After I sent out my last article, I got this message:

———–
>>My name is Andre. I run a site that promotes support and
encouragement for those with genetic anomalies. As I am not a
stranger with cold calls, I can easily go to a site and ask them to
submit my link on theirs and they on mine. The only problem is that
I don’t get many answers.

Could you guide me in that respect ?

Thanks,
Andre

————–

I thought Andre may not be alone in this problem so I asked for
more details in how the sites were contacted -he send me the
following copy of the email he used to make contact:
————-
>>My name is Andre and I run a site called GendersInX.org
I have been referred to your site through members who frequent your
site and I wondered if you could put my link into yours.

GendersInX was conceived by a curiosity of different conditions
such as Turner’s syndrome, Klinefelter’s Syndrome, Androgen
Insensitivity Syndrome and Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, more so
the similarities we share amongst us. In any genetic anomaly it is
easy to forget that we are human as well and not just the condition
we are or have.

The site is upbeat, encouraging and informative, certainly that is
what is needed at all times because when we turn off the computer,
we are met with the world that we live with day to day. It would be
preferable to look at that in a positive way and GendersInX aims
towards that.

I invite you to look at the site and see if it fits in your site
under the links, I will certainly put yours into mine once it has
been accepted.

Sincerely yours
Andre Lorek
————-

So, from the email, we can see he is looking to exchange links-
lets look at the sites we should contact to exchange links first. I
have this criteria list:

1. They have Page Rank -Page Rank is Googles way of saying that the
site is trust worthy. Page Rank ranges from 0-10 with 10 being the
highest.

The reason I would only exchange links with sites that
have some page range and it means they have done “something” to
promote there site and it has been online a while- more likely to
be around in the future.

2. The have a links page -They have a page or area with out going
links on it.

3. They have a clear and obvious exchange links policy- This can be
as simple as a note to please contact us here, to a detailed list
of terms and conditions as to what sites they will and will not
exchange links with.

So how do you find these sites? -Well as someone smart said…(wish
it was me….) “There is plenty of traffic out there…just get in
front of it”…..so how a do we find sites that are specific to
exchanging links. Here are a few:

http://www.DigitalAwol.com/links

http://www.linkpartners.com/

http://www.linkalizer.com

I have been doing some work in the linkalizer.com area and have
found it very easy to use- I have the pro version- which I
recommend as it does most of the work for you.

I have around 100 requests for exchanges pending (those wanting to
exchange links with me) and am doing me best to get through them -
doing an hour per day.

I have completed 32 exchanges in a few days-
the system verifies the link back to you, and shows you the link on
the other site.

Before you rush over there I do recommend that you have a directory
type system for exchanging links as it better for more content for
your site (it creates more pages) and it makes your site look like
a directory of resources.

Break the links down into pages of approx 20 (Google recommends 50,
but I am on the cautious side)

The best way to run this is software based, installed on your web
hosting, I use autolinks pro which has a great interface for adding
sites, plus can manage anybody applying at your site.

You can see it running here:

http://www.DigitalAwol.com/links

Autolinks is a paid program, and really well priced- more details and full
demo here:

http://www.Autolinkspro.com

With this type of program, make sure you have it installed so it
forms a normal looking part of the site, not something of a “Add
on”.

So now are you ready to ask for links?….not quite. Have you every
been to a online discussion forum to find only a few discussions
going on? If it was a room it would echo….

You need to avoid those you are looking to exchange links to arrive
at the site and see it empty…so place a few links in each area- at
least 5 to make sure it looks active- they don’t have to be
exchanged links, just helpful sites.

Ok now you are ready….to ask for links. Once you have found a site
that you want to exchange links.

In Andres approach above, what he
did was tell the owner all about his own website and it doing this,
he missed a vital point- the WIIFM -The webmaster reads an email
(or a website) and is thinking- what’s in it for me? (W I I F M)

Why should I take an action?

So the first action you need to take is put a link to the owners
site FIRST and then contact him something like this:

———–
Hi,
I just visited you site and I can see you have done a lot of work
and have great content- I especially like the XXXX about X subject-
very helpful. Well done!

My website is on a similar subject, but not competing. I can see my
visitors would benefit from your content and I have linked to you
here:

http://www.yoursite.com/page.htm

Please let me know if you are happy to exchange links. My details
are below

Best Regards
(your name)

http://www.yoursite.com/

(name of site)
—————

This is the short version, but you get the idea. You could include
the html you want him to link to you and a link to a page on your
site with the details.

If you don’t here from them in a week- you can send a follow up,
saying that you know that sometimes email goes missing and asking
if they got the message and insert a copy of the previous message.

If you still don’t here from them – delete the link and carry on.
With any marketing, it is a numbers game – The real key to
exchanging link is simply focused effort. Google has said that
reciprocal links do count (another article coming on this soon)
however to not be “excessive” .

To what exactly excessive is – I use this concept: don’t exchange
links with everybody and every subject. I prefer to avoid subject
like gambling, dating etc..anything that may not be enjoyed by my
visitors.

I guess the most important thing to ask is does it work? On one
site which I been very active in only exchanging links it has
increased 4 places in the last 24 hours- No other promotion has
been done so I can presume its starting to have some effect. Inch
by Inch with search engine ranking…..

Best Regards
Paul Easton

http://www.DigitalAwol.com/

PS: If you haven’t had a chance to get 2 F.ree chapters of my Book:
A Plan for free Web Traffic -you can read it here:

http://www.DigitalAwol.com/trafficlinks.pdf

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