5 Reasons Why Link Swapping Is Killing Your Websit

5 Reasons Why Link Swapping Is Killing Your Website

by: Michael Cheney

I created my first website in 1995 it was so long ago I built it out of rock and wood, not HTML.

Shortly after it went live I realised that nobody apart from me could see it and it started to dawn on me what this กInternet thingก is all about. It is not about having a standalone website plonked somewhere that nobody will ever see it is about being part of an INTERconnected NETwork of other websites. INTERNET. The penny dropped I needed to start getting connected to other websites.

Much has changed since then (my hair got longer, shorter and has since started to recede further up my head for one thing) but it seems the desire and pressure you face as a website owner to exchange links shows no signs of fading. But link swapping is killing your website! Hereกs 5 Reasons why…

Reason No. 1 Itกs Addictive!

Itกs true. You might not be that far down the linkswapping path yet but I promise you it will happen sooner or later. One day youกll find yourself laughing like a maniac as you run a report to see how many inbound links you have and start rubbing your hands gleefully as you reach that magic milestone you set yourself six months ago. Youกll start mainlining reciprocal links:

กJust one more link. Please all I need is one more link!ก

Take a deep breath, step back from the precipice and think for a moment. Why do you want all these links pointing to your website? No, honestly why do you REALLY want all these links pointing to your website? To improve link popularity? You’re falling into the trap. Do you want it to boost that little green bar that Google assigns to your page? (see toolbar.google.com) Wise up!

Reason No. 2 It Is Eating Away At Your Time Like A Hungry Hippo!

Just take a look at the last time you went out looking for a link and got it. How long did it take you? Not long? Well, let me put this another way how long did it take you to find the right type of websites, look through those and find ones that even have a links page, find the contact information for the websites you wanted to contact, create the email, send the email, respond to the email, place their link on your website, check that they reciprocated with you, email back and forth a few times more and so on…?

If you add up all the minutes that each of these elements takes you could be looking at half an hour per reciprocal link established maybe even longer!

And don’t think you’re cutting corners if you’re using software. It might be quicker to find possible linking partners using software but itกs a false economy as, to my knowledge, people are still cleverer than machines.

What I mean by this is I can tell if you email me using software rather than using your own fingers. If you go looking for reciprocal links using software you are FAR less likely to get a response so the whole process will probably take you as long in terms of time spent per link established.

Reason No. 3 You Are Spending More Time On Other Peopleกs Websites Than Your Own

If you spend a lot of your time researching and creating reciprocal links youกd better make sure that your website is perfect. Remember all that time you’re spending developing reciprocal links could be spent adding new content to your website, sending out an up to date newsletter to your mailing list or even sitting down and writing out goals for your website.

If you spend all the time on improving your website, adding great content, providing excellent service, keeping it up to date, testing different headlines and homepage layouts INSTEAD of spending the time building links guess what? You will magically find that more people link to you anyway!

In fact your website will become such a great resource because of all the time you’re dedicating to it that people will go OUT OF THEIR WAY to link to you! How ironic is that?!

You go hunting for links and your site suffers and therefore hardly anybody links to you. You spend time on making your website THE BEST IT CAN BE and everyone starts linking to you as, shock horror, you have a brilliant website that is worth referring to..

Reason No. 4 You Don’t Have A MultiMillion Dollar Budget To Beat The Boffins

Those whitecloaked geeks over at Google towers and the like have millions of dollars at their disposal to create the latest technology that can sniff out the merest whiff of dodginess when it comes to link swapping.

If they think something is suspect you might get penalised. First you started to see sites that used the same phrase for their inbound links get penalised. Then it was sites that engaged with link farms. Who knows whatกs next?

Ultimately you can bet your bottom dollar that the search engines will change their tack with reciprocal links and their importance some of them are already starting to look at the words that appear before and after each link to make sure it is on a relevant page and not just created as part of a reciprocal linking deal.

Itกs a risky game we’re all playing and my moneyกs on the guys with the white coats and millions of dollars..

Reason No. 5 You Are The Weakest Link, Goodbye!

When push comes to shove this whole กgameก of website marketing is about balance.

