Have you given up on links - same as me?

Gathering links is the most boring job I could possibly do. Even when I get few recip - sooner or later they will disappear.

Do you feel the same?

Cheers

 

Good content = natural backlinks

 

I do agree with Zexy...but it is always not true...Thr should be some equal effort frm our side to build back links through many different techniques.

 

Take an hour a week and check for back links. With spare time, go and find new ones. it's not all that hard, or time consuming if done correctly, especially if the topic is of interest to you. When you are off looking for information yourself jot down a pages contact info and drop them an email. A basic form email with SEVERAL blanks filled in can often sound personal enough, and can sometimes result in one way links.

I once wrote an article and listed my "sources" at the bottom. I then emailed all of those sources asking of it was OK to link to them (the trick is to sound like your mom, not a webmaster). They were real sources, and I felt obligated to link to them (It's just good form). The email was from the web master side of me, and it resulted in one blog post (raving that I was nice enough to ask, rather then just steal the info) and two relevant back links. All for doing what I'd be doing anyway + one email sent to 5 people.

 

If it's boring to you then perhaps you're approaching it in the wrong way. Personally I find link building interesting and challenging. For me, it's all about the 'treasure hunt' of trying to find new link leads, to the 'game of chess' in trying to get the other party to link to me, to seeing the rewards ($$$) that come from obtaining the link.

How many of us would die of boredom when faced with a task of, say, data entry where there was repeated clicking of a mouse button and limited keyboard keystrokes, yet be able to spend endless hours doing little more than that playing a video game? It's all about perception.

Change your mindset about linkbuilding and you might even find you have greater success. If you think it's boring and a waste of time then your link gathering results probably reflect your feelings. 3 years ago I felt the same way you did but I took it upon myself to approach things differently and learn how to link build more effectively. Today I'm very glad I put in that effort. I'm still lazy and don't do half the link building I should, but I get much greater returns for the work I do and that, in turn, means that link building will never be boring.

Good luck,

Phlegm...

 

It is relative easy to get certain types of links, like forum posts or blog comments, but very challenging to get high quality backlinks from relevant sites, especially for a new site. But once you reach a certain level, like PR4 or even PR5, life will be a little easier. You will probably have to delete many link request emails from PR0 sites then. But at that time you will want to get links from PR8 sites so it never ends

 

The vast majority of my links come from article marketing. Since I do all the submission by hand it can get tedious I suppose, but PR3 sites and blogs do occasionally take my articles and put them on their front page

 

You are right, link building and directory submitting are really boring....

 

I meant quality links form web sites with authority : Web dir and forums are useless as far as I am concerned. Google prefers deep links such as links to articles - not just shallow ones .
Cheers

 

Oddly yes. I have gone a different route. I am now focusing on content and I link out to other sites more freely without even asking for a return link.
I also get links in return for free.
I am tired of dishonest webmasters who cloak my links, remove them even though I paid or remove links I exchanged. Its not worth it. I am mainly focusing on getting natural links now.
I am having more fun writing and oddly my visitor numbers are going up. I guess people notice that I take more interest in the site itself.

 

The hardest part about building backlinks is finding relevant links that will accept you. That is my problem. I can submit to directories all day long and write content, but relevant links is hard.

 

Most webmasters suck when it comes to links. Quality is the way to go.
I also do the "Link love " thing and it works out.
I do a directory or 2 every now and then, but I stopped looking for link exchanges.
Most people want you to link to a PR site, and give you a link on a new site, which I think is just not right.
I think some people have crappy sites just for this purpose.
Although there is no bad link.

Since the updates are close, I ain't screwing around with linking to any more new sites, with 2 pages of content.

If you just concentrate on quality, people will start linking to you.
I have picked up quite a few links from people and sites that I have never seen before, it's kinda cool.

 

Backlinks are a waste of your time and effort if you have a web hosting site and you have a links directory that accepts link exchanges from any niche sites like medical sites, entertainment sites, etc.

Just exchange links for your own niche. Personally I don't bother exchanging links anymore. I have told people that it's alright, but does take alot of time and some of the people say they will exchange with you and put your link on their site as longs as I do it first and then it never happens.

I don't bother with link exchanges. I just do advertising for traffic. If I see a site that has a good list of sites in my niche and they do not have mine and it gets some good traffic then I will include mine. But if it asks that I have to reciprocate to get my site listed in that list then I will. The reasons for this is because my competitors are listed there plus the traffic and the backlink is only added in for a bonus.

If you want to grow then you just have to aim for traffic I think and then the back links will follow if you have some good content and a site worth linking to.

 

My partner (wife) takes care of the link building usually. Emails from her are usually better written and more natural than from me.

I don't think I have ever added a link to a site that came in via an email, almost all are self serving, the key is to make a point to show something of relevance on your site with something on their site.

I had an email from this morning to my personal site addressed "Dear Sir/Madam", it came from a bot visiting the site and the return address was a free account. It'll be a cold day in hell before they'll get a link. Make it worth something to me, prove your site has a relevance.

 

Although I wholeheartedly agree with this statement, its also a catch22. If you don't have links, you won't be found, so you don't get links.
Once you have achieved a certain exposure, links will come all by themselves, but getting there becomes harder and harder with all the new rules.

Although I occasionally browse the link exchange forum, I usually find it a waste of time.
Just today I found out that I was paying big bucks every month for a link that didn't even exist anymore.
I have pretty much canceled all link subscriptions.
Since Google is going to crack down on them anyways I see no point in this.

I have high hopes that the web is going to be what it used to. People linking freely to good resources without asking what they get in return.
If I find a site nowadays that I think should be mentioned I just do so. I don't care if they link back or even if they take notice.
And THAT is how linking should be.

 

it's very boring but the most important think for your seo and getting visitors. you must never give up building backlinks

 

Another thing that I have said before to others in this or another forum, it is much easier to get 1 way links. Just write an article and publish it in an article some article directories and then others will pick it up and your article may even be on a page that will have a PR4 - PR5 one day. I know some of my articles are on other people's sites where the article is no PR4 - PR5.

When exchanging links, you have to put your link on their site which normally goes into their link exchange directory. Most sites that have this directory will have it one day and then it will be gone the next, as simple as that. With one way links, your link is likely to stay until the actual site closes down.

As said above I only do a link exchange if I will get traffic out of it and not because of the PR.

 

Make it fun for example for directory submissions search(hunt) them (google-yahoo) instead of using a list.This way it is better I always wanted to be a fisherman and this way it gives the same pleasure.

 

Better still, pay for someone to do the manual submissions for you. Searching for them maybe fun, but you will find that it will take your probably 5 - 10 times as long as what it would have taken from using an already compiled list of web directories.