Sphinn - Shine A Light - How to explain link-theory to a layman

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Shine A Light - How to explain link-theory to a layman

Went Hot: June 27, 2008 - 8:12 pm
Posted By: JamesDuthie 110 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.seopscentre.com)
Category: SEO

There are all sorts of metaphors and analogies you can use to illustrate various aspects of link theory, from the buckets full of link juice used to explain PR flow and sculpting, through to examples where Links=Votes.

Ken has devised a new analogy - Links are like torch beams. The more links pointing to your site and the more powerful they are, the brighter your site will shine

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from DazzlinDonna 110 days ago #

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I really liked this explanation.

from andrewburnett 109 days ago #

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Best explanation I've come across - I'll be using this from now on.

from sonnygill 109 days ago #

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Great explanation.

from KenJones 108 days ago #

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This was how explained it to my girlfriend and she said it made much more sense than my usual ramblings about Google and PageRank and anchor text etc.
Glad everyone else seems to like it and I hope you find it as useful as I have.

from vangogh 108 days ago #

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Great analogy Ken. I'll be using it in the future too. It's flexible like you say and we should be able to add to it to describe new thoughts about links as they come up. I've usually used an analogy of interconnected roads and highways, but the light analogy is a better one.

from KenJones 108 days ago #

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@vangogh - Thanks Steven, I've already thought of one addition for the analogy. Google could decide you've broken their guidelines and Matt Cutts puts his sunglasses on so that your site doesn't seem to shine as brightly ;-)

from bbcarter 108 days ago #

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Thanks cuz I HATE link JUICE. I always feel like I have to say I think that's a stupid phrase when I use it.

I just did an interview with Alan K'necht who had another good analogy- links are like bridges, or roads between islands (websites).

I'd sphinn that a bit to say they're like roads between towns in an unpaved frontier (the numbers are just examples):

* 1 link is a dirt road
* 100 links is a paved road
* 1000 links make a highway
* 10,000 make a 6 lane highway,
...and so on

Then you can mix 700 metaphors and come up with: "if a website gets built in a forest and no one links to it, does it make a sound? No, silly, of course not!"

from KenJones 107 days ago #

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@bbcarter - "if a website gets built in a forest and no one links to it, does it make a sound? No, silly, of course not!" I like it. Very Zen.

But, what's the sound of 1 website clapping?