Imagine you are a tightrope walker. Fifty metres beneath you is a huge vat of boiling hot lava. To help you across the rope from the podium of กwebsite launchก to the podium of กwebsite successก you get a balancing rod.

Spending too much time and effort on reciprocal link building is like having a large sack on one end of the rod. This sack has an elephant in it. The elephant is wearing boots. Made from concrete. Get the picture?

About The Author

Michael Cheney

Author of The Website Marketing BibleTM

http://www.websitemarketingbible.com Download your free Sampler of The Website Marketing BibleTM now and get free bonuses worth £159 ($288)

This article was posted on November 17, 2004

by Michael Cheney

Reciprocal Linking Guide

Reciprocal Linking Guide

by: Jon C

What are Reciprocal Links?

Reciprocal links are links with other sites which are usually are related to the theme of your website. The concept is very easy to understand, you link to a site and that site links back to you. The idea behind this goes back to you scratch my back I scratch yours. Some sites have specific requirements when linking. For example some sites might have restrictions based on content, page rank, or even domain names.

So why are they important?

The reason link exchanges are important ranges from your traffic quality to your search engine position. This method of traffic building is 100% free and this always fits nicely into any websiteกs budget. It just requires dedication and time to build up quality links with other sites. By taking the time to sniff out links that relate to you and sites that are legit can have some huge payoffs.

First, it will increase your link popularity which is the search engines counting up how many times it finds your link on other websites. This act of counting up the links or otherwise known as a กLink Popularity Checkก will increase your position based on the amount of links it finds. A nice tool to check your popularity can be found here.

Your Link Popularity Rating is a combination of:

The Number Of Sites Linking To You

The Words That Are Used To Describe Your Site In The Links To You

The Relevance Of Those Sites As They Relate To Your Subject Matter

The Link Popularity Of The Sites That Link To You

The Search Engine Rankings Of The Sites That Link To You

Secondly, the visitors that come from related websites are highly targeted and youกve a much better chance of selling them your product or service since theyกve come to your site through a link on a related website. The logic behind this is simple they came from a site that had a theme related to yours. So we can make the assumption that they are interested in your product or service. So hand picking who you should exchange with should be very clear now.

Link Exchange Services

I am sure you have all seen the ads before that go something like กGet 1000กs of backlinks to your site!’these services really do not work well. They are designed to include all of its members links to be seen on your website. Some places have filters we you can specify the content based on the category another member might have placed themselves in. There are a few reasons this is really bad. One reason is that any member can put themselves in any category so the filter system can be comprimised quite easily. Another reason is these services are not worth it is that you can find alot higher qaulity sites by simply searching. Again, this can be time consuming but in the end it is worth it. All these members are sites looking for shortcuts and are typically not well ranked in search engines anyway so why would you want to be on these sites anyway? Finally, why would you pay for something that is free?! You can contact everyone of these webmasters and build a mutual relationship instead of going through a middle man and paying a premium on top of that.

Can Link Exchanges Hurt Me?

A very common misconception about link exchanges is ‘the more links you have the higher you will be ranked.ก While part of this is very accurate, we must understand that the worng types of links can do more harm then good. You would do well to avoid participating in link farms (FFA, or freeforall link lists that you can add your site to), the reason to stay away form this is because these have become recognized by the search engines, and by Googleกs antispam algorithm specifically, as red flags for spam and can often get your site banned from their index. And it makes sense if you have thousands of nonrelevant links pointing to your site, that does not say much about the legitimacy of your content. Major search engines have begun to aggressively penalize web sites that are deemed to be engaged in such linking strategies.

Do Reciprocal Links Still Work?

Well the bottom line is if they did not work this article would not have been written. But with that said it is a known fact that reciprocal links are NOT as effective as they used to be. This does not mean abandon ship as many other webmasters have done. This just means they do not play the same role as they used to. They do however have the long term effect and can still bring you a bunch of targeted traffic at no cost to you. The biggest claim on the net as far as link popularity and links are concerned is กone way linksก work better then reciprocal links. Here is the difference between the two, if you link to another web site and the other web site links back to you, itกs a reciprocal link. If you link to another web site and the other web site doesn’t link back to your site, itกs a one way link. One way links obviously are harder to find and usually cost some money to have.

