Using the Hub Detector to Find Relevant Links

August 13, 2007 on 2:30 pm | In Search Engine Optimization |
by James Stacy Jones

So my question boils down to is it better to be submitted to 300 free directories or one directory that is considered an authority.

To the client, the wow factor is of course that 300 is always better than 1 but to the SEO professional is not about quantity but about quality.

For example, we use http://www.linkhounds.com/hub-finder/hubfinder.php created by www.seobook.com

With the hub detector which is what I like to call it, I searched for a specific keyword phrase. The hub detector then goes out to the search engine of your choice and finds out who is linked to them which pulls the data together to give you a report of the top sites that have web sites that are linked to them as well as the other top sites.

I did a basic search for "personal injury lawyer" using Yahoo & Google API for www.texastriallaywers.com and this is what it returned.

1: www.yourlawyer.com
2: www.lawyers.com
3: www.lipsig.com
4: www.totalinjury.com
5: en.wikipedia.org
6: www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com
7: www.californiainjurylawyerblog.com
8: onward.justia.com

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Site Name
			X		X		X	[W] [A] [H] [D] [Y] www.atlantainjurylawblog.com (206.135.15.181)
			X		X		X	[W] [A] [H] [D] [Y] www.chicagoinjurylawblog.com (206.135.15.181)
			X		X		X	[W] [A] [H] [D] [Y] www.scfamilylaw.com (206.135.15.181)
			X				X	[W] [A] [H] [D] [Y] asbestos.vieiratriallaw.com (206.135.15.181)
			X				X	[W] [A] [H] [D] [Y] blog.austindefense.com (206.135.15.181)

From the list above you tell that numbers 1 through 8 correspond to the websites listed above. Now you can determine that sites 4,6,8 have the top 3 links in common because of X.  Of course the hub detector can find you more accurate results by changing the search parameters,  but this gives you a great starting point to find out who you need to have linked to your web site that your competitors also have.

Like all things you will still need use common sense.  All because it is linked to them does not mean this is final factor in determining if you would like them to link to you.  You still need to go to the directory and make sure it is legitimate by making sure it is relevant to the search term you were investigating.  And another good check is to make sure their directory pages have pagerank and I also check their alexa rating too.

Most directories you will find will probably be paid but you can still pick up a free gem of a website also.

Happy hunting for relevant links.