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We recently had this problem with two sites belonging to new clients.

As it turned out (I think)  because these sites had what appeared to be text link ads on the home pages (2 each) and both had a rather large "links"  page,  GWM  had stopped showing all thier back links. That is a BAD SIGN of things to come!  We fixed it, and the links are back.

So... does your site sell links?  does it look like it might be selling links?  Could be the issue?

Not sure if this will help. We recently brought in two new clients.  Both had text link's to other sites on their home pages.  It would make sense that Google would view them as suspicious, as they also had a robust "links" page. There site rankings where slipping, and when you used the Link:www.yoursitehere.com" command, they didn't show at all. Talk about RED flags!

GWM wasn't showing any back links to either site (A REAL PROBLEM)  and we assumed they where passing no link juice because of it.

Long story short, we removed the spammy looking links on the home page, and change the link page so it had far fewer links, and looked more natural .  Links are back on GWM   and rankings have returned.

My Point...  If Google picked up on these two sites, which trust me, are not all that spammy and are real companies , and were NOT selling text links, I can only guess that the sites you will end up on will have very little value.

Why not do it the other way?  Earning great links back through great content and great P.R.  ?  Use professional SEO process? The days of buying your rankings are fading fast!

Ryan, yes there are a lot of factors.  But ....  going back two page example. Two pages of the same value. One has 3 outbound links, the other has 30.  Clearly in most cases the page with 3 is better.  In other words, if you have this situation 100 times, you might see it proving correct 70 or 80.

I doubt that figuring out several of the SEOmoz metrics is much (if at all) more difficult than the one I am describing, and a Link value would be of huge.

Every metric we see on reports is in fact a guess. PA, DA, Trust, Cblocks, Backlinks.. none can be completely trusted and we all use these tools with that understanding, and the hope that they are at least generally correct.  What would be any different in a link value report that took as much into consideration as possible?

Can you imagine the time savings and efficiency acceleration of Link building if such a tool existed and was even somewhat accurate.

I think SEOmoz attempted this with the old Domain Juice passed metric. But seeing the formula for it, I can understand why they felt it was not very helpful.

Ditto Bevelwise. We see Page Authority as gaining much more rank this year. Link's from pages with low page authority seem to have very little effect.

We understand the PA, DA, trust and all of that.  My question is, is there a process or formula anyone uses that shows an individual links value as to the link juice it passes. The old Domain Juice seemed to be that, but after further investigation (And Rand setting me straight)  I now understand it's not a good metric.

Today, we use PA  divided by the number of external links on that page to get some sense of an individual links actual value to the site or page we link to. I understand this is a very sloppy system, but seems to be the only choice we have?

It's based on this simple thought.  If you get a back link on two different pages, and both are equal in every way,  except one has 3 outbound links and the other has 30, the link from the page with 3 will be significantly stronger as far as passing juice.

So...  anyone using something to determine an individual links value?  I did ask the SEO staff, and they do not current have it.

Chnage the Title to "change"  from "changes". Now ranked 2nd for Change, and 5th for changes.

Chnage the Title to "change"  from "changes". Now ranked 2nd for Change, and 5th for changes.

I agree with Ryan completely.  I would only add that the ultimate metric is your ranking for keywords, and as you are the only one who knows what is happening to your site and link profile, you need to track and measure everything to see what effect your changes have.

Link scape is a great tool, and certainly one of the best on the planet. But it, like any of the tools need to be assessed with an understanding of the task they undertake, their methodology in doing so, and a clear understanding that it, and all tools , are guides, mere hints if you will, as to what is happening in the hallowed halls of Google search.

Thanks Boulder!  I used the browser in Natural search, so it shows what the national results are.

I just changed the title to the singular to see if that changes the ranking.

Thanks Boulder!  I used the browser in Natural search, so it shows what the national results are.

I may change the title to the singular and see if that changes the ranking.  I am sure it well... right?

Thanks Ryan... right on the Mark n this one. The site does well in Bing and Yahoo, I just think it takes them (it) a while longer to get the individual pages index. I will add and see. You are truly one of the Guru's on here.

Me to. I am only adding this so I will get updates. Sorry.

Search "Google Places Changes."

My Blog, www.salesjumpstart.net/blog  is ranked first.  Has been for a week.  Why?  Makes no sense. I have been getting many first page Google results for 3 and 4 word keyword searches.  The site or Blog just isn't that strong.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Google+places+hchanges&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#sclient=psy&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=uFR&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&source=hp&q=Google+places+changes&pbx=1&oq=Google+places+changes&aq=f&aqi=g2g-j1g-b1&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=4293l4293l0l4628l1l1l0l0l0l0l271l271l2-1l1l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=661c0b1152c259b4&biw=1024&bih=583

Same issue here. Firefox will eventually close for me, but it takes 5 minutes or so.

I think you can find a great deal of information on Ranking Factors by searching through this site. Our experience is that Back links control about 70% of your ranking.  Keep an eye on your pages PA, and how it compares to your competition

Here is a great blog on Ranking factors: .

www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors

We noticed a loss of links showing up for one client.  Their PA went up, DA went down. The main BBB links did not show up, and 9 or so other from known sources.

Thanks Rand.  Is there a report that shows an individual link strength (for a back link) vs. the page or Domain strength that the page is on?

It looks like they are retiring the old Link scape.  Where do we find the report that showed the Domain Juice passed by each link?  Is it in the advanced reports and we need to request and wait?