Conclusion

The moral of the story is this: reciprocal links although not as effective as they used to be are still effective enough to warrant the time and effort to create the relationship with other websites. One must be very picky about oneกs site selection and keeping the content related to your site is a must. One way links are seen by search engines as more important then reciprocals but again you will most likely end up paying for these. Adapting to the times is no surprise when dealing with the web, so you must ask yourself กwhat is my competitor thinking in regards to link exchanges?ก The answer is they are building them up related to their content. So by you not keeping up with the times you simply fall short in the long run. There are no short cuts in reciprocal or one way linking unless you have deep pockets to shell out money on expensive text links on high ranked sites. So the next best option is to dedicate the time and effort to your site. If it wasn’t this way the internet would be useless and we would never be able to find what we are looking for. Its just a fact of life and we must keep on keeping on in respects to linking.

About The Author

Jon C

This article was brought to you by http://nerdlib.com/

This article was posted on September 02

by Jon C

10 Tips For Reciprocal Links

10 Tips For Reciprocal Links

by: Computer Work At Home Careers

Reciprocal links are one of the most common and most effective forms of website promotion. When sites trade links, they both benefit by sharing some traffic directly and getting noticed more favourably by the search engines.

Reciprocal Links help you improve search engine ranking and generate more traffic to your web site. The quality and quantity of reciprocal links with other web sites allows you to increase your link popularity. Increasing your link popularity will drive more traffic to your web site as more visitors will click through to your web site and better search engine ranking will result bringing more targeted traffic. With the increasing competition, getting a good ranking in the search engines is important. If you really want a high rank position with the search engines and more traffic to your web site, you need to work out a focused linking strategy to establish reciprocal links with other web sites. I know that exchanging links is not simple and take time, but is the best time investment you will ever do.

The basic concept is simple you link my site, Iกll link yours and weกll both get an increase in traffic. I have exchanged many links in my webbased career. Here are 10 tips from my experience ….

1) Find the right site to do a reciprocal link exchange with. Define the kinds of sites with which you want to trade links. These sites are normally in your websiteกs category of interest, or sites that you feel your visitors might find interesting.

2) If you are at the beginning of promoting your site and want to see results soon, exchange links with popular and quality web sites. This doesn’t mean that popular web sites will accept that, but you have to try. Don’t hesitate. Lots of popular web sites that are in another category of interest, maybe accept exchange link with you. It’s your decision …

3) When you contact the webmaster of the other site, you should be kind. Tell him that you run a site that has a similar topic and describe your site a bit. Say that you like his site and have included a link to it in your site (give him the address of the page where the link is), then ask him to return the favour by linking to your site. If you never get a reply or your proposal gets rejected, just forget it and find another site.

4) Never be disappointed! There are a lot of webmasters who will exchange links with you.

5) Be patient! With hundreds of thousands of sites out there, it takes time and efforts to find and choose web sites for reciprocal links. Keep working.

6) If another webmaster asks you to exchange link, give him an answer. If you deny, explain why. If you like the content of that web site then add the link. Every link is useful.

7) Exchange as many links as you can. Don’t be afraid to swap links with competitor websites. This is not going to hurt your business. World wide web is a huge area. Internet has space for everyone.

8) Don’t remove your link without contacting the webmaster of the other site first. Some webmasters agree to exchange reciprocal links, add your link on their site and after a few days/weeks they remove it without noticing you. You should check the site of your partner every now to see if heกs keeping his part of the deal. If he is not, contact the guy and kindly ask him to explain why your link has disappeared. If you don’t get a satisfactory explanation, remove the link to his site from your site and find another partner.

9) Prefer text links rather than graphics as this would be more search engine friendly. If you want to make your site more impressive and satisfy your partner, add a graphic link too, but don’t overdo it.

10) Your reciprocal link request is more likely to be taken seriously if you have your own domain! Some webmasters may not even wish to trade reciprocal links with websites with URLs based on other providersก domains, fearing the sites are not high quality. If you are serious about your website, consider getting your own domain. It costs some money, but the cash spent is well worth it when you realize how much better your website will be perceived in the eyes of your visitors.

Never forget … The traffic that reciprocal links generate is FREE!!!

About The Author

Computer Work At Home Careers

http://computerworkathomecareers.com

Start a computer work at home job, build your own home based business and increase your income making money online.

