Thursday, January 13, 2005

A Link Strategy that will get Hundreds of Links

If you have begun exchanging links, you know how time consuming -- and time-wasting -- the process can be. On the other hand, you don't want to give up the process because you might actually unearth the occasional valuable link partner. You know that getting links to your site is important because it brings in traffic, helps you find strategic partners, and enhances your Search Engine rankings.

But not all links are created equal. And that means that link partners have to be prioritized. Some are worthless because your links end up on pages that nobody looks at and have no PR. But at the other end of the spectrum a few of your link partners will be very valuable because they will give you links on high value, high traffic pages.

Most of the rest of your inbound links will be only marginally valuable. How you tell the difference between the valuable ones and the useless ones is the subject of many discussions and articles, some of which you will find at the Linknet Marketing Resource Library.

One solution is to put prospective link partners into three levels. This assumes that you have already rejected those that have negative value -- the sites you don't want to identify with for various reasons -- pornography, violence, racism, pharmaceuticals, and so on. Here is a suggestion for three levels of inbound links (links pointing at your pages):

Level 1 - Basic Links
These links have no obvious positive value, but also have no negative value. Therefore, if exchanging links with these partners can be done efficiently, there is no downside to doing it. These will usually be "reciprocal" partners and can be given links on properly formed "link directory pages". The more time and effort you put into your directory, the more valuable it will become.

Level 2 - Self-Generated Multi-Links
The second category consists of "multi-links" that you generate yourself. You do this by seeding your articles, forum posts, blog entries and so on, around the web. Many of the strategies used to create these links are discussed in the "Power Linking" section of the Linknet Marketing Resource Library, mentioned above.

Level 3 - High Value Links
The third and most valuable category consists of "High Value Links" on sites that you specifically target. These include high traffic sites in your area of interest, highly rated directories, and sites where you can get a number of quality links all at once. In some cases these links will bring you lots of traffic. In other cases they will enhance your PR and Search Engine ranking. You need both kinds.

As I mention in other posts, there are a range of strategies to get these "Level 3" links. For instance,

- Write glowing testimonials. Target 10 or 20 high traffic sites in your area of interest, and send your testimonial to the webmaster. Usually they can't resist publishing it where everybody will see it.

- Write positive reviews of sites and/or posts. Target 10 or 20 high traffic products/sites. Post the reviews on your site or in your blog, and make sure to send a copy to the reviewee. Again, most webmasters or online entrepreneurs are hungry for this kind of exposure. You might even create a "review" section on your site to show you are serious.

But the most direct, fastest, and least painful strategy is to find link partners who will either sell or trade text ads on a number of high value pages. For example, at Linknet we do both of these things (selling and trading multiple links).

We offer up to 25 free links across 25 websites. And we also offer packages of 30 and 50 links for one small annual fee. For more information go to our Free Advertising page.

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