What do you look for when you exchange links?

[mgk]

If you can get one-way links that are relevant to your site, then that's even better in my humble opinion. Don't you think?

[Toni Anicic]

The most important thing i look for is site relevance, followed by the number of external and internal links on it and finally, page rank.

[Web Design Company]

Originally Posted by mgk

If you can get one-way links that are relevant to your site, then that's even better in my humble opinion. Don't you think?

Yes, one way links and better if they are from dofollow sites or blogs. Posting relevant comments on dofollow blogs help a lot in this case. However, remember not to spam or else your comment will never get approved.

[jabo]

Relevancy is the first and foremost that I search for, second would be the page where my link will be placed... the quality of that page and the content.

[Rhiannon]

O gosh, I really have to get my act together, I do exchanges with friends as well as if someone is having a competition I will offer up a few of my sites as a place for the winner to put up a banner.

I also have a few affiliates that make me a bit of money so have them their as well. So maybe, dont do what I do??

[kohc0004]

It's not about rank when using link exchanges. It's about link popularity. When you talk about buidling an authority site, then it's another ball game altogether. Acquiring high PR links is good for pagerank but it does not necessary means better placement in serps.

A page rank 0 site can become #1 compare to a pagerank 5 site.


Best regards,
Jerry

[ImageIsland]

I think some of the advice on here is just plain bad. Sorry.

You do not want to link to "as many sites as possible", nor do you want to drop links around the web for linking's sake. Google has made it pretty darn clear, that was they look at is "relevant" links, or links that both contain your keywords that match the topic and keywords in the pages they link to and are linking from relevant sites. This is a site that is popular in terms of subject matter that is close or matches your subject matter. The whole idea is to drive people who actually care about the subject matter you cover to your pages with more information....and to keep them there, without bouncing if you can.

This not only makes a "better search" according to Google, it also happens to work for you! By using fewer links but highly targeted ones where people are actually looking for your product, content, or information, you actually increase not only your search results for your keywords, but you actually sell more product, or service. I know, as Ive been tracking the sucecss of my product sales for some time using Analytics at Google. At one point I was posting hundreds of links to and from affiliates and building large volumes and farms of links to my site. What did it help, other than maybe give me a little more traffic. Not much!

What helped both my search and sales for my site was reviewing the types of traffic coming in, versus what Google was giving me in search. As I dropped the affiliates and focused on a handful or very rich, very populare sites where I knew my customers were, my sales doubled and now doubling again. Also, it has allowed me to look at the buyers who found me and purchase using search. As I align my content with my relevant link partners with my keywords, its improving by leaps and bounds.

This applies to those of you trying to build large advertising revenue as well. The more targeted and niched your relevant links, and which align with your sites content and keywords, you can then better target the advertising and see better results. Ive made more money selling hosting and ISP banners (because they align with my customer base) than I have posting thousands of impressions and click-based ads on all my others sites. So, think about that. Dont go filling the web with irrelevant links to your site. FInd out where your focus is and get people wanting to link to you. The affiliate and link farm strategy does not work. Hope that helps! ~ Stormy

[Allenz]

Hi,
I look for topic related or complementary web sites, with good content usefull for my customers. Thats all. If they have good and usefull content, and it's different than mine then i write em for a link exchange................

[arnoldsmithh]

Originally Posted by janeth

Hi all this is my question when you are going to exchange links with someone what to do look for.

Ninety-five percent of the most popular Search Engines now use link popularity.

WebSeed compliments the use of link popularity, calling it, "... an extraordinary success," and declaring the technique, "... impossible to counterfeit." Link popularity is a highly-successful method for determining the relevancy of Web pages. WebSeed says, "those marketers who don't recognize the accelerating trend of site popularity will be left behind."

There are no shortcuts to the process of building link popularity. You are going to have to work hard to achieve it.

But what do you look at to determine what a good site would be.

This is my list I would like to know what everyone else thinks about it and would like to be corrected where I need to be and add please add to the list.

1. Your web site needs to be linked to quality web sites in categories related to your subject.
2. Although I do not use page rank to determine whether I will link to a site I do look at page rank if a site has a page rank of zero I want to know why before I link to it. I realize everyone has to start some where but I want to make sure this is the reason.
3. I want to make sure the sites look good and have good content or something that would serve my customers.
4. I know this is not proper but I want a link back. If you do not put a link back I will not link to you.

Always try to include your best Keywords in the title rather than just your web site name. Many Search Engines will boost your rankings when it finds sites linking to you that include your Keywords in the linking text.

Must be relevant from your website category and above page rank 3.

[Web Res]

It is a shame it is all so hard. I was just thinking I would read through the forum and find some good tips on link exchange, but... yeah.

I also get unsolicited e-mails asking to set up link exchanges, but like any spam I assume the outcomes are probably not going to satisfy. Do you guys actually follow these up? Perhaps I should not be so quick to dismiss?

We do accommodation websites - about 50 a year - all based in Australia. Some are refurbished with decent ranking and some are brand new. It would be really good to find a core group of people (probably tourism/travel related) that would want to do link exchanges.

The web can be such a 'wild west' type of environment. Do you all tend to develop into groups and work together for link exchanges? Seems like a better solution is to get a group you trust than to just spam everyone or hope that people will place a link and then leave it.

