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Yahoo! and SEOmoz now make it possible for people to structure their link analysis reports so as to identify linking resources with diverse link profiles. That is, through either tool, you can see how many domains link to a particular domain. It is inevitable that the SEO community will begin setting minimum requirements for domain-level connections in link profiles.

That will be a tremendous mistake that competitive SEOs can take advantage of. Here is why it will be a mistake to focus on number of domains in a link profile:

1. Linking resources can fluff up their domain profiles by simply creating a lot of little sites that link to a single domain.
2. Links from large social media sites don’t necessarily pass value, but those sites have huge domain-level link profiles
3. The number of domains reported by any one tool is irrelevant to the data maintained by other services

Although there is an intuitive momentum pushing SEOs towards obtaining links from domains that receive links from many other domains, it does not follow that a well-linked domain will pass value to any sites it links to. Remember that SEO is not all about links.

Link profiles are useful for snapshot analysis. When you have to form a gut feeling on the spur of the moment in order to decide whether to obtain a link from a resource or not, a link profile may help you make the decision. Just because a site obtains a lot of links from many resources doesn’t mean those links pass value to the site in any search engine’s database. You want to know WHO is linking and HOW they link and WHY they link.

But that information is insufficient to help you understand what is happening in a search engine’s database. Knowing that site A links to site B doesn’t tell you whether Search Engine 1 knows about the relationship or whether Search Engine 2 credits the relationship. Knowledge of a linking relationship does help you assess a Web site’s probable visibility.

Given a choice between obtaining a link from a highly visible site versus an unknown site, you generally are better advised to take the link from the high visibility site. Even if the link passes no PageRank-like value or anchor in any search engine, it may still create visibility for your brand and/or pass traffic to your site. For that reason alone you should not reject links simply because they are embedded in Flash or Javascript, handled through redirection, or modified with “rel=’nofollow’”.

Link Building should be founded upon solid criteria that meet more than one expectation (passing anchor text and PageRank-like value constitutes a single expectation because they are so closely tied together). When you’re evaluating potential linking resources, you should assess their:

1. Web Visibility (how many domains link to them)
2. Search Visibility (how many query spaces do they rank in)
3. Credibility (are people likely to follow their links)
4. Ability to pass anchor text and PageRank-like value (naturally)
5. Hub Potential (are they treated as central resources by their Web community)
6. Perceived Authority (do people treat them as knowledgeable and trustworthy)

Any good linking resource should rate well on at least 2 or 3 of these criteria. You want to be careful, however, because links are not endorsements and people may not necessarily follow links assuming the destinations are being recommended.

Since links are NOT endorsements, the more value you are able to create in the link you position, the better. That is, if you control or influence not only the anchor text but also the text surrounding the link, you want to be sure you make that text useful and informative, helpful to the linking site’s visitors.

The more unique link placements you create, the better. If your linking resources are of such similar quality that you can rely upon a tool to fill out submission forms, it doesn’t matter how many domains link to your site. You’re probably not achieving sufficient link diversity to help yourself much.

If you’re going to build links, quantify everything as much as possible. Use your time wisely and don’t give in to unreasonable fantasies and expectations. Keep your link building lean, efficient, and powerful.