Weighting the Value of Inlinks by Your Domain’s Life
Does anyone know…
Does Google weight the value of inlinks relative to the lifespan of a website?
While debating with some friends the question of buying links, I argued that buying links has its place in that new businesses, new companies with no brand recognition, reputation, or awareness, need way to catch up to the incumbents or they will forever be left behind.
Consider a simple example:
Coca-Cola has been around for at least as long as I’ve been living; I have no memory of it before I was around 7 years old so I have no perspective on how long… point it, the drink has been around longer than the internet.
Now, I’ve invented a new cola (we’ll call it Coca-Paula) that is so good, so addictive (legally), and so inexpensive that everyone genuinely loves it (I’m not talking about marketing hype here in an attempt to get new customers, Coca-Paula is really that good).
I’ve just launched a website for Coca-Paula (does that name reflect on my gender?) and it is getting some buzz (maybe Buzz Cola is a better name…) and inlinks because it is just that good.
Here’s the catch, Coca-cola has at least a 10 year head start on building links. How does Google know that my far fewer inlinks are an indication of Coca-Paula’s popularity when stacked against the incumbent?
Has anyone seen evidence of time based weighting of inlinks such that fewer inlinks for a newer site have more weight than inlinks to a site that has been around for years?
Let me clarify a little further, the history of your domain is a factor; a newer site is considered less relevant to Google so they can avoid prominently promoting a fly-by-night website, startup that is doomed to fail, or a blog that you’ll never actually write, but that works against my Coca-Paula and my new site. I’m also not referring to the TIMING of the inlinks; that is, newer inlinks carry more weight than old inlinks as they indicate immediacy and buzz related to a site. Coca-Paula will certainly get new inlinks but not necessarily “newer” inlinks as Coca-Cola will continue to get links of their own.
With that in mind, I ask the same question:
Given the awareness, brand recognition, and size of incumbents, how does a new company compete for relevance with inlinks? Does an opportunity for link buying not make logical sense in leveling the playing field; giving a new company flush with funding the ability to get a leg up on the existing players in the market (keep in mind, they get the same opportunity)?
Love your thoughts….
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