Is there a set of rules for what you can or cannot say in an email requesting to exchange links with another site? I obviously want to make my emails as inticing as possible, but i dont want to email the wrong guy that may decide report me for manipulating the system only to find out that i crossed some line with Google and they can me. Any advice?
I'd be interested to know as well, I often offer to trade links or just ask for a link because our sites are similar (especially if they have a link section). But no one has ever taken me up on the offer. So, I must be doing something wrong, or it must be very difficult to get links this way.
general rules i use are, make the reciver believe that there site is special, tell them why they should link to you, tell them how good your site is, tell them a bit about link popularity and have good manners.
Do people actually get a lot of response from these types of emails? I just ignore them and I do get quite a few that I'm pretty sure aren't bots.
How is a link exchange request "manipulating the system" - for traffic and SEO purpouses, link exchanges are most effective between relevant sites, it's only natural to link up with related sites. Maybe I misunderstood your intent of the exchange.
I think when you send unsolicted email you are required to provide a unsubribe link and also contact information ie Mailing address
Isn't link exchange via email the oldest way and most original method to exchange links? Geez, back in my day.
I like emails asking for link exchange specially if they are from genuine and related parties. Most of the webmasters are looking for getting links,links and links. So it should not hurt to open an email asking for a link
Usually a short and to the point email for link exchange brings more positive results. I used to send out long mails giving all the link details. The conversion wasnt good. Then i converted to shorter mails and the ratio improved dramatically. IMO what you say or donot say doesnot matter as long the other party is also looking for a link.
I can tell you what immediately gets binned from my mailboxes: "I've added your link. Add mine or yours will be taken down within xx hours". {boo hoo! please don't take my link down. Yeah, right! Like I care} "I visited your site and think it looks great ... blah, blah. Visit url.123.456, register, list your site and then we'll add your link" {wtf!? Do your own work, idle webmaster! And while you're at it: gfu!} "I've visited your site and it's fabulous. I've added your link to {whatever page}. As you know, reciprocal linking is beneficial to both our sites ... {yawn} What I do consider, link-wise, is if somebody says; "I've linked to your site from mine {page} because I feel it would be of interest to my readers. Although not required, a link back would be appreciated {anchor text and description}.