Should I avoid redirect links?

Well I have started actively looking for link exchanges
with sites but some of the sites I have seen do not actually
have the domain name in the link.

Instead of the actual site it would be something like
links.php?id=sitename

Which then redirects to the target site when clicked on.

Am I correct to assume that this has less value then a real
link directly to my site?

 

I have always considered those kind of links to be crap when it comes to a good inbound link. However I recently noticed that Yahoo's directory uses a similar tracking script. Does that mean that Yahoo gives crap links?

 

Yahoo!'s links pass PR- that is a fact!

But it is typically a good idea to avoid re-direct links.

 

Finally someone has aswered that question for me. Thanks.

 

yep yep yahoo links pass pr and stay away from re-directed links....

i think yahoos redirect links pass pr because google has classified it as an authority hub... ;-)

 

Thanks for the answer folks.

Nice to find a forum that actual discusses topics instead of just
posting a bunch of ads!

 

If yahoo links pass pr, then wouldn't it be the same with the rest?
Anyway, whatever the case, I think if it is a quality and related site (with traffic), there is no harm doing the exchange. You might be able to get a lot of qualified visitors from that site. What do you all think?

 

Yahoo is not just a link for PR but lots of people still use that directory to find resources on the web.

 

I will tell the site owner that I will exchange links when they get rid of the redirects! It is soooooooo lame when someone comes to you and asks to exchange links but is willing to steal from you by not giving you a real link back.

 

I agree with that. I only make an exception when they are an athority site in the eyes of Google.

 

I agree, I wouldn't exchange with a site that uses redirects. Try asking if they want a link from your site to place a static HTML link elsewhere on theirs

 

Re directed links are almost worthless if you are looking to increase your IBL popularity. It might be usefull if the website is sending visitors to your site regularly, thru that link. Otherwise, try and opt for a simple static html link.

 

Tell me if I'm wrong, but that looks like it would be a 302 Redirect.

 

Correct me if I am wrong but I am pretty sure that very fast 302 redirects using metarefresh are considerered to be a 301 by some search engines such as yahoo.