How not to offer a link exchange...

tomcatuk · #1 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 01:04 PM

Got an e-mail yesterday - here's the guts of it:

Dear Webmaster,

We are contacting you from www .wholesalepages.co.uk and would like to propose a quality link exchange with your site. We currently enjoy top search engine ranks for thousands of keywords on all the major search engines and hence believe that this proposal is not another ordinary link exchange offer but will definitely benefit your site in getting more exposure and targeted traffic and will directly help in increasing and improving your search engine rankings.

We have added a link to your site at www .wholesalepages.co.uk/resources/16 for link exchange purposes. Please visit the page to verify your link and let me know if you require any changes or amendments.

We will keep your link intact on that page for a period of one week and if we do not hear from you after this time has lapsed then it will be assumed that you are not interested in this offer and your link will be removed accordingly.

Please add our site and confirm by email so that your quality link can be kept active. Our site information is as follows:

I was quite insulted to see this kind of activity.

The "links" all have a rel="nofollow" added to them. Since I was fairly sure a link spiders won't follow isn't "quality" and isn't going to do much for my search engine rankings I replied to their e-mail to ask them just what kind of value they thought they were passing on.
I'm wondering just how many webmasters fall for this kind of thing. Apologies for not posting working URL's, but they aren't getting a backlink if I can help it!

Zombie Master · #2 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 03:49 PM

It was only a matter of time, wasn't it, Tom Cat.

In truth, it is a shame because it makes the rest of us reluctant to ask for mutual links, even when they might help both parties.

Fight on...

Orion · #3 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 03:51 PM

possible reasons..

some cms systems and blog software automatically rel="nofollow" external links and they have to actually adjust their settings to remove it.

OR

I know of link software that spiders, finds sites creates a link with nofollow, emails the person with the form letter you got, then once you've placed a link back the system auto checks verifies the return link and then removes the nofollow on their link to you.

....

having said that.. I delete as spam all those emails personally, I don't do link exchanges at all.. there's NO value in them. The philosophy behind link popularity is that people that have visited your site like it so they link to it. NOT exchange links.

chowell · #4 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 03:54 PM

I think that the email you received works well for getting amateur webmasters and site owners to "bite" and exchange links with the website.

For someone with any SEO experience, the email is spam and wouldn't be given the time of day. The company who sent it to you is just hoping that the % of amateurs is good enough to get them some backward links.

When you consider the email was generated by software, it's pretty cheap to send out thousands of these messages, even if only 1-2% end up providing a backlink. They just keep sending and building their backlinks.

I don't think we'd all continue to receive the emails if the strategy didn't work though...

speed · #5 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 04:01 PM

There I was thinking it was just me ranting about the poor quality of link exchange requests.

I've got a similar one in my inbox asking for a link in my directory (which is free to submit to) and the link back they are offering is on a page only one step above a link farm.

My personal favourite is the link building companies that raise Emergency support tickets to request a link exchange, followed quickly by the ones that start an email with:

Quote:

NOTE: We are not spammers and are against spamming of any kind.We are sending this mail with sole intention of link exchange for mutual benefit. etc etc etc

puamana · #6 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 04:01 PM

I agree with Orion - in general I do not even respond to these kinds of link exchange requests. I have a client who forwards to me every single one he receives, and I cannot seem to train him to reject or discern the difference between REAL link exchanges and these email harrassments.

For my own site, I have installed a little script called 'freelinks' that allows anyone who wants to submit a link to a database on my site. I get notified when a submission is made, and I get to review the site, then decide whether to reject or allow the link to be added to the database. This is a much easier way to deal with people who are highly involved with 'link exchanges', and it takes much less of my time. It's not required that submitter reciprocate a link to my own site. I'm reasonably certain that none of these 'freelinks' are actually spidered, since they are not hard-coded into a page, but are generated on the fly from a flat file database. Oh well, it keeps folks happy, and lets me concentrate on what I REALLY want to do, design websites.

bj · #7 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 04:05 PM

I'm with Orion too. If you can't get one way inbound links you may as well hang up your spurs.

Dubbya · #8 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 04:08 PM

I suppose they've gotta hang on to that link juice!!!

It must work on a lot of unwary webmasters or they wouldn't do it.

Almost as bad as the "three way link exchange strategies" that put a link to your site on a page 5 levels deep, amid thousands of links in some obvious link farm, then ask for a return link from your homepage to the site they're really trying to promote. Ooooh, how clever!!

It's almost funny how they work so hard to convince you that somehow participating in this "strategy" can be very beneficial but neglect to say who it is that'll benefit.

