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_gail
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Link exchange: quality or quantity - 10/24/2004 20:02:46
I get asked for a link exchange a couple times a week. I usually say no to those sites which have no relation to the theme of my site. But recently, I'm getting asked to exchange links with sites that, while themed with mine, have a potpourri of unrelated links on a page which are not even catagorized. (they are alphabetized instead). So, for example, if I say yes to the last two site owners who contacted me, my site could very well be sandwiched between sites that sell baby diapers.
When I asked one site owner about this, they said they did not have enough links to make categories. They further stated:
quote:
if we were to divide links into different categories and put them on new pages, those new pages would have no PR and link partners would not benefit from the exchange.
So my question is, how to you judge when it's worthwhile to do a link exchange? Is quantity more important than quality?
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Reflect
Posts: 4765
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RE: Link exchange: quality or quantity - 10/26/2004 11:26:38
Hi _Gail,
Keep in mind PR has nothing to do with "on theme" sites.
OK, now with that said here is my philosophy...
I make a jump page for all categories. On that jump page each category gets a one paragraph blurb (also some nice anchor text). This helps humans understand what each category is about. This also helps the bot on anchor text to the category link page. I do this from day one so that the jump page has natural PR passed. I include this in all navigation except the base navigation bars at the bottom of my pages.
I agree with the first sentence that I wrote however I always strive for on topic links. I feel that the value for the reader is apparent. I might even mix a few affiliate links in with these cloaked using a redirect and JS so it shows as a "normal" link. Most of these pages on my last domain had PR 4 or 5. My main jump page had a solid 5. Once PR is obtained you get a heavy flow of link requests and can pick what ones are relevant.
IMHO (and take care),
Brian
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breddie
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RE: Link exchange: quality or quantity - 10/27/2004 13:32:57
Reflect:
I'm new at this. What is a "jump page" and what would the "anchor" text link look like that points to that page? Example?
I assume the"jump page" you are referring to is a sub-page for each category with appropiate links to and from.
Thanks
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lambert321
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RE: Link exchange: quality or quantity - 10/27/2004 13:51:48
Please educate me. What "PR"
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dpf
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RE: Link exchange: quality or quantity - 10/27/2004 14:06:18
PR is a google term for their attribute "Page Rank" the meaning and result of which is highly debateable
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Mojo
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RE: Link exchange: quality or quantity - 10/27/2004 14:17:25
IMO -
When you first start your site - Quantity. Get as many links as you can without linking to a bad neighborhood.
Once your established - Quality. Start being more selective. This usually takes more time, hence the quick start with quantity.
I usually purchase most of my links on a new site. $100 to $300 per month gets a lot of PR4, PR5 and a few PR6 links. As time goes on I phase many of them out.
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lambert321
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RE: Link exchange: quality or quantity - 10/28/2004 15:19:52
Thanks for the schooling those of us who are newer to the business.
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smcfarland
Posts: 715
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RE: Link exchange: quality or quantity - 10/31/2004 22:35:00
I would say both. I agree with Mojo.
For websites where there are literally millions of website competing for the terms, I think quantity AND quality matter. I am having the darndest time getting a client to stay on the first page for 'lingerie' and she has 4,380 links, according to google.
Obviously, you are doing well with your 3rd place ranking for digital camera help. :)
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_gail
Posts: 2877
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RE: Link exchange: quality or quantity - 11/1/2004 15:00:32
quote:
I usually purchase most of my links on a new site. $100 to $300 per month gets a lot of PR4, PR5 and a few PR6 links. As time goes on I phase many of them out.
What do you mean purchase? Never heard of purchasing links. What's the advantage?
gail
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_gail
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RE: Link exchange: quality or quantity - 11/1/2004 15:07:14
Thanks all for the replies!
quote:
I agree with the first sentence that I wrote however I always strive for on topic links.
So then, if I understand you correctly, my hesitation to say yes to a link exchange for anyone who asks, is on target. I feel like some who contact me just want to build up a long list of links at their sites, no matter what the subject.
Am I correct in thinking that I should take into consideration THEIR page rank?
I don't want my site listed on others where there is no relevance to mine. I have refused a lot of requests because of this. Please give me insights if I'm wrong.
gail
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smcfarland
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RE: Link exchange: quality or quantity - 11/1/2004 15:11:53
I look at Page Rank for their main page, as well as Alexa info. There are some sites that get over 750,000 visitors a month that have a PR3 (I own a few).
Try looking at their links on google -- theirdomain.+com will give a good idea. Better than backlinks sometimes.
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dpf
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RE: Link exchange: quality or quantity - 11/1/2004 15:12:54
quote:
Am I correct in thinking that I should take into consideration THEIR page rank?
absolutely! reciprical equates to quid pro quo here and if I am PR1 and offer to trade links with your PR9, it ain't.
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Mojo
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RE: Link exchange: quality or quantity - 11/1/2004 16:46:56
quote:
I don't want my site listed on others where there is no relevance to mine. I have refused a lot of requests because of this. Please give me insights if I'm wrong.
If you look at the sites ranking for 'digital cameras' 8 of them have over 1000 back links showing on Google. 2 have over 500 showing on Google. ALL of them really have over 2000 (Google does not show all back links).
The #1 site has a lot of links from blogs and off topic sites. If you want to play in a competitive field you need lots of links. It does not matter if they are on topic or off topic.
But, you DON'T want to always have reciprocal links. For that reason, you should have at least 2 sites that have the same page rank (actually, more is better). When an off topic site wants to trade links they are typically after a back link of the same PR that your main site holds. Make them an offer - They link to your main site, and you link to their site using your secondary (but same PR) site. Almost always, they will be happy. You will be happy and the search engines will be happy.
I do this all the time with nice effect.
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colonel
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RE: Link exchange: quality or quantity - 11/23/2004 8:51:12
quote:
ORIGINAL: _gail
I get asked for a link exchange a couple times a week. I usually say no to those sites which have no relation to the theme of my site. But recently, I'm getting asked to exchange links with sites that, while themed with mine, have a potpourri of unrelated links on a page which are not even catagorized. (they are alphabetized instead). So, for example, if I say yes to the last two site owners who contacted me, my site could very well be sandwiched between sites that sell baby diapers.
When I asked one site owner about this, they said they did not have enough links to make categories. They further stated:
quote:
if we were to divide links into different categories and put them on new pages, those new pages would have no PR and link partners would not benefit from the exchange.
So my question is, how to you judge when it's worthwhile to do a link exchange? Is quantity more important than quality?
Quantity should never go over quality in this specific topic. Link exchange can only be effective when you have quality link meaning that they are for websites with good popularity and good PR. You can have hundreds of links which point to sites with a very low PR and popularity not to talk about serps, this actually means that you have nothing. Whereas you might have only two link pointing to quality sites in the same niche you are in, be sure that they can affect your overall PR and serps not to talk about bringing additional traffic to your site.
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