Rules For Link Exchange Forum

Garrett · #1 (**permalink**) 07-31-2003, 11:30 AM

Reciprocal link exchanges are a valuable way to build traffic and increase your page rank with Google.

That said, link exchanges between unrelated sites are silly, unprofessional, and a waste of time.

Therefore:

1) Please include your type of business in the subject line of your topic post. (This enables related businesses to locate you easily.)

2) Please post ONLY one topic per site.

3) Include information about link text, link location, button/banner size (if that's how you link), etc...

Rules subject to change as we grow :)

Garrett

<MOD EDIT>
There are 2 more rules that need to be stated.
1. Links exchanges must be able to take place by email or automatic script. No 'Must call our business to exchange links' posts.

2. This forum is for Link Exchanging, Link Selling is not allowed.

jestep

TrafficProducer · #2 (**permalink**) 08-20-2003, 05:48 AM

Sorry but I disagree, a bit, with:-

"That said, link exchanges between unrelated sites are silly, unprofessional, and a waste of time."

You may be wondering why the non-relevance is recommended. You may think, “Surely it is better to have sites which do have relevance so that people are more likely to following links.” This is true but this can be achieved using other methods including exchange links with sites similar to yours.

The idea here is more about getting listed under different Keywords with search engines.

People searching on say "eggs" will find egg related sites, if this site has a link to yours some users may follow it even though it may not be related to "eggs".

More informatin at Content Doorway Pages Cross Population Traffic Producer

http://www.solutions.ukdots.com/cont...rway_pages.htm

Blonde · #3 (**permalink**) 09-12-2003, 08:58 PM

I understand the idea of links but why have sites related to the same product linked? It could end up taking them out of my site to someone elses.

kthulah · #4 (**permalink**) 09-16-2003, 04:35 PM

Blonde, for the networking...

I like to link to sites my readers are likely to be interested in, whether they're related to mine or not.

Like, the kind of people who are into dreadlocks might also be interested in products to maintain them. One of the places that sells those products might be a site of mine, but if we don't have what they need (cause brands vary) then they should feel like I'm being helpful by suggesting another brand. Then on top of that, if they wear dreadlocks they might be interested in African or Indian clothing, or they might be a modest person and prefer to shop at a place that sells things within the Jewish or Islamic modesty code, and so on.

I'd just be sure to categorize and describe them well.

If you track where your hits are coming from, it's even fairly easy to give linkers a bit of credit or discounts for sending you customers.

Like my aunt would say, "Mingle, MINGLE!" It's good for ya :)

Oops! I forgot to add. To have the link open in a new window, add a target="whatever" tab to the link after the "http://whatever".

Ryan Atkinson · #5 (**permalink**) 09-17-2003, 01:35 PM

The key to good link popularity is good link strategy if you are targeting a keyword to rank in google for example the word "log home" the actual link that is placed on someone elses page should have the actual word "log home" linking to your web page that has the keyword "log home" found in the title tag. Also never link from anyone who has a google pagerank of 2 or less this will hurt your ranking on google. If you link from any site no matter if it is related or not it looks related to google if the link is a text link of a keyword found in the title tag of the page it links to. If you link from a page that has a page rank of 5 its the same as linking from 100 pages with a page rank of 4 so the better the page rank the less link partners you will need. Its worth it to purchase links on pages that have page ranks of 7,8,9 or 10 this will put any site on top if they are optimized as well. I just found this forum today and this is my first contribution. Our company actually will do link partnering for our clients it ensures that with good seo you will rank in the top 10. If anyone has questions about this stuff I am available at least until we start our e-classes teaching SEO and other Internet Marketing techniques scheduled for about 6 weeks from now.

Ryan Atkinson · #6 (**permalink**) 09-17-2003, 01:39 PM

Link partnering can be a disaster if done wrong!

Bad link partners can get you banned from google for instance link from someone who has a zero page rank and you will get a zero as well guilty by association.

Build a pile of link partners and someone forgets to renew the domain name or doesnt pay for hosting all of a suden you have a dead link. Dead links get you poor rankings use our link scanner and make sure you dont have any dead links on your website. http://www.galaxyinteractive.net/url_scanner.html

Having to many links on a page makes you look like a link farm and could get you a zero page rank after tons of work building credible link partners never put more than 30 outbound links on a page.

b2phat · #7 (**permalink**) 10-01-2003, 06:15 PM

Just a quick tip for link pages .....

