Are the nearly 400 download sites out there good sources of links for a boost in search engine rankings? Or does the search engine not include these.

It seems like all of them have a link that says "To the publishers home page"

Well I don't consider myself a search expert but for what it's worth here's my understanding of it...

I assume by link base you're speaking specifically of the incoming link measurements google uses to rate your page. The answer is both yes and no. There are a number of factors that are relevent.

1) Many download sites provide links in a poor way that spiders won't or can't follow so they can be discounted

2) The value of a page's outgoing links is relative to it's own rank and the number of outgoing links from that page. Since download sites have many many pages and their individual ranks aren't that high generally speaking any 1 link from a download site is not worth all that much.

3) The effect is cumulative. So 500x not too much is still worthwhile. While the individual links won't be worth as much as say a nice link from microsoft's home page they still add up and provide value.

4) The incoming links help you with what keywords? If you have a link that says "Publisher's homepage" well then that might be a good link for the keyphrase "publishers homepage" which isn't terribly helpful in search engine marketing.

So basically yes they're of value, and yes they do contribute, but their value is limited because of they way they generally link to you and the voting power they have.

Would anyone like to exchange links with me? if so, send me an email.

I desperately need traffic right now, and search engines dont seem to be my answer until my business grows and massive amounts of people outside the indie community link to me.

cosmicgeek@cosmicinteractive.com