If you type 'jobs uk' into google, the 4th entry is for jobs.co.uk Jobs.co.uk has just 1,706 backlinks according to iWebTool. Needless to say, this to me, sounds like quite a low number, compared to Monster.co.uk which (although appearing on the following google page) has 57,136 backlinks. If i wanted to break into the job listing industry and target the phrases: 'jobs uk' and 'jobs in uk' (which according to overture are two of the top phrases) how hard would it be to achieve? Would a few 1000 backlinks put me up into the top 10? Obviously i understand that site design and actual content also has an impact on the SERPs. Your thoughts and suggestions please?
Domain age, and most importantly, the quality (relevant and from authority sites) of backlinks is much more important that the number of backlinks. Is your content going to be unique, or just a feed? Will your site really be better than the competition? I think it would be a mistake to count on a set number of backlinks putting you in the top 10.
I agree. A high pr relevant authority site linking to yours can be worth a hundred nonrelevant low pr sites.
Go for a something more niche to see quick results. Though if you have time, you can always give it a try. Try checking out he quality of some of the links the competitors possess.
Nope not a feed - a full blown job listing website with regularly updated job listings... as for better than the competition... i suppose ill have to wait and see if i can get the visitors and traffic i want. As with such a project, the visitors will either make or break the project... needless to say though presumably if i could build a good number of backlinks (say 10k-20k) this would provide a good platform for achieving a good ranking (combined with the sites own content and design merits). I think what i want to know is... how hard is it going to be to get into the #10 and hence the first page on google... needless to say im not expecting it to be a walk in the park!
Again, the number of backlinks isn't going to mean anything if they aren't relevant and come from authority sites. londonjobs.co.uk is a PR7 and has 172,000 backlinks and isn't in the top ten. They have more than 100X the google backlinks as other top ten sites. You could have 500,000 backlinks and still not break the top ten. It's quality, not quantity and patience. Anytime you are going after very competitive terms, you have to have be willing to give it time - could be a year or more. The age or your site will also play a very important role for highly competitive terms. Top ten rankings for terms like "mortgage" have an average domain age of 10 years. Could it be done? Sure, if you spend enough time. Could it be done in 6 months? Highly unlikely.