Link Exchange Strategies

Link exchanges can benefit your website in two ways. When links are exchanged between two webpages with closely related content, search engines place a higher value on these links.

In addition to the higher search engine traffic, you can expect more traffic from the links themselves.

Even if your website is very specalized in theme, you are likely to have hundreds, if not thousands, of prospects for relevent link exchanges.

So, don't waste your time on link exchange pursuing links that won't increase your traffic. Indiscriminate link exchanges can get your site penalized by the search engines.

Here's an effective way to find potential link exchange partners:

Visit sites similar to yours and see who their link partners are.

Then, visit those sites and look for those with whom they exchange links. Use this technique and you will have as many link exchange prospects as you can handle! These are likely prospects since they already participate in link exchanges.

Your site may have a general theme, but have lots of pages on specific topics related to that theme. If so, look at each page.

Choose a keyword or phrase and enter it into a search engine. The results will give you a list of potential link partners with content closely related to that particular page on your site.

Here's another way that will also increase your chance of making a link exchange:

Along with each keyword phrase, enter "add your site". You can also try "submit your site", or "add your link".

This is not only an efficient method of finding highly relevant link exchange prospects, but it also helps define your search results to a more manageable number.

For example, a search using the phrase "how to make jewelry" yielded a list of 16,100 pages.

A search with the phrases "how to make jewelry" "add your site" resulted in a list of 298 potential link exchange partners.

Many sites with an option to submit your site require you to link to them before your link is added. However, it can take several days or even a couple of weeks for your link to appear. So, you have to check their site again to see if your link has been reciprocated.

With many sites that have an automated link exchange process, your link often ends up on a page several levels deep, with many other links. Unless the sites receive very heavy traffic, these links are unlikely to bring you more than an occasional visitor.

If you want more control over where your link appears, or the number of other links on the page, a direct email is a better alternative.

Regardless of method, link exchanges are time-consuming and require monitoring.

So, pursue only those exchanges that will increase your traffic and, through their link, add value to your site.

If your site is new, websites with similar levels of traffic to yours will probably be the easiest link exchanges to make. Start with those.

Once you exchange a few links and build some momentum, go for higher-traffic sites.

Offer them two links for one. Give them a prominent link with a comprehensive description of their site in exchange for a one or two-line link on their site.

Before you initiate a link exchange proposal, place their link on your website.

In your email, include the URL with an offer to make any changes they request.

This method will both maximize your change of getting a link and save you time. All you have to do is wait for their response along with, hopefully, the requested link to your site.

Link to pages throughout your site

This method is overlooked by many link exchange partners - and it's a huge opportunity. If your site is 100 pages, for example, and you only link to your main page, you're missing out on 99% of your potential.

In many cases, the content that a visitor really wants is on a specific topic that is two, three, or more levels deep on your site.

Links to your site from pages on your link partner's site with specialized content also yield higher clickthroughs than those with more general content.

If your site contains pages several levels deep, you may have a number of pages that have yet to be indexed by the search engines. (For that reason, it's better to build sites that are "flat", with fewer levels, rather than deep.) The same may be true for your potential link exchange partners' sites.

Link exchanges between these pages increase both of your chances of being indexed when the search engine spiders follow a link from one site to the other. That fact can be an effective "selling point" in your link exchange proposal, one that you may need to partner with those higher traffic sites.

Indexed or not, any page will benefit from more incoming links. One more link to their already indexed main page may not be enough incentive.

So, bypass the main page and focus on those buried pages on your link exchange prospect's site. You'll both reap the benefits.

Nancy Richardson
CreateYourMarket.com publisher

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Quick Tips:

Enclose a business card promoting your website with each piece of outgoing mail.

Ask customers who frequently do business with you for a testimonial.

Promote your website URL offline on everything from bumper stickers to your answering machine message.

Want to reach the highest percentage of your target market?

Advertise in specialty publications including newspaper supplements devoted to a specific topic.

Marketing is crucial, but it doesn't always have to be serious.

Some of the most effective advertising campaigns rely on humor. Don't be afraid to make your customers laugh!

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