I am confused! How website without backlinks is in Google 1st Page?

Hi, I was today checking the number of backlinks for the websites with great rankings in google using a backlink checker tool. I used this one

I was focusing on the keyword 'Free Report'

I Checked backlinks for First Four Websites.

1. annualcreaditreport.com - It deserve to be on first position having great number of backlinks.

2. freereport.sourceforge.net - This amazed me! it is not having many backlinks.

3. freecreditreport.com - It is also having good backlinks.

4. howsmycredit.com - VERY LOW!

How, it is possible for the websites at Number Two and Four to be at this position WITHOUT having too much backlinks it is almost NIL. There are so many websites under these ones and having very much number of backlinks.

Can you please clear it? Does it mean, backlinks are having no connection with google ranking.
Thanks

 

How did you check the links?

 

Well it seems to me in regard to number two that Google ranks sites way too highly based on domain name match. Seen it over and over. Backlinks, content relevance are important yes but there is a great weight given to domain names so its not that surprising

 

The keyword 'Free Report' is very broad. You do not target what kind of report it is.

Backlinks are not that important my friend. As mentioned above having the keyword in the url will boost it's value in google's eyes by a huge amount. On page SEO comes into play (not that important). There is also the quality of the backlinks and what PR they have. Domain age is important as well. Google just loves some sites as well.

 

Hi buddy, I am not agree with the bolded text above. I think Backlinks give a huge impact to the site rank.

 

coz of domain name and title tags

 

Hope it's due to your domain value mate...

 

Number 2 is a subdomain of the PR9 site: sourceforge.net

that could explain that one.

Number 4 is a fishy one. It has PR5 with low links and alexa rank that suggests it has no traffic.

 

thats a good point but I have seen top level domains with little PR rank high just on the domain name match.

 

It is hard to know how many backlinks on page actually has.
From SEO Spyglass, to using "link:" on Google, to many other tools - They all give different results and miss out vital links

 

I think a backlinkless site rank well in google for the uniqueness in their keyword..but it takes time for google to trust them .

 

sometimes on page also counts

 

No backlink checking tools can give accurate results and he may have from very high pr backlinks with the anchors. Even few backlinks from high pr site will do the trick.

 

People don't get PR just from links. Google also uses the toolbar to find out who's clicking on what and how long they stay there. So if someone pays money fro an advertising campaign and receives constant high traffic, I think that gives them high rankings. Thats what I think anyway.

 

I agree with adsenserobo

 

Hi, Top ranking also depend on keyword density no only on backlinks. If you have good keyword relevancy as well as density then with few backlinks you can get top rank. I have reviewed many sites with this algorithem and works well.

Thanks,

 

Yup, its gotta be the domain name. Which is one of the things that is so silly and aggravating about Google's methodology. You can see some very lame websites in the top ten who are there just because they lucked into a good domain name at some point (and those are getting scarce). It make SEO much harder when your site is a corporate site with a corporate domain... even with targeted content.

 

When trying to rank well in Google it is not all about the backlinks. Now if you have a couple high pr, authroitative, very relevant backlinks mixed in the content and not on a separate page it is much more helpful ranking well in the serps then having thousands of low pr non relevant backlinks. Perhaps rather than just checking numbers you should check who is linking to the site ranking well with few backlinks because if you can gain backlinks from the same sites you will rise just as they did. Of course a sites placement also has a lot to do with on site seo and linking structure.

 

I've also noticed similar results for other sites. Turned out that those had few but very relevant backlinks.

 

Ok, you are right, On behalf of my 5 years experience in SEO & SE ,
there is no no rules or regulation on google.