Discrepancies in link reports from SEOMoz and OSE

[LynnMarie]

Hello,

I am trying to understand the link profile of my site. In the competitive analysis from SEOMoz, it shows 22K+ of links, with about 900+ being external followed links and 800+ internal.

Webmaster tools shows a similar number of external followed links, but the link report from OSE only shows about 150 external followed links.

This brings up several questions:

Where is this 22K total links coming from?

Why is there such a difference in the SEOMoz competitive analysis and the OSE report?

Why does the OSE report show some links as not followed, while Webmaster tools lists them as followed?

Am new to the off-page aspects of SEO, and I have to say the discrepancy in data from different tools is by far the most challenging thing for me. Would welcome general advice on this topic as well.

Thank you!

[Cyrus-Shepard]

Hi Lynn,

Great question! This can definitely be confusing, but fortunately there is an easy explanation.

The metrics in the competitive analysis of your PRO campaign refer to Root domain metrics - this means the totality of all links pointing to your entire root domain.

On the other hand, when you type a URL into Open Site Explorer, the first metrics it shows you are URL specific metrics - meaning it only shows you links going to that specific page.

To find your 22k number, hit the "Compare Link Metrics" tab and scroll towards the bottom where it lists Root domain metrics. These numbers should jive with what you're seeing in the competitive analysis, and more closely reflect what you see in Google's Webmaster Tools (although Google Webmaster and OSE don't always agree, as they tend to report different numbers)

Hope this helps! Best of luck with your SEO.

[LynnMarie]

Thanks Cyrus! I think you answered another question for me on Market Motive as well. You must be my SEO guardian angel. Are you a grad of Todd's program?

[Cyrus-Shepard]

Ha! I had a drink with Todd in Brazil last year during a conference. Unfortunately, not a grad of his program.