[kbeus21]

Really I think you hit it. Personally I do not look for at page rank since the beginning of april I was page rank 0 and now it says I am not ranked at all but I am ranked in the top ten for make money free and the number one spots for makemoneyfree makemoney free and make moneyfree I just wanted to make the point on how little importance PR has when it comes to the serps. Sorry a little off topic I look for relevance and content. It is rough though because placing a link on your website that points to a direct competitor worries me a little bit, but I guess its for the best.

[pragmatic]

Thanks for sharing your valuable tips. Content of the site should be reliable also.

[Jenie0109]

1. Relevancy

2. Strong PR

3. Contents does makes sense...

[pragmatic]

I value more the creditability of the site considering the product/services, quality of the content and web management.

[ajay0547]

1. relevancy
2. PR
3. content
4. inbound/outbound links
5. date of last cache

[fashionsteel]

a smart link exchange must be content related
goggle might not care if your website isn't a demo one
and get a new page once a month

a lot of webmasters says the limit is 100 outgoing links per page
but making your home page a "link bank" might unfocused your website
definition... i recommend looking a content related website offering
its services in a different country

[Cigtina23]

Let us face the reality, PR is still needed in link exchange.
(Though other SEO person will say it's not necessary anymore.)
When you want to know where in their site they will put your link
you will ask for what PR that certain page has.

When I was looking for a qualified link partner I was first looking
at the relevancy of the site, PR, backlinks and the popularity.

[Doc]

I have rarely taken advantage of reciprocal links, simply because the most relevant candidates always seemed to be competitors. However, on a site I managed for a contracting company, I did exchange links with several other contractors, that were either complementary or non-competitive. All of us were well-known enough that we all benefited, in traffic and in sales. To me, relevancy was paramount. Then reputation. PR didn't really enter into it, although it perhaps should have. I wasn't culling that large a list of prospects, and all were personally known to me, so PR meant little.

[pathmaker]

I always check for a site's number of outgoing links, it might consider be a spam. Then the relevance of its page.

[thefandango]

Relevancy of links is key. Anchor text is key.

[Zukario]

When I exchange links with other people are will always look for their page rank and also their sites content whether it is related to my blog or not.

[fashionsteel]

Originally Posted by Doc

I have rarely taken advantage of reciprocal links, simply because the most relevant candidates always seemed to be competitors. However, on a site I managed for a contracting company, I did exchange links with several other contractors, that were either complementary or non-competitive. All of us were well-known enough that we all benefited, in traffic and in sales. To me, relevancy was paramount. Then reputation. PR didn't really enter into it, although it perhaps should have. I wasn't culling that large a list of prospects, and all were personally known to me, so PR meant little.

i really like that attitude, that would keep your actions
on the right side of web marketing.

[shubh]

I consider following aspects:
PR of the site
Relevance to my product
Traffic of the site – quality and concerned source
Stability of the site

[jayparker90]

What i look for is the basics like website content, quality mainly
and the keywords and the PR ofcourse
all these will be a useful marketing strategy

<in your signature only please>

[craftscn]

high PR site's back link and high traffic is what i am looking for, it will improve my PR and traffic.

[JBullet]

A relevant site to the site I want a link to and decent content on there.

[Doc]

I recall a web marketing consultant once saying that if you put up a link to a site that is obviously poorly written, or poorly constructed, when a visitor follows that link, it is, in his mind, part of your site. He will NOT ask himself, "what kind of idiot BUILT this page?" He'll ask, "What kind of idiot LINKED to this page?" YOU become the idiot, in his mind.

Makes sense, and no matter HOW relevant or accurate the page is, I won't link to it if it is full of grammar and spelling errors.

[Doc]

By the way...excellent thread, Janeth! I'm curious - have your criteria changed at all from those you posted so many years ago, in post #1 (I'm mostly talking about item #4)? Just curious.

[janeth]

Originally Posted by Doc

By the way...excellent thread, Janeth! I'm curious - have your criteria changed at all from those you posted so many years ago, in post #1 (I'm mostly talking about item #4)? Just curious.

lol, I am a lot like a search engine, always changing.

I'd say there is very little I believe today that I believed back then.

[Doc]

Originally Posted by janeth

lol, I am a lot like a search engine, always changing.

Ain't that just like a woman?

I'd say there is very little I believe today that I believed back then.

I can say the same, mostly because I used to believe all the standard hype. WPW has been VERY educational for me.

[ELArmson]

You want to look for sites that add value to what your site already offers. For example, if you are selling shoes, you might link to a site that provides medical-related advice on the pros and cons of certain types of shoes - which are the best for your feet and back, etc.

This will give you a complementary link exchange - one that complements what you are offering, rather than competing with you.

Make sure the site offers value and not just a list of links going to other sites. Make sure the content is of top quality. Avoid sites that show poor grammar, lots of mistakes and information that is incomplete. In other words, make sure the content is not grabbed from somewhere else just to fill the page.

PR is not necessarily all that important as long as the exchange is highly relevant and builds value for both of you. In time, the PR will come for you and your exchange partners, so never overlook linking to a good site, even if that site doesn't link back. The important thing is that you are sending them to a place where they can get more information, but you might want to create the link to open in a new window, rather than the same window. That way, the visitor can close the other site and come back to continue with your site and... buy from you.

[innominds]

While requesting for any link exchange, most of the time, I concentrate on the relevancy of the site.

[kylelmoon]

Link exchange is good... But one way link is still the best.
SE put more point in one way links.

[mizzcain]

when im exchanging links..i always look for relevancy and PR