If you want to set it up so that all pages open in a new window without having to add the "target=_blank" coding to each link, just add the following with the head section of your page:

<base href="http://www.yourdomain.com/" target="_blank">

liquidfuse · #8 (**permalink**) 10-02-2003, 02:46 AM

Every web surfer have many different, unrelated interests. Linking to unrelated sites can also give good traffic.

If you visit a webmaster site with only one fishing link and you are a love fishing. It is likely you will take a look. Similarly, there are fishing fanatics who are webmasters too and will appreciate the link to a webmaster site. Do a search on google and you can see how many fishing-webmasters there are.

As for dead links, I think it is the responsibility of webmasters to check their link partners. Something like http://www.webmastering.info front page check is a good idea too.

Lastly, unless you have a page with hundreds of links where half of them are broken, I don't think you'll get mistaken for a link farm. I have seen many kinds of resource sites (such as graphic tutorial sites) that link to 50 or so external links with no detriment to their standing in search engines.

PaganIL · #9 (**permalink**) 10-02-2003, 05:46 PM

I agree with the sentimnt that having totally unrelated links is waste and unprofessional. I participate in a couple of link exchange programs, on of which being Microsofts Link Exchange on BFast. The main site I run and develop is a site for Pagans, Wiccans, and other alternative religion seekers who are looking for info as well as announcements for Midwestern groups and Pagan events. I get a real kick out of some of the banner ads that i recieve as they are totally incongrous with my site. One of the frequent ones are for fundamentalist Christian sites...a topic that most folks who visit my site would not be intersted in at all hehehe.

On that note, if there are any Pagan or Pagan friendly businesses here that would like a space on my site, let me know. The URL is http://www.witchnet.org

trsiyengar · #10 (**permalink**) 10-15-2003, 02:55 AM

[b]Google Search Engine may give varying status on its different Zonal Search Engines for the same coin of word. This apart, key word tag or text link, never the same with different locations of the same Search Engine group. Furthermore, when Google gave way to linguistic bifurcation of Search Modes, the result often differs for the same search word. My page is not connected with any "sex" related or explicit materials, but I find people land in my web site, searching for "Sex" ! (I am lucky I am placed on the top of top among ten lac + sites : click here to see http://www.google.co.in/search?q=new...e+Search&meta= )But people stay & read my articles for quite time.

I disagree, that only related web sites should get links exchanged. Even a person trying to find "engine" or "joke" in Google Search Engine, might land on some other unrelated web site, but might find it interesting to read, if the contents are worthy. In this context, a cross link exchange might work well to cater multi level interests.
Thanks for patient hearing and best of luck to all visitors.
Regards,
trsiyengar
[url] http://trsiyengar.tripod.com

MaineWeb · #11 (**permalink**) 10-22-2003, 02:39 PM

Would someone please tell me how you can find out a site's PR? I don't even know what my own is. I wonder what else I'm missing........

Thanks!

http://www.MainResource.com

MaineWeb · #12 (**permalink**) 10-23-2003, 01:58 PM

After I revealed my ignorance, I went out and answered my own question. Thanks anyway!

Underhillron · #13 (**permalink**) 11-02-2003, 12:54 PM

Google has changed their algorythm. Websites which had top rankings for keywords and phrases are being
slid back in the rankings. Maybe a move to remove the top dogs, who occuplied the slot too long.

Too perfectly fine tuned , optimized sites were effected.

Maybe it's a wake up call about all the hullablu about keywords and keyword phrases.

The value, is placed on inbound and outbound links.
Does it make your site more valuable in contributing
to a flow of information.

Someone said ," By having un-related links ,that would be interesting, you may find something equally of interest." Yikes... Can you imagine, Searching for something and always getting something different ? If that, became the norm on the internet, the internet would be worthless.

Everyone has their opinion, but for gathering fact and other vital information on the web, scatterbrain linking, is a bad idea all the way around.

My site deals with Search Engine Marketing Software.
I wouldn't want someone saying to me after several attempts to find me, " I've seen Yo-Yo's, underpants, and even chewing gum made from rope "

No thanks, give me a direct shot anyday.

