A common question I'm often asked is “Can you have TOO MANY backlinks?” or “Will too many backlinks cause a problem with the mighty Google?”

Well, it's time to clear things up NOW...

FACT: Many people notice that their Google rankings are actually getting worse the more backlinks that they get.

Instead of their website getting onto Page One of Google's Free Search Results, it actually moves DOWN onto the "never seen" pages where nobody can make a buck.

BUT this is contrary to what many experts say.

They tell you to go out and build as many backlinks as possible, using a keyword as an anchor text.

In case you're not sure what 'anchor text' means, here's a example of me using an anchor text: how to get backlinks.

Now if you were to click on this link, it would take you to another page on my site (the page itself is about backlinks which is why I used this text as an 'anchor').

This link could just as easily be to another website - and it doesn't have to be mine.

Anchor Text is simply the word you use to place a link into.

The text doesn't necessarily contain the name of a website or a web page.

NOTE: Good anchor text tells you what you'll find if you click the link.

In these days of social networking and article marketing, it is much simpler to get backlinks than it used to be.

Website owners are beginnning to link more, thinking that ALL links are good...

And when they go to the experts and say that their website's rankings are getting WORSE, the common answer is to just keep building links and be patient.

But this ISN'T ALWAYS TRUE.

When and How to Build Backlinks

Well patience is what you need when you have a new site or even an older site that you have started to heavily market.

The word you want to remember is not patience but PROACTIVITY.

In most cases it pays to be proactive in your approach to link building.

When Google first finds your site, it is common to find that Google waits a while for your site to sort itself out and settle into its place on the internet.

Sometimes Google puts your site into its free search results and soon after it might fall out again.

If this happens to YOUR site, this is quite normal and you should not worry too much.

Sometimes though, you might be doing something wrong and if you keep doing it, then you will only make the situation worse.

Backlinks - What You Need to be Aware of

Let us have a look at the effects of backlinks before you start making matters worse.

Sometimes when you are in a hole it is better not to keep digging...

Take the example where you are trying to get your new web page ranking well for “small widgets for do dahs”.

This is a keyword that when I last checked didn't exist, but it gives you the idea: we want our site to land on the first page of Google's Free Search Results for a SPECIFIC KEYWORD.

Usually this keyword is closely related to the subject of your web page or website.

Now normally “small widgets for do dahs” is going to be your anchor text.

Remember anchor text...? (see the link above for 'how to get backlinks')

And because you want to get onto page one of Google for this search term, you should start building links, such as articles and forum postings using this anchor text in your links.

(Click this link to lean more about Backlinking Strategies)

Important Note: Your links to your web page or web site should be clickable. Like this: website internet marketing

Although the algorithms (the computer software) that Google uses are quite complex, the basic concept is that the more back links that you build for a particular anchor text (keyword), the better.

That is a good theory to follow when building up your backlinks and SEO for your web site or blog.

The problems come when your over-do it and have too many backlinks for just one or two keywords.

What you should be aiming for is a well rounded link profile for your web site or blog that has many different types and kinds of backlinks pointing to it.

Some examples of different text you could use for your anchor text:

Instead of having just “small widgets for do dahs” as your backlink anchor text, also use reasonable variations such as “widgets that will fit your do dahs”, “do dah widgets”, “small widgets and small do dahs”, “widgets from down town”, “need a small widget to fit a do dah”.

This will help avoid Google penalising you for a poor link profile = little or no variety of anchor text.

So how do you know if you are being penalised by Google for a poor backlinking strategy?

Well thankfully, Google, as it often does, has thought of this and has provided a tool to find out.

Go to your Google search page and enter:

allinanchor: “small widgets for do dahs”

Note the usage of the colon (:) and the apostrophes (" ").

This will bring back a search that shows you all the web pages that have backlinks to THEIR web site or blog using the EXACT anchor text (or keywords) you use in this 'allinanchor' technique.

Once you've done this search it's up to you to find YOUR web page in these results.

Assuming you can find your site, this is a great little Google tool that tells you how well your backlinking strategy is going.

BUT it also tells you if you are doing TOO well with your backlinks. (Yes, too good ISN'T GOOD)

How To See If You're Using the Same Anchor Text Too Often in Your Back Links

If you rank at #10 for a normal search for the keyword make money online and about #10 for your allinanchor search - using the same keywords -

Example: allinanchor: “make money online”

Then you are doing fine.

BUT if your allinanchor search is far better than your normal rankings you are digging too deep and your backlinking profile needs to be a little more varied.

How to fix your backlinking profile

Well, you'll be glad to hear the answer is pretty simple:

Just stop linking with the offending backlinking text and start using other anchor text that is related but a little bit different (See examples above).

That's it!

