Link exchanges are a very effective way to promote your site. A link exchange is simply the exchange of links between two websites. Link Exchanges have become the most common method of increasing link popularity or site rank with webmasters. Getting your site listed on other sites is essential for increasing link popularity and thereby search engine standing. Search engines put a premium on the number of sites linking to yours (inbound links). The more sites that link to your site the higher your ranking will be with the search engines. The higher your ranking with the search engines, the higher in the search results your site will appear when surfers search for keywords related to your website's content. In fact, link exchanges have become a near obsession on the net. The search engine preference for inbound links has caused forums and services devoted to developing link exchanges for webmasters and businesses to spring up all over the net. I don't really advise link exchange services as there is the distinct possibility that search engines view them as link farms. The way to arrange a link exchange is to email the webmaster/owner of the site with which you want to exchange links. It is very important to pick quality sites when out link exchange hunting. Google will not penalize you for the quality of sites linking to you but it will dock you "points" for linking to low quality sites. If you are running a business you will want to combine your PPC campaign with an enthusiastic effort to create link exchanges. Remember, although your PPC link is posted all over the net it does nothing for your page rank. There is nothing more potent for web success than a high page rank together with an effective PPC campaign. There are a number of things to keep in mind as you look for link exchanges:
- As mentioned above, try to arrange link exchanges with high quality sites. The site you are considering should be well designed, aesthetically pleasing and ideally should have a GPR of 3 or more.
*Note: Don't hold yourself to a GPR of 3. It's perfectly possible to find a good site with a low GPR. There are a number of reasons a good site has a low GPR: - Google doesn't always rank every site on the net.
- It's a new site
- Google hasn't ranked the site lately. You're looking at the old GPR for that site.
- The site's been redone and updated and is a lot better than it was the last time Google ranked it.
- Google hasn't found it yet.
- Don't try for link exchanges with sites that have content unrelated to yours, at least not at first. You want to attract visitors who are interested in your content. If you have a yachting site you don't want to try for link exchanges with an English literature sites. You want your link on sites related to sailing.
That being said, it's never a bad idea to wind up on a good site's Links page. Some Links pages have high GPRs.
- Always be polite and complimentary to the webmaster with whom you want to exchange links. Tell him/her in a sentence or two what you like about his site. Then ask for a link exchange.
- Don't impose a deadline on the webmaster. If you don't get a response in a week or two, try again. If you still haven't gotten a response a month later, move on.
- Tell the webmaster why a link exchange with you will benefit him. Emphasize your site's related content and how it would compliment his. If your site fills a gap in his content tell him your site is a natural choice for a him to link to.
- Place his link on your site before you ask the webmaster for a link exchange. This indicates you are seriously interested in his site and in doing a link exchange.
- Integrity is a key asset for a webmaster. You don't want a reputation among webmasters for deceitfulness. Many webmasters frequent webmaster forums and discuss other sites and webmasters. Once you've got the link exchange, do not remove that site's link. If you move the link, then email the webmaster immediately and tell him where it is now - give him the URL.
- Get your site up and running before you try for a link exchange. Sites under construction are of little value to a webmaster looking for a link exchange.
- Be honest and accurate about your site. Don't lie about the amount of traffic you get. Don't say your site has content which it really doesn't. If your site is new, say so. Don't spin a tale about the many years you've been around on the net and how well established your net presence is.
- Do not place reciprocal links on pages inaccessible from your home page and/or accessible from only one or two pages on your site. Never place a link on a page that's not even on your site.
- If you keep reciprocal links on a Links page, try to keep the links page relatively short. Google advises against pages with more than a hundred links on them.
- Assume you should keep your link description short - less than a couple hundred characters. Look at other links on the page yours will be on. If the link descriptions on the page are short, make your short too. If you want a longer link description, OK it with the webmaster first.
- Spell your link title normally. By that I mean don't use capital letters. In internet etiquette that's yelling and pompous.
- Don't try to get on a whole bunch of sites immediately. Search engines are on the lookout for "link schemes" and get suspicious of sites that appear on a whole bunch of sites quickly and/or simultaneously. Pick one or two sites every couple of weeks or so and methodically build your link exchange effort. Try to get on at least one good site a month.
