Link Etiquette...

[ViciousSummer]

Is there any etiquette I should be following before suggesting link exchanges? Should I wait until I have a PR (my site is new)? I feel like a dork offering to exchange links when I don't have much to offer my link partners (yet ;) )...

[digitalpoint]

It probably will be easier to wait until you have a PR, which should be any day now...

- Shawn

[jarvi]

It's better to put a link to them first and then contact them. Let them know the exact page where their link is, so they can see the pagerank etc and offer to edit the text/description if they would prefer something else.

I usually don't bother with ones where they haven't put the link up first. Just means I have to go back another time to make sure they have done it.

Also, if you include the html code in your email it means they only have to copy and paste and you get the exact link you want. If you don't have a lot to offer by way of pagerank, just make it as easy as possible for them.

[compar]

I agree with Jarvi.

But don't be shy. We all start at with a low PR. The very fact that you are actively pursuing a linking strategy, or exchange, indicates that your PR won't stay low for long.

It's like sex or your first job. If you wait until you have experience you'll never get experience. Just follow Jarvi's advice and get linking.

[GuyFromChicago]

ViciousSummer - you've got a PR now...

[I, Brian]

Here's a useful article on link exchange tips and suggestions - hope it helps:

http://www.seo-lab.com/webmaster-articles/link-exchange-webmasters.php

:)

[compar]

Here's a useful article on link exchange tips and suggestions - hope it helps:
http://www.seo-lab.com/webmaster-articles/link-exchange-webmasters.php:)

Gee I wonder who wrote that article and whose web site that link points to????

[douglaslampi]

Several Great places to kick start your linking campaign;


Free and LOW cost Link Exchange Services (http://www.linkpopularity.ca/linking_strategies_74.asp)

Check them all out! Each has it's strengths and individual audiences.

Regards all

Doug

[Gede]

After doing a link exchange program, and having a nice pagerank, also on my link exchange pages, I don't have to search for link exchange partners anymore, they find me. I get a lot of exchange requests, and as with many things on the net :) there are many not so nice link exchangers. People that find it nescesarry to invent structures so they benefit the most from the exchange, links dissapear slowly to a invisible page and so, redirected links and many other tricks. So now I am slowly upgrading the link exchange php script I wrote myself. Before sending me an email the program checks if the link is in place on the site, and I am planning to incorporate some google api stuff so that I can automaticly check if the link back page is actually linked to and / or is indexed by google. Can do this, no problem. Maybe I can check when DP tells me how to :) if their PR is higher then zero one day too....

[ViciousSummer]

Thanks for all the advice guys, it's been a great help. I have a PR now (including pr4 on my links page), so I'm a little bit less shy about asking for link exchanges :p . What I've been doing is researching sites, adding their link to my page, emailing them & checking for a recipricol link in about a week. The way I go about requesting a link is a little more time consuming then all of these automated linking programs, but I think my way will be more beneficial in the long run. As much as I want links, I still want to be sure that I am linking to useful & interesting sites.

One thing that I have found is that it's pointless trying to exchange links with people using the Linkmanager program. a) Your link never gets added (At least not in the 2 weeks I waited) & b) the links pages are PR0. Just a little tip ;) .