Link Trades That Waste Your Time

Never has competition been so difficult in the Internet world. Google and Yahoo keep indexing more and more pages, into the millions upon millions, and yet more and more people are creating super quickie links pages that are supposed to get other webmasters to want to trade links with them.

I still trade links with other webmasters, but I've gotten more particular as the link trade offers get worse and worse.

First of all, nobody uses title tags correctly anymore. Just for example, a directory page for cars should have a automotive keyword in the title tag, not "ACME Soap washes your odor away guaranteed!". Would I want my hot rod site listed on a page with that for a title tag? Remember, if by some miracle that page got listed in Google the link would read "ACME Soap washes your odor away guaranteed!". More than likely the page wouldn't even come up under any searches for cars or hot rods, even if all the links on the page were automotive related. Now, this example was a good links directory compared to most today.

Most people who want to trade links have links directory consisting of nothing but miscellaneous links. I mean nothing but links. I've seen a lot with no design whatsoever and no title tag at all. A page of links with no theme whatsoever is worthless for my site and yours.

The hidden links page is also a big frustration of mine. You've got to love it. One webmaster said you shouldn't need a magnifying glass and a GPS system to find a link to the directory. Webmasters need to start treating their links pages as though they were as important as the rest of their site.

A lot has been said about link trades being a lot less effective these days. Could the problems we've covered here be the cause?

A Good Directory

A good links directory has title tags that relate to the content of the page, is organized neatly by theme, is easy to find, and is as close to your website's main theme as possible. In other words, the more related the site is to your site's content, the more the link trade is going to be valuable to your site. This is regardless of whether or not you get a higher search engine ranking. The best possible link trade for overall increases in traffic are ones that are going to boost your traffic with or without search engines, and if the links directory is a resource to the public you will get traffic from it. It would be much more probable that you would get a boost from such a site.

The basic moral of the story is if you want good sites to link to you then make a good professional looking links directory, and please no more title tags that do nothing but repeat your business name.

Feel free to use this article on your site, but please add a link to this site at the bottom of the article.
Article from webmaster of WebmasterTips.us Website Resources

---

Increase Your Affiliate Earnings with a Smart Webmaster Plan

Affiliate programs are a great way to earn an income... Read More

Easy Steps To Website Development and Promotion

One of the most important parts of establishing a new... Read More

Three Way Linking - Webmaster Strategy

Three way linking and concerns.For many years SEO experts were... Read More

Bring Your Visitors Back Clamoring for More! Maintain and Improve Your Web Site Weekly - Part 1

80% of your Web site is Maintenance!Once your Web site... Read More

Database Driven Web Site - Do You Need It?

Many of site owners still don't realize all advantages of... Read More

Build or Buy a CMS?

Creating a content management system either from scratch,... Read More

MySQL Database Handling in PHP

Most interactive websites nowadays require data to be presented dynamically... Read More

How to Draw Icons or Images on a Mapserver Generated Map

In this example I have used the map of the... Read More

I Want To Be A Freelancer

So you have decided that you want to do freelance... Read More

The Cost Of A Web Site

Just starting out, you can start with a simple informational... Read More

The Road to Better Results

A lot has changed in the way sites are optimized... Read More

Launch Your Own Website Today - Its Easier Than You Think!

Thousands of people are now making a living online and... Read More

Guidelines for Web Page Optimization

Below, I have listed 8 simple steps that you can... Read More

Successful Commercial Sites

Do you make your website just to entertain yourself or... Read More

How To Make Your Website More Successful? (Part I)

Building a website and getting it online is easy. Driving... Read More

How To Get Your Customers To Trust Your Website

Research reveals three important facts:1) The Internet is one of... Read More

Profitable Websites for Exclusive Industries

In the region where my company is located, South Bend,... Read More

How to Handle Web Surfers Who Disabled JavaScript

There are hundreds of millions of Web surfers today. Each... Read More

Top 7 Tips for Building an Antique Car Website

Like wine cars get more attractive to collectors as years... Read More

Search Engines and Customers Want Focused Web Site Content

How do you decide on the content, products and or... Read More

Live Support from Your Website? Can You Do It for Free?

I'm a freelance programmer and somehow I managed to get... Read More

7 Profit Producing Reasons Why Every Successful Service Professional Needs A Web Presence

Your business website is a critical aspect of being able... Read More

The Number 1 Reason Most Websites Fail

Failure, just like success, is measured differently by each and... Read More

Do You And Your Website Have Credibility?

I recently received an unsolicited e-mail from some company offering... Read More

Web Accessibility Myths

With more and more countries around the world passing laws... Read More

How To Get Profits From Your 404 Page Not Found File

"'Page Not Found' on this Server. Check the URL and... Read More

Website Imperatives and Solutions

When you take a look at the most visited sites... Read More

50 Ways To Use Your Website

A website is the most versatile and cost-effective marketing tool... Read More

Are You Overlooking the Benefits of Using Sub-Domains within Your Web-hosting account?

One of the most useful features offered by some web... Read More

Why Every Small Business Owner Needs Two Websites

Every small business owner knows that they need a website,... Read More

If Its Done Its Done for: Make Your Website Part of Your Business before You Build

Web sites are an Ongoing Part of Business.All too many... Read More

High Quality Website at Low Cost

Although designing a great web site is an important part... Read More

Effectively Using Robots Meta Tags

The "robots" meta tag, when used properly, will tell the... Read More