Link exchange - deciding whose links to accept (Full Version)

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_gail -> Link exchange - deciding whose links to accept (10/7/2003 12:39:14)

If someone asks for reciprocal linking between your and their sites, how do you decided whether to accept or not?

I've received several requests but when I've looked at some sites, I may not care for the way a site is designed (as in poorly designed) even though they are on theme with mine. I don't want to necessarily say no because of a personal design preference.

What are some of the things that would cause you to say "yes" to a link exchange? What are some of the things that would cause you to say "no."

thanks,

gail



Reflect -> RE: Link exchange - deciding whose links to accept (10/7/2003 13:43:25)

quote:

What are some of the things that would cause you to say "yes" to a link exchange?


Has something that would be a value to my surfers.
On theme.
PR.
affiliate program.

quote:

What are some of the things that would cause you to say "no."


White PR bar (IE PR that has been removed).
Design that wont render in most major browsers.
Off theme.
No value to surfers.
Links to other site (IE Bad neighborhoods).

Brian



cooper -> RE: Link exchange - deciding whose links to accept (10/7/2003 14:16:39)

First, the relevance... for example, I operate www.toolsandtemplates.com which is just getting off the ground as a web design help site. Once my Google page rank hit 3, I was getting requests from crazy web sites. My favorite was a cell phone information site listing cell phone stores in Florida. They were happy to inform me I had been added to their "links/web_designers/massachusetts page. All I needed to do to keep my listing on their site was add a link to their site in 30 days.

Second, I go for a site offering information that might be of benefit to my visitors. If they are leaving my site, I want them to like where they are going in the hope they might remember who sent them there.

Of course, the "occasional" affiliate link helps too!



_gail -> RE: Link exchange - deciding whose links to accept (10/7/2003 14:31:22)

quote:

Of course, the "occasional" affiliate link helps too!


Forgive my ignorance but what is that?

gail



cooper -> RE: Link exchange - deciding whose links to accept (10/7/2003 22:12:51)

gail,
There is no ignorance in that question. I have built a links page at my main site. It is www.bacwebdesign.com/links.htm.

The first group of links are to my shopping cart pages. The next group point to other sites offering FrontPage templates. Some are there just to point folks who can't find what they are looking for on my site to a site that might meet their needs. However, some are affiliate links, meaning if someone clicks the link to, let's say "Constant Contact", and they sign up, the good folks at Constant Contact pay me a little... the emphasis on little.

Trying to find a balance of genuine links that your visitors find usefull and those that they may find usefull and you might find profitable is the real task.

Hope that answers your question.



_gail -> Affiliate links (1/28/2005 7:55:28)

quote:

affiliate links, meaning if someone clicks the link to, let's say "Constant Contact", and they sign up, the good folks at Constant Contact pay me a little... the emphasis on little.


How do you arrange/set-up something like this?

Thanks, gail



Reflect -> RE: Affiliate links (1/28/2005 11:49:51)

quote:

What are some of the things that would cause you to say "yes" to a link exchange? What are some of the things that would cause you to say "no."


affiliate program hunt ;).

Seriously I have found some nice affs. from here...

http://forum.abestweb.com

The noise ratio is pretty high though. You will recognize who to listen to and whom to ignore.

I also found just Googeling affiliate+genre is a nice lead. Keep in mind though to get familiar with payout rates, cookie duration, pay schedules and THE MOST IMPORTANT who allows parasites to run in their network prior to hunting indies. parasites will over write cookies, redirect users, install bhos (browser helper objects). A best web is great for finding the last part out. If in question just post the inde (affiliate program not run in a network ((owner operated solely))) that you found over there to see if any has had issues with the network.

Once you have affiliate programs that you deal with see who performs and who does not. Toss the underachievers and start the process again. By doing this part you will end up with a strong list of performing networks which will insure constant and reliable income. Keep in mind though that if they perform today they might not perform tomorrow. It's a constant item to keep track of.

Last thing is to get a good tracking program. There are quite a few out there. Go for one that is middle of the road in cost. It WILL pay for itself over time. Also a nice log file analyzer will be a most helpful tool.

Take care,

Brian



dankos -> RE: Link exchange - deciding whose links to accept (1/28/2005 21:28:19)

quote:

ORIGINAL: cooper
Once my Google page rank hit 3, I was getting requests from crazy web sites. ...

The page rank on my browser is a bar. How do you get the numeric value?
Thanks!



Donkey -> RE: Link exchange - deciding whose links to accept (1/29/2005 13:28:17)

quote:

The page rank on my browser is a bar. How do you get the numeric value?

If it's IE just put the cursor over the bar and a value will pop up.

If you change to FF you can down load the google page rank status bar that sits in the bottom RHS of your browser window and gives you a bar and a number



_gail -> RE: Link exchange - deciding whose links to accept (1/30/2005 7:30:29)

quote:

If you change to FF you can down load the google page rank status bar that sits in the bottom RHS of your browser window and gives you a bar and a number


What am I missing here?

Google doesn't have a bar for FireFox, does it? Or are you talking about this one:

http://googlebar.mozdev.org/

thanks.

gail



Giomanach -> RE: Link exchange - deciding whose links to accept (1/30/2005 7:38:59)

https://addons.update.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?application=firefox&id=262&vid=1194

That one Gail, integrates into the status bar, bottom right hand corner



_gail -> RE: Affiliate links (1/30/2005 7:51:38)

Thanks Brian,

quote:

affiliate program hunt ;).

.....Once you have affiliate programs that you deal with see who performs and who does not.


This brings up an important point for me, at least.

A year after I dumped them, I signed up for Amazon and CJ (via BeFree) again. I've been using them for about eight weeks and spend A LOT, and I mean A LOT, of time setting them up.

So what's happened? My Google income has dropped by close to 30%!!! Now I realize that some of this has to do with a decrease in merchant ad spending following the holidays, but when I check the number of ad clicks for both affiliates, they directly correlate to the loss of $ from google AdSense clicks based on an average for what I receive per click.

Some things have been bought through amazon, but that is never sure money if someone makes returns. The other photography merchant ads have generated a good number of clicks but no sales.

As you know, my site is educational. People don't visit it to buy digital cameras, or read camera reviews (there are none). I'm very frustrated because, while I get a good number of AdSense clicks the pay-per-click is very, very little in that niche. I'm not complaining about the pay-for-click, but am very concerned about the big drop in number of clicks (number of site visitors has not dropped).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My inital thought is to drop both affiliate programs. I already removed all BeFree ads, and am reducing the number of Amazon ads, or moved them to a different location.

thanks in advance,

gail





_gail -> RE: Affiliate links (1/31/2005 9:54:05)

Any thoughts about this?

gail



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