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Website Directories and Link Exchange Sites
by Rick Hendershot, Linknet Power
Linking
In the first four lessons we looked at the reasons for
creating a link generation program and sketched out some important things you
should do before getting your link program underway. In the next two lessons we
discuss the two major categories of link exchange partners:
1)
directories and link exchange sites, and
2) sites dealing with subject
matter related to yours.
Directories and link exchange
sites
Generally speaking, these are listings of sites, categorized
according to subject matter. Normally your listing will be in the directory
along with hundreds, or even thousands of others, with no way of determining the
relative value or quality of the sites listed. So it is unlikely these listings
will generate much traffic for you. In fact, generating direct traffic is not
usually
the point of such listings.
The point is to give you an
inbound link, hopefully from a page with higher than average Page Rank, and the
Search Engines consider that important. This alone will enhance the ranking of
your site by Google and the other Search Engines. The more times your site is
listed -- with a link pointing back to your site -- the more "important" your
site will be considered. And for that reason, you should be listed with as many
directories and link exchange sites as you can find. As always, the higher the
Page Rank of the page containing the back link, the better it is for
you.
Start with popular directories
One of the easiest ways
to get inbound links is to register
your site with a number of website directories. These are usually
categorized lists of sites including a link and a brief description. An easy way
to get a list of directories is simply to do a Google search for "website
directories". Another is to go to a directory site such as www.linkmaster.com and then check the Alexa
toolbar for "Related Links".
Some of these will be well known directories
such as Yahoo, DMOZ and Jayde. You will also find some of the standard Search
Engines in a list like this. Some of the big directories like Yahoo, Looksmart
and Zeal require a payment to get listed. My recommendation is to look around
for free alternatives before paying the big directories for a listing. You will
find you are able to get hundreds and hundreds of free links with a bit of
effort. Once you have an idea of where your link program is going, you can go
back and reconsider the pros and cons of spending money for
listings.
This technique will also unearth some directories you have
never heard of before. Try to be selective, because directories come and go.
And, remember, what you are looking for are links on pages with "relevant"
content, that have high PR, and that get a decent amount of traffic.
Here
are some directories you can
try:
JoeAnt
GoGuides
UncoverTheNet
WebAtlas
Gimpsy
We
include a regularly updated list of directories and link exchange sites in
the Link
Exchange Toolkit.
Look for link exchange sites
A link
exchange site is one where you register your site with a description, basic
keywords, and category. Then registered webmasters can search through the
listings, check out your site, and request a link exchange if they are
interested. In other words, a link exchange not only gives you a valuable
inbound link, but (in theory, at least) also lots of suggestions for
related-content link partners.
One relatively new exchange site is Ken
Evoy's of SiteSell
/ Site Build It fame, called
"Value
Exchange". This service will even let you know by email when "you have
matches" -- link partner prospects in the categories you have previously
specified. Other sites like this are linkateer.com, linkexchanged.com,
superlinks.com, gotop.com, and links-pal.com. The more you look, the more of
these sites you are likely to find. We keep an updated and ever-expanding list
of link exchange sites, and make it available in the Link
Exchange Toolkit.
My own experience with too many of these services
is that a lot of the registered members are relative newbies, so their sites
don't have much link value. Also I find there are lots of (low value) registered
sites in areas like "website marketing", "business opportunities", and "online
casinos", but almost none for hard-to-find keywords like "trade show displays"
or "vinyl banners" (two of my client sites). Perhaps this will change as time
goes by and the exchange sites mature.
It can also become a full time job
just evaluating link exchange requests from automated sites. These systems are
often set up to send out hundreds of automated requests all at the same time,
irrespective of "relevancy", so you end up getting requests from every Tom,
Dick, Sanjay, Sarah, and Ursula. In other
words, you may be better off not
registering for the automated service, and just relying on a manual search of
the listings for sites you want to exchange with.
The Link
Exchange Toolkit contains much more information about Link Exchange
Sites.
In Lesson 6 we discuss how to find related-content sites, and how
to go about trading links with
them.
Rick
Hendershot publishes several small business websites and ezines, and provides
online clients with low cost ways of generating traffic. See
Linknet Promotions.
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