Much success to everyone, making a living on the web.
Stay focused in your search for buyers, not just traffic.

Ron Underhill
SoftwareMinnesota.com

mkyuen · #14 (**permalink**) 11-06-2003, 04:53 AM

I'm pretty new to all these on-line tactics. However, I consider having target audience coming to my site is the top objective of all SEO champaigns. When doing link exchange, I'd see if the site has target audience with similar profile that I'm targeting to, obviously except the competitors' ones though they may have prefect match in relevance and audence profile. For example, if I'm a HiFi gears dealer, I'd like to have a link exchange with a car forum site. Are they relevant? Then it is the question of what is relevance.

If getting top listing onSE becomes top objective of link exchange, it's a bit of off the track IMHO.

M.K. Yuen
Chief Strategist
Global Business Strategies
www.chinabusinessstrategies.com
www.gb-strategies.com

web-diva · #15 (**permalink**) 11-06-2003, 02:51 PM

I have a new client who has many of her clients listed on her website, however she doesn't link to them. Is it manditory or proper etiquette to have reciprocatinig links? On my website: jam-inc.com, I refer to many nautical companies that my clients may find useful. And I'm adding more!

But for instance, this new client is a video producer, and has many well know companies on her client list. Does she need to have permission to link one way to them?

How does this affect link popularity if it's only one way?

Please advise, thank you.

jonpurgason · #16 (**permalink**) 11-15-2003, 05:26 AM

Looking for links to exchange. My link is:

URL http://www.cheatsheetpublishing.com

Text Title: Bartender's Cheatsheet

Text: Over 600 cocktail recipes on 1 laminated sheet, CD or Download. Also Shooter and Martini Cheat Sheets available.

Regards,

Jon Purgason
webmaster@cheatsheetpublishing.com

rlrouse · #17 (**permalink**) 11-21-2003, 09:44 AM

Quote:

That said, link exchanges between unrelated sites are silly, unprofessional, and a waste of time.

If done incorrectly, this is very true. But if done correctly, link exchanges with almost any site is worthwhile, for search engine rankings and for the benefit of your users. (This post assumes you do your homework and avoid linking to "bad neighborhoods".)

If you create a links page and throw 200 unrelated links on it with poor descriptions, you have just created link farm which is useless to your visitors, and even worse for your search engine rankings.

But if you create an additional resources area with clearly defined categories, then fill each category with relevent links (including accurate and useful titles and descriptions), you have just created on of the most beneficial sections of your website.

Not only can your site fill the need that brought the user to your site in the first place (assuming your content is of high quality and relevent), but it can also steer your visitors to other sites that interest them.

There are no irrelevent links as long as you follow a couple of basic guidelines:

1 - Place each link in a related category. If I click on a category heading like "Health Informational Sites" and I find a link that takes me to a hotel booking page, that's an irrelevent link. If I only find links to pages offering health information, they're all relevent.

2 - Each link has a title and description that accurately describes the page being linked to. For example, I see a link like this:

ABC Wheel Covers - We offer a large selection of wheel covers for all American brands of automobiles.

If I click that link and it takes me to a page that offers wheel covers for all brands of American automobiles, the link is relevent, by default.

And any traffic generated by the link (probably not a whole lot) will be very targeted. It has to be since the link information clearly stated what I would find if I clicked the link. If I'm not interested in wheel covers for American cars I won't click the link. If I am, I'll click.

This is why it's never a good idea to use deceptive link information to boost traffic. You may get tons of it but your visitors will hit the back button almost every time.

But if the above link takes me to page that offers advice on purchasing a car (or any other topic other than the one stated in the link), it isn't relevent and I have just created a link farm. (Yes, IMO one irrelevent link makes a page a link farm by definition.)

In a nutshell, almost any link in your website's resources area is a valuable link if it's in a relevent category and the title and description accurately describe the landing page.

I like to make my clients' sites almost like mini-portals. Visitors come to a website looking for specific products or information. If the site fills the visitor's needs by providing the quality products or information they're seeking, they may want to go elsewhere.

