Just FYI since there seem to be many who don't get it... This is an e-mail I got this morning for a link exchange. No prizes for the first to guess what vital piece of info is missing. It's not the PR. Also note the misleading subject... Subject: Can I write something for your website? Besides the most obvious omission, it's also nice to know which site of mine they're talking about since I could have 600. If you are going to take the time end effort to ask for link exchanges, just think about what you are trying to accomplish for just 10 seconds and the result will be a lot better than being dumped into the Junk folder.
These are quite common.I have even had them with "I would like to exchange links but I will not tell you the url yet" Don't they realise we are too busy posting here at DP to look into these things
Couldn't agree more. I especially like it when they say "because our sites are related", when I don't own a site which even closely matches their subject
Or when they write 4 paragraphs on the benefits of doing link exchanged, trying to educate me about ranking etc. And all that "you have a fantastic website" bull is wasting time as well. IMO it should be this:
the ones that really bother me are the ones that have already placed a link on their site, then demand a link back ... a couple of days later you get a WARNING that your link will be removed if they do not find their link posted on your site ... then you get a FINAL NOTICE or something like that you link will be removed!!! Save me the pain - remove the link already!
The ones that totally piss me off, aside from the above example, are the ones that say, "I've linked to you ... blah, blah ... if you link back I'll leave the link up otherwise it will be removed ..." Yeah, so what?! I never asked you to link to me in the first place! Stop wasting my time with your crappy junk mail. Try saying, "I've linked to you from (url). I really would appreciate a link back if at all possible. If you could place it on page (url) on your site with the following text, I would appreciate it. (anchor text and description)" End of. It shows they have actually visited the website and it saves me from having to try to categorise it as well. Not only that, but it gives me a choice of whether I want to link or not.
I think people omit the URL because a lot of people report these sort of unsolicited mails as spam. If enough people report your site you can end up in the SURBL.
I don't mind the "I've added a link to you and will remove it if I don't hear from you". Shows to me they do appreciate your site and it actually speeds up the process. Sometimes, when they choose the wording badly it does sound funny/almost threatening but word it well and I don't mind. But yeah, don't send me a warning if I don't participate. Hence my example mentioning the deal will silently be killed if no reply.
I do not often request link exchanges, but I never do so without mentioning who and what I am. More importantly, if available, I always use the forms provided on websites for communicating with site owners. Normally, I do not ask unless they are carrying links for my competitors. That creates a more natural entry point for the email. However, I never place too much hope in such communications. Most website owners treat any request as spam. This was made clear when someone thanked me for taking the time to visit their site and give them a proper response as to why I would not add their link -- which had to do with relevance and not site quality.
these emails are just bulk generated, and the mass mailer does not know what sites you are running ...