards

    rgerhards Peon

    Messages:
    136
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #17
    Was that experimental keyword highly competitive? I know from experience that it is fairly easy to rank high on non-competitive keywords...

    Besides that, I agree that good content without link building does not bring you really far. However, I think the importance is still on the content ... IF the site in question is to stay for a longer period. If you just do a quick shot for, let's say half a year or so, the content is probably not that important...

    My 2cts...

    Rainer
     
    rgerhards, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  18. mcaronan

    mcaronan Peon

    Messages:
    441
    Likes Received:
    4
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #18

    For me, backlinks will do. A site with good content will but doesn't have any good quality links will only sit on the bottom of the search engines. So, do link building frequently.. :D
     
    mcaronan, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  19. bomberman

    bomberman Peon

    Messages:
    1,082
    Likes Received:
    9
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #19
    Provide your site with good content first before you build for a backlinks. Content is more important in your site especially if it is newly launched.
     
    bomberman, Nov 23, 2007 IP
  20. bhopkins

    bhopkins Banned

    Messages:
    133
    Likes Received:
    2
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #20
    I agree with everyone else. Content is king. If you have great content then the backlinks are going to come. If you work at the backlinks too, then you will just do better in the SE's as well as more traffic
     
    bhopkins, Nov 23, 2007 IP