Common Sense Link Exchange

Creating a simple links page to exchange links for the purpose of higher search engine ranking is a bad idea. Now you're probably saying to yourself why else would I make a links page? The answer is simple. You want to offer your visitors good quality content. Following this line of logic will help you go a lot farther in rankings and traffic than just throwing a links page together.

You see, search engines, especially Google, are trying their best to only rank sites that have quality content in a specific area. When you throw together a links page that has 150 links ranging from household goods to zoos in Australia on a single page, you have just created a worthless page to a search engine because you just created a worthless page to a web visitor. No one is going to take the time to sort through all those links in the slight chance that there could be something of value to them.

Let's say your trading links with someone. Ask yourself, "If there was no such thing as a search engine, would anybody find my site on this links page?". If the answer is no, you probably don't want to exchange links. You're only wasting your time. That's why so many webmasters today barely read link request emails anymore. I've gotten a link on a related site that sometimes equals as much traffic as a single search on Google for that topic, so it is important where the link is located. I expect no traffic if my movie poster site is stuck somewhere between car insurance and real estate sales amidst 100 other links. However, if the page is entitled posters and every link on the page is related to posters and art or movies then I can expect some visitors coming from that site.

The best way to go is to make a links page that offers sites that are similar to your own site's content, and don't put 150 sites on one page with a title tag that says the exact same thing as your homepage. If you plan to list hundreds of site links, put them into categories. For example if your site is about cars or anything to do with the automotive industry, then you have a gold mine of content ready to mine and tons of sites that can and will exchange links with you - if you have a good directory. You should categorize your links section into cars, trucks, automotive parts, racing, etc. and each category breaks down into more sub-categories like automotive parts leads to tires, brakes, and on and on. Before you know it you've got a great addition to your site that your visitors will like to visit, and others will want to be listed on. The search engines will even list your links pages, and every listing helps.

I turn down sites every day because it's a complete waste of time to get their listing. Linking to them could even harm my rankings. Sites that have 25 pages of links in no other order than alphabetical or numerical are not going to help you. They can only hurt. Links sections or directories should have a logical categorization with a descriptive title tag at the top. Title tags that run on forever and have no keywords relating to the page's content are worthless. Some people think they are doing great by repeating their company name and product over and over again, but it makes the page less useful to search engines and web visitors.

It seems more and more that the organized directory is dying out. New webmasters come and go without knowing the tricks of the trade, while search engines are getting more strict on just about everything. You must organize your directory and link only to sites that relate to yours or you are wasting your time and the time of those that you want to exchange links with.

The author has been a webmaster for over 6 years. Check out webmaster tips for more tips from the author.

---

The Nuts And Bolts Of Traffic Exchanges

Traffic Exchanges. What are they? How do they work? What... Read More

For Both Search Engines And Real Estate, Location Is Everything

It's all about location, location, location!In the past...back in the... Read More

A Simple Guide to Analyzing All Those Web Traffic Ideas - Part 1

There will be a lot of people unhappy about what... Read More

Aim At The Bullseye And Your Online Home Business Will Prosper

Traffic is one thing, but targeted traffic is everything.You have... Read More

3 Ways To Get More Website Traffic That Buys

Who else wants traffic that buys? I for sure do,... Read More

Increasing Site Traffic

Alright, so you have a website but are lacking visitors?... Read More

Vote for Your Own Website - Nobody Will Mind

OK boys and girls. Today we're having a pop quiz.I... Read More

Maximum Exposure: Ten Ways To Effectively Increase Your Sites Prominence On The Web

It's a strange world, this place we call the internet.... Read More

7 Tips for Using Your FAQ Pages to Generate Free Traffic

FAQ pages are an often overlooked way to generate free... Read More

What is all the Buzz about LinkedIn and Does It Work?

Have you received invitations to join an online networking website?... Read More

Traffic Generation Tutorials - Article 1 of 10 Bi Weekly Articles

This article will be continually updated with your feedback and... Read More

15 Link Exchange Tips

Establishing inbound links through reciprocal link exchanges is a very... Read More

How To Generate Traffic Using Public Domain Works

A websites profitability depends solely on directing visitors to that... Read More

Ethical Link Exchange, You be the Judge

Webmasters understand that quality and relevant inbound links can increase... Read More

What Your Competition Knows About Traffic

Need more traffic? There's a lot you can learn from... Read More

Free Traffic Course - Day 8

If you have any experience of work with your web... Read More

Finding Quality Link Partners

Every webmaster knows the importance of incoming links to a... Read More

Reciprocal Link Building That Works

We all know the value of getting links to our... Read More

Free Tips To Increase The Number Of Visitors To Your Website

If you are looking to increase the number of visitors... Read More

A Simple Guide to Analyzing All Those Web Traffic Ideas - Part 3

Just to recap - Parts 1 and 2 of this... Read More

The Art of Link Exchange

Before you start reading this article I must warn you... Read More

Maximizing The True Value Of Your Traffic

You may be shocked to hear this.You DON'T need a... Read More

How to Drive Traffic to Your Website with Traffic Exchanges

The number one problem new website owners have is, "How... Read More

Top 10 Traffic Building Mistakes To Avoid

When people look to submit their sites to the major... Read More

How to Run a Successful Link Exchange Program

Link Exchanges are a very time consuming project. The time... Read More

10 Tips on How to Increase Your Website Traffic

Not so long ago I had read an article about... Read More

Making Effective Use of Traffic Exchanges

? What are traffic exchanges?Traffic exchanges are used by 100,000... Read More

A Disturbing Trend in Reciprocal Linking

In the world of Internet Marketing, and Web site promotion,... Read More

Finding and Managing Quality Reciprocal Links: A Tutorial for The Newbie

All of us want to increase traffic to our web... Read More

How To Get Repeat Visitors To Your Site

When you have a website online it is important for... Read More

Keyword is the king in the Kingdom of Search Engines Optimization world

Digital Economy : What Is e-Marketing : Internet Search Engines... Read More

Do You Need to Marry The Daughter?

For the sake of this article let's forget about search... Read More

Webmasters and Publishers: A Match Made in Heaven!

It's pretty well-known that one of the best ways to... Read More