Dinghus · #9 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 04:09 PM

Actually, yes, they will be spidered. Those spiders have gotten smart over the years. Must be that radioactive stuff they been eatin'.

Anyway, I too have a customer who used to send me all those requests. What I did was start sending back a request that he review each site to see if it met with his standards for being listed on his site. Soon he stopped sending them to me. He has no need for those link farms' business. But they could sure use a link from his site.

Zombie Master · #10 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 04:18 PM

Brilliant strategy dingus. I may start using it.

cz · #11 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 04:19 PM

I "think" I got a good reciprocal exchange this week. 1st let me say I still have a links page that's been whittled down over the past 2 - 3 yrs to about 8 exchanges. My site's doing ok so I've left them up as they've been there for years. I don't do exchanges anymore until Monday.

I ran into a superb authority site in my niche that caters strictly to my niche customers but doesn't sell our kind of products to their customers. PR6 throughout and PR5 links page (all relevant to our niche) and all coded by hand. We have a "branded" authority site as well, with about 60% of our sales from our site's name - typed into a search engine.

On a whim, I sent off a polite exchange request to the webmaster's email rather than the email on the link page - hoping to catch the owner with my request. They replied the next day and we posted each other's links. I felt that the niche was identical, we have products ("gear" - not junk) that would make their customers happy if they decided to visit us, and we feel the same way about their site. Do you think such a relevant link as described would carry any benefits? Or, just be a "wash" and not regarded as anything to be rewarded or punished over? Thanks!

red · #12 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 04:21 PM

I agree with chowell 100%
"For someone with any SEO experience, the email is spam and wouldn't be given the time of day"

I don't even reply to any of these emails...haven't for over 5 years but the emails just keep on coming. If the offered link is from an authority site then naturally I'm all for it. Unfortunately those are few are far between. It's usually shady characters working for shady companies that are sending this type of rubbish out.

When I want to go after a quality link I'll skip email altogether and pick up the phone. The people on the other end seem to appreciate that a lot and have always been respectful and helpful. Human contact goes a long way.

All the best to you!

speed · #13 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by red

When I want to go after a quality link I'll skip email altogether and pick up the phone. The people on the other end seem to appreciate that a lot and have always been respectful and helpful. Human contact goes a long way.

I personally hate that, an email I can read in my own time or delete, a phone call has to be dealt with there and then which interrupts what I'm doing, never a good start and usually ends with the phone being put down on the caller.

marcel · #14 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 04:34 PM

I never respond to link exchange requests.

activebiz · #15 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 06:09 PM

yeah, where are the good old dinosaur days, where a link exchange was a good thing - like back in 1994.
It was always more work then worth even back then.
Bottom line = delete, delete, delete.........
regarding "quality": I run several art sites, and used to get those so called offers from freakin hotels, restaurants, etc. etc. - did the same thing, bombarded them back with requests for other sites - don't get any offers any more.

Matteo · #16 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 06:28 PM

Its called fishing with dynamite.
These people don't care who they offend, or who knows they're a scam or how many people they blow off , their looking for the suckers.

If they throw out 10,000 such requests and 1 in ten responds to them favorably thats 1000 new incoming (supposedly) non recipricating links.

It is spam marketing and it is very prevelant.... by the way I just got offered this amazing deal from a guy in Nigeria. It seems his uncle passed away.....

colincartwright · #17 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 07:11 PM

I also get customers fowarding me emails like this. What we do now, as a matter of course when discussing linking, is, and where appropriate, insert a page on a customers site with a form that people wanting to exchange links can fill out. As the form is built using coffee cup's excellent shockwave flash form buildersoftware, the form is flash object so automated software can't pick up on it or fill it in either, so we only get real requests from real people. Then we review their sites and get back to them. As all the emails genereted by the form follow an identical format, its real easy for my customers to spot them, and dispose of all the other spam and junk emails.

On anohter related note, here in the Uk we are now getting so called SEO companies emailing our customers saying they have checked the customers site for inbound links in google, that there are none or very few and that they can help my customers get better rankings on google.

In three cases my customers already rank on page 1 of google UK for all their main chosen keyword phrases, so how these people could improve that, I know not - and none of these idiots are actually bothering to properly check the actual ranking of the sites for what are often really obvious keywords or phrases, but my customers still keep asking me if they are worth paying and/or, why am I not doing a better job of their SEO??? (presumably because some other idiot has questionned it in an un-solicited email to them). VERY frustrating!!

red · #18 (**permalink**) 07-27-2007, 12:22 AM

speed said:
"I personally hate that, an email I can read in my own time or delete, a phone call has to be dealt with there and then which interrupts what I'm doing, never a good start and usually ends with the phone being put down on the caller."

