Making your website work smarter...

by Kera McHugh, of somethingelse web+graphics

Linking strategies and when NOT to bother.

Happy Spring to everyone!

It seems to be happening more and more often lately that we will receive friendly little emails, personalized to us, that say "we've linked to your site!" and asking for a link in exchange.

As a webmaster, I am compelled to advise that these link exchanges - in most cases - will do you no service whatsoever. (note... on occasion they may be useful - depends on CONTENT)

These kinds of link exchange requests are not useful to you unless the site requesting the exchange is RELATED to your site somehow. If it's not remotely related to your content, a link exchange will have no impact at all.

Here are some things to consider when deciding if you want to reciprocate:

a) Did you visit the site? Not just the link they say you are listed at, but the main page of the site. (so delete everything after the .com in the url and check that out). From that homepage could you find the page that they say your site is listed on? If you couldn't find it, do you think anyone else will?

b) When considering link exchanges, it's EXTREMELY important that the site in question RELATES to your content and that their link will be useful to YOUR visitors. When search engines spider your site, they look at every link off your site - the ratio of related links to non-related links is calculated and that result is then added into the mix of everything else to determine your index ranking (note: not all search engines use the same formula). If you have a lot of links TO sites that are not related to your own content, you are I) not servicing your visitors with useful information, ii) wasting space

c) Link to CONTENT. Linking to a page full of random links is, frankly, pointless.
The sites you DO choose to link to should have useful content for the visitor. Actual COPY on the pages, or products that relevant to what they're looking for.

d) STAY IN YOUR NICHE. I'm repeating this principle in different ways to help you "get it". Links to other sites must be links to other RELATED sites. Sure it's fine to have a section of links just to "stuff you like" whether it's related or not, but those ones are not going to help your search engine rankings, and in fact, to a small degree may even be detrimental. Your business site is not really an appropriate place to be showcasing links to your favorite gardening site, or puppy breeder, or hairstylist - UNLESS that's your business.

But why send them to the competition???
I know, many of you may be asking that. It's not an unreasonable question.
Here's the thing...

Can you be everything to everyone?
No.

Is every visitor guaranteed to be your perfect client?
No.

Who is your "competition"?
Is there anyone out there who does exactly what you do, the way you do it?
Not likely. (unless you're a franchise, or an agent of a multinational, in which case, you'd have lots of rules to run your website under).

I've said this before, and I'll say it again... If the concept of sending a visitor down the "street" to the "competition" gets your hackles up... go rent the DVD of "Miracle on 34th Street".

I know, it's a fantasy movie... but THE PRINCIPLE REMAINS THE SAME.
It works.
Give people what they want - if you can't give it to them, tell them where they can get it.
They'll remember you. They'll thank you. They'll come back or send their friends when they need what you've got.

So. Where does that leave us with link exchanges?
With a value added service for our visitors.
With a search engine friendly list of external links.
With a list of related resources.
With a useful and valuable strategy for weeding out the junk.

Link exchanges - links, period - are important.
The more RELATIVE links you have on your site, and TO your site, the better chance you have of being well ranked in the search engines, and found by "warm" visitors from other sites.

And that's all I have to say about that. Email me if and when you have questions.

cheers,

kera

PS. I MUST DISCLAIM... I'm not an expert on this stuff. I read about it daily, I try to keep on top of it, and I do my best to sort the wheat from the chaff before I send it to my valued clients. I really recommend hiring a Search Engine Optimization company (SEO) to handle your ranking strategy if it's a high priority for you. They will do a better job for you than I can. The above is simply the BASICS. If you'd don't know how to determine which SEO to hire, I can help you sort through all that wheat too.

Kera is the creator and owner of somethingelse web+graphics in the beautiful Sunshine Coast of Canada. She does everything from websites to print to bring her clients in the speaking and entertainment industries integrated creative promotional materials. In her spare moments, she tends her garden, does a little theatre and is a proud cadet mom to her amazing teenager. Find her online at http://www.time4somethingelse.com
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