Link
Popularity - Reciprocal Link Etiquette
by Michael
Bloch
Taming
the Beast
With so
many bleeding edge marketing and promotion methods coming into
practice these days, it's easy to forget the basics. A few good
manners go a long, long way - an old concept but very applicable
to modern Internet marketing and web site promotion strategies.
Starting
out in web site promotion?
When you
first launch your site, the chances are that traffic will not
start flowing immediately, and perhaps never - it's not just
how your site looks or operates that will ensure it's success
or failure. According to numerous sources I've come across during
my research, the average web site only receives around 3 unique
visitors a day!
So how do
you get well above this average? A lot of begging and pleading
to begin with! Many web masters and site owners leave a lot
to be desired in their approaches to marketing and promoting
their sites -especially in terms of link requests.
Link
requests
Most of
us realize that the best way to get traffic while waiting to
be listed by search engines is through being linked to by other
quality sites. This also assists with increasing SE rankings
when search engine spiders do pay a visit. Depending on the
search engine, the *only* way to have a chance at a decent ranking
is to have other sites linking to yours.
What many
new web masters don't realize is that a request for a link will
probably meet with a negative or no response. The reason why
is simple - it's back to the WIIFM principle - What's In It
For Me - the most basic of motivators in the human psyche.
If you approach
a well established site to link to you, there has to be a good
reason for them to do so. I have received a number of emails
simply stating "link to me - http://www.54534hgg.com".
That kind of promotional strategy gets you nowhere.
Here are
a few hints and tips for beginners through to more experienced
site owners as to how you can persuade an established site to
link to yours.
1.
Most Important! Be Polite.
When you
send your email for a linking request, ensure that the tone
of it is extremely courteous and not demanding. If English is
your second language, run your promotional note by someone who
is familiar with the complexities of the language. The way you
word your note is the most important factor as to whether another
web master will even bother with taking the time to take a look
at your site.
2.
Grammar and Spelling
Also very
important. Your canvassing note is your official representation
- if you don't take the time to spell correctly, other web masters
may believe that your site will be of the same quality, and
discard your request immediately.
Ensure your
web site is complete.
A half finished site will not gain you any links!
3.
Respect that many web masters are busy people
Don't expect
an answer straight away and harass the site owner with countless
follow up emails. Leave it for at least 2 weeks before second
contact and ensure that the second note is equally as polite
as the first.
4.
Read the site
Ensure you
take a good look over the site you wish to link to you, be familiar
with it's content and mention some of the content in your request
for linkage. Identify the common theme between the sites. If
the site has a "Submit your URL" page, ensure that
you use it and read the guidelines for submission carefully.
5.
Appeal to the web masters WIIFM
(What's In It For Me) motivator.
Experienced
site owners can pick a new web master or site a mile off, so
don't misrepresent your site or its traffic levels if you propose
a reciprocal (swap) links agreement. Point the web master to
a section of your site where you provide content or tools that
are original and would be of use to their site's visitors.
If you have
a banner rotator, you could offer the site owner a few thousand
impressions as a sweetener for him in linking to you. Very few
web masters will give you a link if they receive nothing in
return, especially if they are earning money or gaining traffic
from the links they already have in place.
Even just
making an offer of an exchange of services, no matter how small,
will motivate the web master to at least consider a link - they
may not even take you up on the offer.
The best
way to encourage other webmasters to link to you is to already
have their link and a thoughtful description already present
on your site - on a search engine friendly page.
The
link request note.
There are
a number of template examples of link request emails on the
Internet, but my advice is that if you are going to use them,
ensure you modify them each time they are sent to different
sites so they at least appear original.
I receive
a certain template note regularly and disregard it as it appears
to me that the person sending it has not reviewed my site properly
and really doesn't take the process seriously. If another web
master points towards a certain article or section of Taming
the Beast.net, it motivates me to review what the web master
has to offer my site visitors.
Bearing
that in mind, here's a sample note that you can base your approaches
on:
Greetings
[Name],
I visited
your web site, [Web Site Name Here] and found some great information
regarding [Insert Subject Here].
[If you
have linked to the other site already, mention it here and give
the URL of the link - ask them to approve your link to them
or to recommend editing suggestions - DO NOT threaten to remove
their link if they don't respond in x days - these kinds of
notes usually end up being deleted]
I thought
you might be interested to know that we have a web site dedicated
to [Your Site Topic - special points of interest].
We were
hoping that you might consider linking to us and invite you
to review our site at your convenience.
[Depending
on situation, insert further offer of reciprocal linking, banner
impressions or exchange of services here]
If you determine
that a link to our site is appropriate, please add it at your
your discretion, or might we suggest the following link and
description:
[Your site
name and URL] - [Your site description - keep it brief, focused
and not too much hype]
If you'd
like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact us
at [Your contact details].
Thanks!
[Full official
signature lines here]
This example
is personal and courteous. It respects the other site owners
time and intelligence. Remember to modify each note slightly
to avoid the "template" stigma.
Be
prepared for rejection.
If you are
officially denied a link, don't get too upset - even if the
response is rude, as they sometimes can be. If you do receive
a nasty email back, be happy in the fact that you went about
promotion in the right way, and perhaps that web master was
having a really bad day as we all do at times. Leave it for
a few months, then try again, outlining some of the improvements
you have made in your site that are relevant.
The promotion
strategies you put into action from the outset define your standing
in the online community in the time ahead - don't blow it. Be
careful in using the hypey marketing techniques offered by some
- they may have worked for them, but they may not work for you.
Don't let
dollar signs get in the way of basic human consideration..
Further
learning resources:
Search
engine optimization tutorials section:
http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles2/optimization-tutorials.htm
General
web marketing & promotion articles:
http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles2/affiliate-marketing.htm
Online business
security articles and tools:
http://www.tamingthebeast.net/tools/security-software.htm
Affiliate
marketing strategies and tutorials:
http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles2/affiliate-marketing.htm
Ecommerce
tutorials and guides:
http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles2/ecommerce-articles.htm
Michael
Bloch
Taming
the Beast
Tutorials, web content, tools and software.
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