Why send them to a search engine for their next query when they may well find what they're looking for in the site's resources section? And who knows, the guy who just bought that great set of wheel covers for his low rider might find a link to a great site about his other interest, Classical Music (hey, it could happen!).

molson · #18 (**permalink**) 12-14-2003, 09:34 PM

[quote="Ryan Atkinson"]Link partnering can be a disaster

"Bad link partners can get you banned from google for instance link from someone who has a zero page rank and you will get a zero as well guilty by association."

I would be very interested as to where you have gained this insite. If it indeed were true (I highly doubt that it is) then it would be most difficult to get a new site off the ground.

If your sole purpose in linking is to gain PR then it is a foiled system. Build your site for your site visitor and link to sites which will benefit them.

An added benefit to linking is to increase traffic and visibility to both sites.

I have seen many PR0 sites rank higher in SERPs than sites with PRs of 6 and above. The PR0 site today may well be tomorrow's PR7.

It is true bad link partners can get you into trouble,e.g linkfarms and FFA's. However a PR0 is not necessarily a bad link partner,but rather a site which has not developed an extensive linking campaign.

Of course this is merely MHO

Cheers,
Steve

Unclefussy · #19 (**permalink**) 12-24-2003, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan Atkinson

Link partnering can be a disaster if done wrong!

Bad link partners can get you banned from google for instance link from someone who has a zero page rank and you will get a zero as well guilty by association.

Build a pile of link partners and someone forgets to renew the domain name or doesnt pay for hosting all of a suden you have a dead link. Dead links get you poor rankings use our link scanner and make sure you dont have any dead links on your website. http://www.galaxyinteractive.net/url_scanner.html

Having to many links on a page makes you look like a link farm and could get you a zero page rank after tons of work building credible link partners never put more than 30 outbound links on a page.

I just ran this test on two sites and both came back with
"Scanned total of 0 Pages
Found 0 404 errors"

The 0 for the 404 is great but did it scan? says scaned total of 0 pages. Is that right?.

I have worked very hard not have to many links and not have non related sites, I have done a special page for non related with the robot no follow in the tags. This week I dropped some links that kind of fell into the Google no no list of link farms. Hope that helps my standings.
Though I guess I can't complane if most of my search terms and phrases come up in the top 10 can I ??

Put in "Handmade Baby Quilts" gets a #3
"Quilts for sale" gets a #1 and #2

inevitable1 · #20 (**permalink**) 12-26-2003, 09:52 AM

I've read everyone's comments (as a newbie should before putting her 2cents in) -- great stuff. My questions are:

(1) re unrelated links: I have listed on my links page, some of the FREE resources (html tutorials, javascripts, cgi resources, "favorites") that helped me build my site, it's the least I can do (and the least these wizards asked). I'd feel like a thief not providing a link (credit) to these sites. My website (uploaded and being restructured) is geared towards newbies who need to learn marketing (everything on the 'Net seems grounded in this concept) products/services/themselves, etc. Some of them may benefit from these free resources to help get them started, after all, we're not all rich, right?

(2) re reciprocal links: right now my site, which has yet to be spidered, has a ranking of 2,000,000+ according to Alexa (EEK!). I mean, I've got what you could call cyber-cooties until my site's rank improves. Now I couldn't possibly get any sites to link to me right now, right? Is this a Catch-22 situation here?

(3) re resource page: does that mean I should have a page entitled "resources" for reciprocal links and then a "links" page for unrelated links? Back in the day (1997) I remember seeing many sites that used their "links" page to also list their favorite sites to visit. If it is so indicated that the "links" are "favorites," could that somehow justify the unrelated links? And if I use the noindex,nofollow for the robots, would that help?

seafoam · #21 (**permalink**) 01-10-2004, 10:08 AM

Quote:

1) Please include your type of business in the subject line of your topic post. (This enables related businesses to locate you easily.)

2) Please post ONLY one topic per site.

From a marketing point of view, this is extremely unhelpful. My site, and I am sure many others, is of relevance to a quite diverse set of interests.

If I had to describe my 'type of business' it would have to be 'woodturning'. Which is fine from my point of view, but less so from the buyers, because most of my customers don't know they want a woodturning. Brides want to buy wedding favors, cooks want to buy spurtles, gardeners want to buy dibbers. Many of these have probably never heard of woodturning!

I feel quite justified in wanting to exchange links with wedding sites, gardening sites and cooking sites (to nam