Google back link value

Google does not publish all of your back links because they don't want to, they don't want to use the space or what ever the reason. OK!

Now, how do I use the number of backlinks they do publish?
In other words:
My site has 100 google back links
My competitor has 200 google back links

Do I simply need to get 100 google back links to "catch" that competitor?
Or, do I need to get 100 back links that google assigns a value to, to match that competitors 200 back links.

The reason I am asking is does Google assign serps on the basis of comparing sites that utilize the same/similar keywords on that keyword so a competitor is either upfront of you or in your rear view mirror viz a viz the number of back links, in addition to other factors, I know.

Any thoughts?

 

well what are the pageranks of the links? if your links have higher pagerank then its better ;p

 

Google purposely only shows you a random sampling so that you don't know the real answer. Instead of obsessing about the competition, concentrate on adding new content to your site and getting quality links. You can also use google webmaster tools to get a better idea of what google thinks of your site now.

 

No, it's not that simple. Backlinks from established sites has a lot more value.
In-content links from related sites are the best. Avoid footer links.

 

Actually the numbers of backlink won't be the sole deciding factor. Most important consideration is quality whether the links are related to your niche or not. Just forget about links competition and sometimes it is the use of right keywords that matters.

 

It's a good question.

 

Go to Yahoo Site Explorer and do a backlink check on your competitors. You may also want to check the PR of those backlinks so you can categorize appropriately. Try to get links on the most relevant pages with higher PR.

For relevancy, try to make sure that the keywords/anchor text you are targeting appear in the title of the page and has a reasonable density in the visible text.

 

Thanks for all the replies! I know I am obsessing about the number of links my competitors have and I really hadn't thought about the PR of the sites that are linking back! Thanks for that!
I really do need to concentrate on getting quality links instead of just any links, although as we all know that is the hard part. I am adding content to my site but it is a retail site with products and adding content is another challenge.
Thanks!