Human contact interrupts what you're doing? Clearly, the keyboard is the best place for you. I actually like PEOPLE and luckily they like me too. I come from a customer service background; that must be one of our differences. A cheerful voice, a 1.5 minute phone call with a succinct message lands me some very positive results and some new acquaintances. Networking goes a very long way.

You catch more bees with honey than you do with spam. That's all I'm trying to say.

Kate Lennon · #19 (**permalink**) 07-27-2007, 04:46 AM

Well, all I can say is that I'm completely confused about this link exchange business.
I've read completely conflicting opinions on this from various (purported) SEO experts.
If you have a new website to launch (whether your own or that of a client), the single most important objective is to get good positioning (and/or good PR ranking) on Google - correct? And the main criterion (or algorithm, to use a word I hate ) for ranking and positioning websites is the number of sites linking to them (and the PR of these sites).
Fiddling around with things like meta tags, key terms, link titles etc., will get you nowhere. The most important factor is that the site is linked from other sites. Unless a site has a certain "critical mass" of links going to it, it simply does not appear on the Google search results horizon. I know this because I've launched dozens of sites, and only the ones that had a lot of sites linking in to them (including reciprocal links) appeared in the first pages of Google's search results, and/or were ranked PR3, 4 or 5.
The sites I launched (and continue to manage) that were not linked from more than a few other websites don't turn up in Google search results (unless you type in the exact name of the site).
For example, one of the websites I manage (for over two years) is really excellent in every respect: lots of well-written (not by me!), informative content; superb design, clean navigation, fast download time etc. I've used every (legal) trick in the book to optimize this site for better Google positioning and/or ranking. The only thing I haven't done with this site is solicit reciprocal links (a few websites linked to it without being asked, but that's a slow business: unless a site has prominent Google positioning, other website owners don't get to find out about it in the first place, except by accident). After two years of improving, polishing and tweaking this site, it still has zero Google PR rank, and it only appears in search results when you type in the exact title of the site (or the url).
I can now think of no way to promote this site or improve its Google PR/SERP except by soliciting link exchanges (a strategy that has worked with some of my other sites).
So I don't understand where the people are coming from who say "don't bother with link exchanges". What's the alternative? The idea that you build a great website (even one optimized to the hilt) and the virtual world beats a path to your door and spontaneously links to you is rubbish. It just doesn't happen, at least not at the rate required to get good Google PR/SERP. If your site *is* good enough to be linked from other websites, it happens only gradually, over a period of years (maybe as long as 5-6 years). And, again, how does anyone know how great your site is if it isn't findable in the first place?
No-one can afford to wait for years to get unsolicited inbound links. Building, launching and running a commercial website these days is expensive and involves a LOT of work, so for most website owners it is crucial to get good Google PR/SERP within a few weeks - or at least within a few months - of launching. How is this possible without exchanging links with other websites? If anyone here has an answer to this question, I'd love to hear it.

colincartwright · #20 (**permalink**) 07-27-2007, 06:53 AM

I'm interested to understand why a site with few links does not rank well in the search engines, even though you have done all the other SEO. I did a site for a customer 18 months ago, it has very, very few IBL's and it ranks on page one of google UK for all its chosen keywaord phrases.

Check it out-

Site is Boxes, Packaging, Corrugated Boxes, Corrugated Packaging, Point of Sale, Shelf Ready packaging

Keyword phrases are: corrugated boxes

John · #21 (**permalink**) 07-27-2007, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by red

speed said:
"I personally hate that, an email I can read in my own time or delete, a phone call has to be dealt with there and then which interrupts what I'm doing, never a good start and usually ends with the phone being put down on the caller."

Human contact interrupts what you're doing? Clearly, the keyboard is the best place for you. I actually like PEOPLE and luckily they like me too. I come from a customer service background; that must be one of our differences. A cheerful voice, a 1.5 minute phone call with a succinct message lands me some very positive results and some new acquaintances. Networking goes a very long way.

You catch more bees with honey than you do with spam. That's all I'm trying to say.

Ouch!

I think all Speed is trying to say is that when it comes to link exchange requests he rather handles them by email. Dealing with a link exchange request from a stranger hardly qualifies as customer support, I think

.

I have had numerous interactions with Speed as one of his customers, and if there was an Oscar for best support, Speed would win every year hands down!

Cheers.

John