You normally don't need to remove or change any links you've already made, just use new anchor text in the future.

Maybe use a more long tail anchor text (with a few more words in), or add a geographic element if that is relevant.

Just remember that Google does not count the simpler words such as “and, the, or etc.” nor does it take any notice of plurals.

This means 'How To Get Backlinks' is the SAME as 'How To Get a Backlink'.

So be imaginative with choosing your back links and Google should remain happy with your backlink profile, SEO and internet marketing strategy.

To Your Success

Mike Auton

QUICK UPDATE:

This is quite funny...

Just 36 hours after posting this article, I did a Google search for "small widgets for do dahs" (without the quotes) and this page ranked number 1 on Page One :)

Also interesting is that neither Yahoo nor Bing even know this page exists yet - just proves how fast Google can be and how quickly you can rank for a keyword if you "crack" the Google Code = the reason for this article and many others...

Comments (13)

autonmike said:

	Keeping the mighty Google happy and getting your site onto Page One of the Free Search Results can be VERY rewarding if only you know HOW. I hope this article helps you "crack" the code and grab some Free Traffic of your own :) Mike Auton
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January 31, 2011
Votes: +2

Isabel said:

	Hey Mike, love your style of writing:-) Great topic - backlinking and as always, very expressive and easy to understand. Got some good tips here, thanks. Keep up the good work
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January 31, 2011
Votes: +0

autonmike said:

	Thanks for the kind words Isabel. We aim to please :) Mike Auton
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January 31, 2011
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Julian K. said:

	You're right Mike, I did just that and my $500 a month site was even de-indexed by Google. I didn't really understand what happened but it did after I tried a software called "Backlinks ninja" for a month. Thanks for explaining the issue and I'll be more careful from now on. Best regards: Julian
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January 31, 2011
Votes: +1

autonmike said:

	Hi Julian It's always good to hear from someone who has gone through the experience themselves, although I 'm obviously sorry you got de-indexed... Thanks for sharing Mike Auton
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February 01, 2011
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Master0ms said:

I’m normally not the kind of person to submit comments on people’s blogs, but for your article I simply needed to do it. I’ve been browsing in your site a lot recently and I’m super impressed, I think you might potentially emerge as a main voices for your niche. Not sure what your free time is like in life, but if you started commiting more time to writing on this site, I’d bet you would start receiving a bunch of traffic soon. With affiliate stuff, it could become a nice reserve income source. Just an idea to think about. Good luck!from http://0ms.info

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March 21, 2011
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autonmike said:

	Hi Master0ms Thanks a lot for the kind words. Glad you enjoy the site :) Mike Auton
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March 21, 2011
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Frank Sajdak said:

	You're opening my eyes to things I didn't know that I didn't know. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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April 01, 2011
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Matt J said:

	Cool post.. It mades me wonder.. did posting my pr2 site on 8 higher pr (5 ) sites with the same anchor text hurt me? Today I was on spot 11 for "get found in Google" Now I'm spot 60 tonight??? hmmm It made me wonder if I should have targeted lower PR sites?? People your thoughts.. my site is Webmatic247 (dot) com if anyone wants to look at the Google results. NOTE: They were relevant sites..
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August 10, 2011
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autonmike said:

@ Matt - good question. it really depends how many links you create in a very short time. too many links at once looks suspicious to Google and can actually be bad for your ranking. How much is too much? Hard to say but I tend to do no more than 3 or 4 every 3 days. If the links are relevant, this is already a lot. However, in your case you may find that your site drops out of the rankings for a week or two, only to come back after this period. This is quite common as Google works out where it thinks your site 'belongs'. My advice is to SLOWLY link to you site with DIFFERENT (but similar) anchor text. Also, put links on low PR sites and on 'no follow' sites. This will make your link look NATURAL = very important. You should then see your site move back up the rankings... Post back this time next month and let us know if this helped. Cheers Mike Auton

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August 11, 2011
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Mike Dallas said:

	Have question Mike. There are these back link online programs that only require you to enter your URL and it will post over 2000 back links for free. Does not sound safe to me. By doing this once or more then once be dangerous? If so, it is not a tool to have out there so that you competion to can do you harm. This is all new to me so please laymen's language only. thanks for you time Mike
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August 29, 2011
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autonmike said:

	@mike - really simple answer: DON'T DO IT ! these services can do you more harm than good. think of it from google's perspective: each link is a bit a like a recommendation from a site. one day your site has, say 20 links. the next it has 2000. sound unlikely? YEAH. very unlikely... it's usually a good way to get your site de-indexed. all the best mike auton
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August 29, 2011
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stuart said:

	Thanks Mike This article helped me out alot. Keep up the good work.
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May 05, 2012
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