- Be patient. Link exchange campaigns take time. Time to research the sites you want to ask for link exchanges, time to get responses from their webmasters and time to develop and improve your site's content to make it a more desirable link exchange candidate.
- It bears repeating that I advise you to stay away from link exchange networks and communities. There is very good reason to believe that Google looks askance at them and will not rank you higher if your link appears on one. In fact, you stand a good chance of being penalized as Google regards these as link schemes.
Other Possibilities
Autohit Generators
ShalomAutoHits is an autohits generator, one of the best ways to get traffic moving to your website, in theory at least.. All you have to do is join-for free- and your website is added to the 24/7 rotation of websites viewed by thousands of fellow members. In order to get your site viewed, you have to earn credits. You can earn credits buy buying them, watching the websites in rotation and referring people to the autohit service. For example, If you click on the banners or links here and then join the service, I earn points. It's actually a lot of fun. If nothing else you get to see a lot of cool sites that you might not have seen otherwise. Don't worry about seeing adult sites. You can choose not to view them before you join. And in the case of AutoShalom, adult sites are simply not accepted to the service.
If there's a problem with these autohit generators, it's that there's no way to verify whether members are actually viewing the sites in rotation. As soon as I signed up I realized no one was watching me, no one wanted any proof that that I had actually sat down and viewed sites. Sure my traffic stats went up, but what was the real gain? I had no way of ever knowing whether anyone had actually seen my site or whether they had just left the rotator going and went into the living room and watched some football or went to the market for some bread and eggs. I also felt the temptation in me to do the same. It wasn't long afterwards that I left Shalom Autohits and so did my mother.
AutoHits
This is another autohit generator service.
WebRings
Make webrings part of your site promotion strategy. Joining a webring is a good way to generate traffic to your site and develop a lot of good contacts along the way. I can tell you from personal experience that you will indeed enjoy a higher traffic count to your site if you join a webring or webrings. The more the better. A webring is a community of websites, all similar in content, linked together to form a "ring". The person who manages a webring is called the RingMaster. The advantage for the member of the WebRing is an increase in traffic to his or her site. The advantage for the surfer of the webring is that the surfer of the webring doesn't have to do a lot of searching to find the sites that cover the areas and related areas he/she wants to view. It's typically free or costs just a few bucks to join a webring so you really can't lose. Just make sure the Webring is connected to sites that you want to be associated with. It's a good idea to surf the ring first to see who and what is actually on it. Another factor to keep in mind here is the availability and accessibility of the Ringmaster. If problems arise, the Ringmaster should be there to either fix them or point you in the direction of a solution.
I joined WebRing, a while ago ago. Webring is the biggest and most popular well known Webring on the net today. One big advantage of joining Webring is the money making potential of becoming a Ringmaster. As a ringmaster you promote your ring and charge the sites in your ring for top placement on the ring home page. The more sites you get to join your ring, the more money making potential your ring generates as more sites in your ring are likely to want to pay for top placement on the ring home page.
For more information about webrings check out this link
Note: A lot of people, including me, have been leaving Webring lately because Webring has begun charging people for participation levels that were free under the previous management. Webring has come under new management and the new management has decided to pursue a business model for Webring rather than building on the organic community ethos that has always defined Webring. Instead of just joining for free you now have to choose from a three levels of Webring membership. The most expensive level is $36/year, the second is $12/year, the cheapest is free. As you pay more you get to do more in Webring, i.e. create and join more webrings, and control more features in Webring, i.e. customization of your control panel and control over advertising in your webrings. You also get a larger commission on webring memberships you refer to Webring and even get a personal support representative, for whatever that's worth.
The free level is good if you don't want to put a lot into, or expect a lot from, webring related activities. You get to join five webrings and create/manage two. You'll still be able to generate some traffic with a few ring memberships. I found it wasn't until I had joined about thirty webrings that I first noticed a marked increase in traffic from Webring. By marked increase, I mean a couple dozen visits a day from webrings I belonged to. I recommend joining at the free level and upgrading if you're really enjoying it, making money, and/or getting lots of traffic. The biggest advantage I can see of the new business model Webring is running is that you can become an affiliate and make money from referrals. If you're looking for that old grass roots people power feeling, you'll have to look elsewhere. Joining Webring is still an effective way to bring traffic to your site, mind you. The only thing now is you have to pay to join and create/manage the number of webrings required to really get your traffic numbers up. As a ringmaster , your membership cost is balanced somewhat by commissions for referrals (if any) but, unless you really promote Webring on your site and generate referrals to Webring, you probably won't make enough to offset your membership costs.