This article was posted on November 20, 2004

by Computer Work At Home Careers

Google Proof Your Site with Links

Google Proof Your Site with Links

by: John Gergye

Let me try reading your mind. You’re thinking, กWhat? Google proof my site with links? I thought links helped Google rank my pages higher?ก

And you’re absolutely right. They do.

But links do something else. They give you a backup source of traffic for those days, weeks, or months when Google spasms out. Something content alone can’t do.

So while content and onpage optimization count, to me links are what separates the men from the boys.

Now links come in three flavors:

Directory Links

Reciprocal Links

One Way Links

Letกs briefly cover each.

====> Directory Links

Unlike some, Iกm not especially enamoured with directory links. For me their role has been to serve as the initial link(s) for a site so Google can find it. Other than that I find them more trouble than they’re worth. Unless they’re specifically targeted to your niche.

Still if you gotta have some letกs round up the usual free or กfor feeก suspects:

www.joeant.com

www.jayde.com

www.goguides.org

www.skaffe.com

www.dmoz.org

www.bluefind.com

Simply pony up some cash for express review and you can get yourself decent directory links in no time.

====> Reciprocal Links

Reciprocal links cost you nothing but time. They’re pretty much forever. And if your site is link worthy, that is has decent content and pagerank (PR), you should have no trouble getting at least a third of those you approach to swap links with you.

Even better each link back to your site has the potential to deliver up a heapin’ helpin’ of

PR

Traffic

Link reputation (from the link text)

Since they’re there for the asking, make sure you’re spending a couple hours a week soliciting link trades.

====> One Way Links

Some feel one way links carry more ranking firepower. Iกm not so sure. But there are many ways to get one way links. My two favorites? Articles and rented links.

Article Links

I know every one and his dead dog touts article marketing as a way to gain exposure, links and presumably traffic. But they really do work. Maybe not overnight. But if you hang in there youกll find you can build your online reputation and create a steady stream of traffic to your site too.

Yet their real fire power is unleashed if they appear in ezines read by your prospects.

Also when Iกm on the prowl for link partners, I keep my eyes open for anything that would suggest the site posts guest articles. When I find one, I fire off the link swap request and submit an article. Hey, a twofer!

Now if you don’t have the skill or inclination to write articles you can have them ghost written. Or if you want a turn key solution complete with a guarantee of 20 inbound links, you can have the articles written and promoted for you by www.promotewitharticles.com.

Rented Links

Notice the choice of terms. I prefer to look at links I pay for, ostensibly as กadvertisingก (wink wink), as rented links. Rented since they aren’t forever unless you choose them to be a permanent part of your marketing plan.

Not only that, they are a great way to jumpstart the PR of a newer site. Making it infinitely easier to land reciprocal links. Which once accomplished frees you to jettison the rented ones!

Two ways you can go. You can use a link broker:

www.textlinkbrokerage.com

www.linkadage.com

www.linkxperts.com

www.textlinkads.com

Somewhat safer in that you have someone else besides the webmaster to look to if something goes awry.

Yet if you’re more adventuresome and willing to dig a bit you may discover some very cost effective text links.

For example this week in just 10 minutes I found a PR 5 site selling text link advertising for $15 a month. I jumped on that like a duck on a wounded June bug. Also found a site with PR 7 links for just $75 a month. Again, I didn’t think twice about signing up for that bargain either.

Just remember when it comes to buying links กyou pays your money you takes your chanceก. One friend confided he had spent $300/month on links and the promised PR 7 never materialized once PR updated. I invested less but from what I can see also got squat in the PR department too with a recent rental for a newer site.

Still when it works out rented links can have an almost magical affect on your rankings.

Anyway there you go. Three ways to get links that when coupled with optimized content can make your site an unstoppable traffic magnet. While making it Google proof to boot.

Copyright 2004 John Gergye

About The Author

John Gergye shares more ideas like this in his just updated eBook ‘traffic From Google in 35 Daysก. Find out more here:

http://www.traffictesttube.com/j/tfg35cl.shtml

Or test your search engine IQ by taking his seo quiz

http://www.traffictesttube.com/searchenginequiz.shtml

and get the free special report กComing Out On Topก.

