Links counted in Google Webmaster Tools vs. OpenSiteExplorer

[mad2k]

Hi all SEOmozzers,

site: http://f8phototravel.pl

I have (in my GMT profile) 43 domains linking. Among them one of the biggest Polish like: onet.pl (5/187), gazeta.pl (8/393), grono.net.pl, canon-board.info, eturystyka.org and other.

They are not present in OpenSiteExplorer.

Any ideas why?

Thanks,

Marek

*/ Alexa rank (Poland/Global)

[Copstead]

Google's crawler has a separate larger database, crawl rate ect, than OSE.

OSE indexes monthly where as Google's index is updated more often than that.

In short, OSE is just a different "snapshot" of the net then Google's much larger database of the web

[mad2k]

Hi Brent,

I know that, already read lots of Q&A and other stuff ... but the thing is that OSE indexed links from my few domains (C Blocks) and other links from very low ranked sites.

I wonder why it doesn't index links from e.g. Google +1 and other high ranked sites?

It's a second month of campaign and few crawls behind...

It can be an issue for other campaign I want to perform for my clients ... should I use different tool for link tracking?

On the other hand my mR = 5.1, mT = 5.69, PA = 33, DA = 20 and all factors increased heavily last 2 months. At the same time my PR = 3 (from PR=0, 2 months ago)

Thanks

[Copstead]

I would wait and see what OSE says on their next update on the 29th.  It looks like OSE crawls those sites, so either they don't crawl deep enough (as deep as Google does), or your links are newer and just not updated yet.

As for a reliable crawl tool, I believe OSE is great, but here is a nice post on a few other international tool. (based on OSE data)

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/international-seo-backlinks-tool

[Copstead]

Besides SEOmoz, I would recommend Majestic SEO http://www.majesticseo.com/

[mad2k]

Yes I know majesticseo and I wrote about it some time ago in Q&A What do you use Majestic SEO for?

Frankly speaking my question was a little bit provoking. It's a large number of tools ... each of them cost a money - that can be a problem, not big but...

My question is also about how the OSE crawl the pages/links, how accurate it is and in the end how long it take to crawl e.g. 50% of links?

And still I'm wonder why it crawls low ranked pages and not to crawl high ranked pages on specific market/country?

I really want to understand what is the scheme of OSE crawling work.

[RyanKent]

OSE is based upon Linkscape's crawl of the web. The Linkscape crawl cycle is roughly a month. It takes 2-3 weeks to crawl the web, and then 1-2 weeks to process the large amount of data and provide it in a readily usable format.

When working with OSE it's important to know the Linkscape update schedule. OSE was last updated Jan 17th and will be updated again Feb 29th.

It's also important to understand how the crawler works. If you create a link during a period, you will often need to wait until the next period until the link is visible in OSE. I find OSE to be a fantastic tool for analyzing a site's backlinks. It takes time for OSE, Majestic or any other tool to crawl trillions of web pages and process the data. The tools will always be behind in the foreseeable future.

OSE is being adjusted to crawl deeper. In the past, it only crawled the top 25% of web pages. For the most part, if OSE does not see the link, the link likely has no value.

**I have (in my GMT profile) 43 domains linking. Among them one of the biggest Polish like: onet.pl (5/187), gazeta.pl (8/393), grono.net.pl, canon-board.info, eturystyka.org and other. **

Where is the linking page located within these sites? When were these links created? Those are the most relevant questions.

DMOZ is a PR 10, DA 10 site. Some pages are buried so deeply that neither Google or OSE crawls them.

In most cases, if a link is not discovered in OSE it is either two new or too weak (including buried links). If you feel neither is the case, you can submit the link information to help@seomoz.org and the help desk team will assist you.

[mad2k]

Thank you Ryan,

Great explanation. My idea is to make sure how it works and thanks to you i'm enlightened. I always try to understand mechanisms and rules of tools actions.

Thank you again:-)

Marek

[Cyrus-Shepard]

Marek,

In the past, each Linkscape index started with the top 10 billion urls from the previous index, based on authority, and links were discovered outward from their. Today the process is similar, but the crawling proceeds on a more continuous basis.

Basically, Linkscape still has to discover URL through links. If there are not many linked paths from the top 10 billion URLs to a particular page (even if that page is on a high authority site) then Linkscape won't consider it a priority to crawl.

On the other hand, if there are short, clear routes to a URL, this means even if the page is on a low authority site, it might get included in the index. This is a more natural crawling system that, although not perfect, mimics the way authority is passed in the real world.

[mad2k]

Thanks Cyrus,

I need explanation how OSE works. Now know it and can wait for next results and work on good link connections. I will try to "flow to surface" with links from good sites in which I have buried links

Marek