A classic way of getting seen and noticed on the web is to make sure your site is linked to as many other sites as possible. The strategy of link-exchange has been so overused and abused that search engines are now wary of it and may penalize sites that are linking to "link farms", or to any other sites with non-relevant content.
This is the way it should be. We all want our web browsing experience to be smooth and pleasant. We don't want to get frustrated by stumbling over irrelevant content while following links between sites. On the other hand, webmasters all want more traffic to their sites, and get frustrated when they don't get it. There are two types of benefits from having many links to your website:
- Get improved ranking by the search engines - if you are popular, you are probably worth a visit
- People (not just search bots) actually follow the links and find your site!
If done properly, link popularity improvement is an extremely important strategy to make your website successful. Broadly speaking, you can achieve this in a number of ways:
1. The classic link exchange (link swap) method; two webmasters agree to swap links
2. You pay to get incoming links from high-ranking websites
3. By writing articles and getting them posted on other websites; including a link to your own site
4. By getting your articles published in E-zines, with links back to your site
5. You participate in online forums, where a link to your site may be included with each post
6. You start a blog/RSS feed, and get it spread to many subscribers!
All these methods involve work, in varying amounts. Method #2. costs you money, the rest may be essentially no-cost. Method #4. will probably not contribute to search engine ranking, but may give you droves of targeted visitors.
The problem with method #1. is that it's tedious. But you can get software that may automate it by helping you find link partners and manage your link collection. I am aware of these software tools:
ARELIS I have tested this tool, and it seems very promising. It goes out and searches for link exchange partners according to different search methods which you specify. For me, looking for incoming links at sites similar to my own gave the best results. The program then quickly returned many relevant sites. Next, it helps you contact webmasters and keeps the link collection neatly organized. It also creates the link pages.
Zeus A bit similar to ARELIS, but I find it much clumsier. The only way it can search for link candidate sites is thru a list of 100+ search phrases. In my hands, this method produced very low-quality results. At the time of writing, I am trying to get a refund from the company that sells Zeus. They seem very reluctant to honour their money-back guarantee. Buyer beware!
Links Manager This program does not go out and search for link partner sites; it only handles swap requests and organizes the link collection. I have not tested it myself.
When building a link swap strategy, note that the search engines are getting increasingly sophisticated in judging the quality of your links. Some things to remember:
- Outbound links ONLY to quality sites with content relevant to your site; never "link farm" type sites
- Make sure the sites that you link to have not been penalized. This would affect you also!
- Incoming links that are placed on the same page as 100:s of other links won't help you; their value gets "diluted"
- The anchor text in the incoming links is very important. It should contain relevant keywords; but all links should not have identical text - this looks artificial in the virtual eyes of the search bots
If you follow these guidelines, I believe link swap can still be an important strategy for building a successful web presence.
Conclusion: Link popularity improvement, if you do it the proper way, is still of enormous importance for a successful website. But if done the wrong way, it may backfire. If you want to try the classic link swap method, I recommend using ARELIS ( www.axandra.com ) to make it less tedious.
Kai Virihaur runs The Hosting Finder ( http://www.thehostingfinder.com ), a web hosting directory featuring articles and RSS feeds on web development, website promotion, and online marketing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|


Exchanging links can be a great way to build relations... Read More
Nowadays there are just too many people trying to give... Read More
Have you spent a lot of money on advertising with... Read More
If your new to the internet marketing world, you might... Read More
Are you attempting to become a Google junior by adding... Read More
There are many ways to cheat traffic exchanges and generate... Read More
1. Hunt for Catchy Domain Names and Get a Quality... Read More
It's a common story. Someone builds a great site, populates... Read More
For the sake of this article let's forget about search... Read More
Qualified traffic is the lifeblood of any web site today,... Read More
We all know the value of getting links to our... Read More
This article will be continually updated with your feedback and... Read More
"Submit to 10,000 Search Engines" or "Submit to over 200,000... Read More
What is cross promotion?Cross promoting is when two or more... Read More
There is so incredibly MUCH you can do to successfully... Read More
If you're feeling a bit of confusion and frustration about... Read More
The desire of every webmaster and in fact anybody with... Read More
Every webmaster knows the importance of incoming links to a... Read More
1. Trade links with other websites. Websites that are related... Read More
Once again I used my wacky test marketing strategy to... Read More
Today there are so many web sites on the web,... Read More
It's about time someone let the cat out of the... Read More
Trying to get traffic to your new website or to... Read More
Just to recap - Parts 1 and 2 of this... Read More
We all know that the secret to success on the... Read More
Gary Halbert once said that the ONLY advantage he wanted... Read More
It's been several months now since I've been promoting my... Read More
It is an open internet promotion secret that the more... Read More
A reciprocal link is when a web site links to... Read More
Using an e-signature is one of the easiest, most effective... Read More
Winning the traffic exchange game can be done. I was... Read More
When you are building links to increase your link popularity,... Read More
A funny thing happened to me three months ago. I... Read More


A websites profitability depends solely on directing visitors to that... Read More
It is an open internet promotion secret that the more... Read More
Traffic. We all know that without it our sites will... Read More
Start building an interstate highway to your website. You're going... Read More
I bet you already knew this.The two largest problems that... Read More
We all know the value of getting links to our... Read More
How many ways can you get free web site traffic?... Read More
Webmasters look for ways to get a higher ranking with... Read More
If you're feeling a bit of confusion and frustration about... Read More
"Submit to 10,000 Search Engines" or "Submit to over 200,000... Read More
Viral Marketing DefinedIt is allowing others to giveaway and use... Read More
Large companies tend to spend huge amount of money on... Read More
Sending out link requests is a time-consuming business. So wouldn't... Read More
Proper Use Of Meta tags For A High Google RankingGoogle... Read More
Why submit to a Directory?Every webmaster is looking for ways... Read More
Online marketing is an area where you can find a... Read More
We all need traffic. It's the life-blood of an online... Read More
I had an email exchange with an SEO client today... Read More
It appears that most webmasters have come from the world... Read More
Link popularity is becoming the latest "in-thing" to get your... Read More
The desire of every webmaster and in fact anybody with... Read More
Recently the wife and I were watching Million Dollar Baby.... Read More
Trying to get traffic to your new website or to... Read More
Need more traffic? There's a lot you can learn from... Read More
Here's the "How-To-Do-It Guide" for driving search engine traffic right... Read More
I am not a professional photographer nor am I in... Read More
We all know that the secret to success on the... Read More
Having a website is great but, if the site doesn't... Read More
It's about time someone let the cat out of the... Read More
Targeted website traffic is the lifeblood of any website looking... Read More
Ever since the time websites became new to the World... Read More
This is the first article of a three-part series. I... Read More
Most webmasters keep their prized web traffic generating systems to... Read More
Traffic Building |