14,000+ links a to one site - is this a problem?

[uniquegifts-277879]

First, thanks to those who have helped me before.

Second, according to Google Webmaster there are about 14,765 external links to my site.   According to Open Site Explorer I have 22. So a couple of questions:

1. Why such a discrepancy?

2. Of the 14,765 links shown in Google Webmaster 14,665 are all from one place and all link to my home page.  The site is interiordesignproductfinder.com.  In August of this year I bought a sponsorship there.  There are several of these sponsors so which show up on a rotating basis.

Will having 14,765 links all of a sudden showing up be grounds for some type of a Google downgrade?

Why are there 14, 765 links instead of just one.  Is a new link created every time our sponsorship rotates to the page?

Another thing, in the past couple of months our conversions have dropped significantly.  we average about 180 visits a day with a 50% bounce rate.  Is there anything obvious thatt might have caused this drop?

Thanks for any insights.

Don

www.uniquegiftsanddecor.com

[RobertFisher]

Great Answer Ryan. Succinct, clear, excellent.

[uniquegifts-277879]

Thanks so much.

Don

[uniquegifts-277879]

Thanks so much.

Don

[RyanKent]

Why such a discrepancy [between OSE and Google WMT] ?

OSE links are based upon the Linkscape crawl of the web. OSE is only updated about once each month, and it focuses on the top 25% of web pages. Google information is updated daily and will include all pages to which it has visibility. If links are appearing in Google WMT but not in OSE, the link is either new (within the last 10 weeks) or is of very low value.

Will having 14,765 links all of a sudden showing up be grounds for some type of a Google downgrade?

No. Some sites have a million+ pages. A new site wide footer link added could generate a million new links to your site. Google would recognize it is simply 1 root domain and the number of overall links is not a concern.

Why are there 14, 765 links instead of just one.  Is a new link created every time our sponsorship rotates to the page?

It all depends on the design of the linking site. Some sites have many duplicate pages. Some sites create new pages with unique URLs for every visitor.

I took a look at the interiordesignproductfinder.com site and was unable to locate a link to your site on the home page or by using the search function. If you can offer a URL to a page with a link to your site, we can offer more feedback.

we average about 180 visits a day with a 50% bounce rate.

When I looked at your site I noticed a page with Fairy and Gnome statues. The page title is "Fairy | Gnome". I would suggest "Fairy Statues | Gnome Statues" would be a much better title. With your present title, your page will rank higher for any "fairy" or "gnome" search, and lower for any "fairy statue" or "gnome statue" search. The problem is many people search for "fairy" or "gnome" because they want pictures, stories, movies, etc. regarding fairies and gnomes, not a statue. When they visit your site they instantly recognize the page is not what they are looking for and bounce. By using a more appropriate title, you will capture more qualified traffic which will have a better chance of converting.