However, if you combine aggressive promotion of webring referrals with getting sites in your ring(s) to pay for top placement on your ring homepage, you might just make your money back and then some.
Webring's not the only webring on the net. You can also check out The Rail. It's been around since 1996. I joined it a year ago. It's not as big as Webring but it does boast a fairly large membership. I don't get the traffic from The Rail that I used to get from Webring, but I get enough to make it worth staying with The Rail.
There are a number of other webrings you might want to check out. I don't know much about them so maybe do a little research on them just to be sure they're legit.
Here are a few. As far as I know, these are free to join:
Be sure to join The World of Webrings
The World Of Webrings is a discussion group, a focused community of individuals committed to sharing their many years of webring knowledge and experience with Ring Managers, Ring Members and the general public alike.
Well worth your time.
Changing LINKS Changing Links is like a webring. Surfers merely hit the "Change" button at the bottom of the screen and they go to the next site. They stay as long as they want. If your site is part of the Changing Links network, surfers eventually come to your site. All you have to do to get on the Changing Links rotation roster is fill in some short info boxes and place their link on your home page. You can include as many pages and/or sites as you want as long you keep placing their link on each of those pages. I thought Changing Links was a bit gimmicky when I first joined in my very early webmaster days. I really wasn't expecting any traffic, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It is not uncommon for me to check my traffic stats and see one or two hits from Changing Links every so often.
T-Shirts
Put your website address (and logo) on T-Shirts. Wear them when you go out in public. Your website will be seen by hundreds, if not thousands, of people depending on where you go and how long you wear the T-Shirt.
Give them to your friends.
Sell them on your website or offer them to your visitors for free. The cost of the T-Shirt is minimal compared to the amount of exposure your site gets when people wear your T-Shirts out in public.
Business Cards
Put you website address/logo on business cards.
Business cards are like T-Shirts, an effective and cheap high-yield investment in advertising.
It costs anywhere from free to a dollar a card or more to get business cards printed up depending on how ornate you want them and whether you make them yourself with a software program or have a pro design them for you.
Once you have your cards, you hand a few of them out to friends and acquaintances. You can leave them on public notice boards sometimes i.e. in libraries, community centers and clubs. It's not a bad idea to leave small piles of them wherever you see a ledge or counter in any high traffic public space for that matter.
Yahoo! Sponsored Search lists your business on top sites like Yahoo!, AltaVista and CNN. Sign up and get a $25 credit.
Post Your Link in Forums
You don't want to spam internet forums of course but you can post your link in a lot of forums as part of your signature and member profile. That means every time you post in that forum your link will appear at the bottom of your post. Some forums have rules about posting your link, for example, you have to post a minimum number of times in that forum or, as in web hosting forums, you have to review a certain number of sites before you can include your link in your signature. You can also post your link in forums, usually without interference from the mods, if your link is relevant to the discussion. Another place to leave your link in forums is in your member profile which is available to anyone visiting the forum, although some forums make you join before you can view member profiles.
Put An Ad In the Paper Many papers have readerships in the millions. Your local paper may not be that big but if everyone in your city, community or town reads the local rag(s) it will be worth it to put an ad in it. Most papers charge a reasonable fee to list your ad with them for a week. Our local paper charges around $7-10 a week for a two line ad. Monthly rates are a bit cheaper. You should only need a couple of lines to describe your site and include your URL in the ad. If you've got more money then buy a bigger ad space and be more descriptive and detailed about your site. It doesn't have to be a newspaper per se. It could be a "buy n' swap', a monthly union or church publication, for example. Most towns and cities have more than one paper each with different readerships, catering to a different demographic so check around and determine which paper suits you and your site best. Run your ad for at least four weeks. All the studies show that a person must see an ad four times for it to sink in and embed itself in the person's consciousness.
The Langa List
Promoting Your Website Menu
Website Help Menu
PC1Stop Quick Links
Thank you for visiting PC1Stop. Please come back and visit again!
|