Types of Links

[sdwellers]

I am not sure what the difference is between the different types of links...my competitors exceed my site in certain types, and lag behind in other types...I'm trying to figure out which are more important maybe?

Followed Linking Root Domains

External "Followed" Links  vs External links

Linking C-Blocks

Just trying to understand the general differences...

[MattRoney]

Hi there! Those are both great answers, and these resources may help a bit in the future:

Open Site Explorer entry in the Moz Help Hub (check out the Glossary tab)

Moz Learn page (pay attention in particular to the links on the right)

I hope that helps!

[iSTORM-New-Media]

Since it wasn't included in Alick300's answer, I'll just note that Followed Linking Root Domains are the amount of different websites that have equity-passing links pointing to your site (whether it's 1 or 1000 links).

Variety is good and you want lots of sites sending you links, not just 1 site (this isn't a good signal when you have a lot of backlinks coming from only a couple sites).

Of course in the link graph world, quality is just as important as quantity. Make sure you are taking a look at the quality of links as well (PA, DA, Moztrust, Mozrank, etc.). You want high quality links from relevant website if you want to consistent growth and to exceed you competitors!

Hope this helps clarify things a bit more!

[Alick300]

Hi Sdwellers,

Linking C-Blocks  - Strictly no  because it's a hint to Google that the sites are all related to each other and on the same server, and that the links may not be very natural since there is the good possibility that the same person set them up.

(Above paragraph is excerpt from Keri Morgret reply on this thread @ http://moz.com/community/q/linking-c-blocks)

"External "Followed" Links  vs External links"

External followed links is good but that should be natural & not 100% Do-Follow Links means you don't get links by either of the following activities

1>Reciprocal link

2>Paid links

3>Automatically Generated Links

4>Sites that Sell Links

etc. there are long list.

Last but not least I am quoting Google guideline.

“Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.”

I hope it helps you.

Thanks