|
|  |
|
|
|
| |
| Sep 10, 2007 4:50 pm |
|
re: re: re: re: re: re: Marketing help |
Laura Wheeler
| |
Link building, and link exchanges, aren't necessarily the same thing. Link exchanges CAN be part of it, but rarely are in a well organized campaign... there are simply better ways of doing it. I see link swaps as more of an "opportunistic" thing, than a calculated one.
I use link exchanges, with people I know and trust. I won't refer people to sites I am not familiar with. Many of them provide a resource on my site that helps my clients know that I have their best interests at heart. BUT... I RARELY place those links onto my primary service site. Those that I do are carefully screened, and placed in locations where they really ARE a resource, not a distraction from the page message.
Many of my clients gain an advantage from link exchanges - they are a help to informational sites of all kinds, because they are just another kind of information. The Town of Medicine Bow benefits from links to regional attractions, or area resources, area businesses, etc - it makes the site more valuable as a central resource. The Chamber benefits from similar ones. And most of those links aren't "link exchanges" per-se. They are more "please place our resource on your site", with a reciprocal link if it suits the content of the site in question.
Link exchanges are arguably less useful for service or product sales sites than they are for informational sites.
At any rate, I don't think they are something worth spending a lot of time on. When I get to know someone and their business and mine are complimentary, I'll negotiate a link or ad swap with them if it is mutually advantageous. Otherwise I don't make requests of strangers, or waste my time hunting up "compatible" sites - emails for requests get ignored anyway, and only amateurs or scammers bother doing that anymore.
The ONE exception to that is if you have a regional organization that has credibility just by existing, in which case, there are a series of site types where you can request a link, or offer a trade, and be taken seriously - these are entities like towns, chambers of commerce, county entities, city entities (planning commissions, park districts, etc), or state organizations, etc. And then it pays to keep a listing of other sites in a similar category, because they all work with each other anyway, and they'll always be willing to promote each other if the request is made.
There is a cost to everything. Time, potential lost traffic, money, etc. The cost/benefit equation is different on each issue for each site type, and each revenue generation model. Link exchanges are just one of the things that may tip one way or the other, depending on the site type.
Laura
Mom to Eight
Firelight Business Enterprises, Inc.
http://www.firelightwebstudio.com
http://www.westernhillsinstitute.comPrivate Reply to Laura Wheeler (new win) |
|
| |
|
