Welcome to the Q&A Forum

You've got it right.  The example is a bit simplistic as not all links on a page are going to pass the same amount of link juice, but otherwise it sounds like you get it.

Hey Irving, Thanks for these insights...I have been doing the keyword optimization on the site and perhaps that is not such a great idea.  I was happy when the moz page analyzer gave me an A for the homepage but I was looking at keywords and not overall page health. I think I need a good on-site SEO person who can systematically work through these issues and implement solutions.  Naively, I thought my developer of the Magento site would bring these skills to the table but  perhaps that is a very different skill set.  Do you agree?  If so, are there some folks you can recommend (that are reasonable and available....difficult combination I know)? I really appreciate your time...it is kind of like therapy as I feel like I am on my own out here! Hunter

Hi Thomas, Yes, like many folks I do have some crappy links.  Moz is a little behind as I have BBB and about 1/2 dozen high authority links not accounted for (SEO spyglass is a better assessment of link profile).  More importantly, is that some of my main competitors that have less moz authority and really crappy links are sitting on top of the SERPs.  I actually have lots of keywords ranking high (especially in Yahoo and Bing where the domain is perceived correctly). Even the random products and categories that are selected by google for my keywords get respectful page 2 rank but these pages have no PR or DA and I have to think that if Google recognized my homepage as the authority page I would be neck and neck with competitors that have a fraction of the quality site (and content) that I do plus they have much more polluted linking profiles. See why I am so frustrated? Hunter

Hi, Yes, perhaps I am being overly critical of Rand's remarks.  However, the site I am referring to is a legitimate mid size company.  I do not know if they simply entrusted their seo efforts to someone who has promised quick rewards at a budget price?  However, they have been camped out at all the top spots for 4-6 months now. Perhaps Google's zoo will one day catch up with them (and their ilk) but it is cold comfort to a small family business owner like myself whose finances don't guarantee that we will be around for long haul white hat efforts pay off.  Maybe the message should be a little more nuanced....a little grey is okay but just don't over do it.

Good point.  Just ran it through W3 and everything was spic and span clean..1.0 Strict compliance!  The site is Leather Hide Store if you want to see but again, maybe a question for team moz. Hunter