This article was posted on October 18, 2004

by John Gergye

Google Proof Your Site with Links

Google Proof Your Site with Links

by: John Gergye

Let me try reading your mind. You’re thinking, กWhat? Google proof my site with links? I thought links helped Google rank my pages higher?ก

And you’re absolutely right. They do.

But links do something else. They give you a backup source of traffic for those days, weeks, or months when Google spasms out. Something content alone can’t do.

So while content and onpage optimization count, to me links are what separates the men from the boys.

Now links come in three flavors:

Directory Links

Reciprocal Links

One Way Links

Letกs briefly cover each.

====> Directory Links

Unlike some, Iกm not especially enamoured with directory links. For me their role has been to serve as the initial link(s) for a site so Google can find it. Other than that I find them more trouble than they’re worth. Unless they’re specifically targeted to your niche.

Still if you gotta have some letกs round up the usual free or กfor feeก suspects:

www.joeant.com

www.jayde.com

www.goguides.org

www.skaffe.com

www.dmoz.org

www.bluefind.com

Simply pony up some cash for express review and you can get yourself decent directory links in no time.

====> Reciprocal Links

Reciprocal links cost you nothing but time. They’re pretty much forever. And if your site is link worthy, that is has decent content and pagerank (PR), you should have no trouble getting at least a third of those you approach to swap links with you.

Even better each link back to your site has the potential to deliver up a heapin’ helpin’ of

PR

Traffic

Link reputation (from the link text)

Since they’re there for the asking, make sure you’re spending a couple hours a week soliciting link trades.

====> One Way Links

Some feel one way links carry more ranking firepower. Iกm not so sure. But there are many ways to get one way links. My two favorites? Articles and rented links.

Article Links

I know every one and his dead dog touts article marketing as a way to gain exposure, links and presumably traffic. But they really do work. Maybe not overnight. But if you hang in there youกll find you can build your online reputation and create a steady stream of traffic to your site too.

Yet their real fire power is unleashed if they appear in ezines read by your prospects.

Also when Iกm on the prowl for link partners, I keep my eyes open for anything that would suggest the site posts guest articles. When I find one, I fire off the link swap request and submit an article. Hey, a twofer!

Now if you don’t have the skill or inclination to write articles you can have them ghost written. Or if you want a turn key solution complete with a guarantee of 20 inbound links, you can have the articles written and promoted for you by www.promotewitharticles.com.

Rented Links

Notice the choice of terms. I prefer to look at links I pay for, ostensibly as กadvertisingก (wink wink), as rented links. Rented since they aren’t forever unless you choose them to be a permanent part of your marketing plan.

Not only that, they are a great way to jumpstart the PR of a newer site. Making it infinitely easier to land reciprocal links. Which once accomplished frees you to jettison the rented ones!

Two ways you can go. You can use a link broker:

www.textlinkbrokerage.com

www.linkadage.com

www.linkxperts.com

www.textlinkads.com

www.linkrent.com

Somewhat safer in that you have someone else besides the webmaster to look to if something goes awry.

Yet if you’re more adventuresome and willing to dig a bit you may discover some very cost effective text links.

For example this week in just 10 minutes I found a PR 5 site selling text link advertising for $15 a month. I jumped on that like a duck on a wounded June bug. Also found a site with PR 7 links for just $75 a month. Again, I didn’t think twice about signing up for that bargain either.

Just remember when it comes to buying links กyou pays your money you takes your chanceก. One friend confided he had spent $300/month on links and the promised PR 7 never materialized once PR updated. I invested less but from what I can see also got squat in the PR department too with a recent rental for a newer site.

Still when it works out rented links can have an almost magical affect on your rankings.

Anyway there you go. Three ways to get links that when coupled with optimized content can make your site an unstoppable traffic magnet. While making it Google proof to boot.

About The Author

John Gergye shares more ideas like this in his just updated eBook ‘traffic From Google in 35 Daysก. Find out more here: http://www.traffictesttube.com/j/tfg35cl.shtml Or test your search engine IQ by taking his seo quiz http://www.traffictesttube.com/searchenginequiz.shtml/ and get the free special report กComing Out On Topก.

[email protected]

This article was posted on November 11, 2004

by John Gergye