Link Directory and Link Exchange Campaign Tool
Many would say the internet began with the hyperlink. A hyperlink
is THE most common method for a person to go from one page to another.
Virtually everything on the internet is based on hyperlinks.
When you first create a site, it is an island. With no links coming
into the site, the only way someone could visit the site is by typing
in the URL. So the first (sometimes overlooked) job is to get some
links coming in from the outside. Once there are a few links coming
in, search engines like Google will then index the page, meaning
it will show up in search results.
For highly competitive keywords and phrases, much more is required.
Probably the biggest determining factor for how high a page will
rank in the search results is the number and quality of links coming
into the site. One way to find out this information for a site is
to use Google. Type “link:” followed by the URL of the
site. Google will only display those pages that have a PageRank
4 or higher. PageRank is determined by the number and PageRank of
sites linking to the page.
The next most important part of Search Engine Optimization is the
page title. This is what appears in the blue bar at the very top
of the browser window. In HTML, it is called the <title> tag.
Many webmasters fail to give each page on their site a unique name.
As a result, search engines fail to index these pages (or rank them
highly). Shopping Carts often have a problem with unique page titles,
because the pages are generated dynamically. By giving each product
and category a unique and descriptive title, you are guaranteed
to have more pages indexed by the search engines, resulting in more
hits to interior pages. Large (well optimized) sites with lots of
products often get more hits to the internal pages than the home
page.
Next is link text. As the name says, link text is the actual text
of the hyperlink. There has been a recent phenomenon called Google
Whacking. People set up a bunch of links with the same link text
pointing to a page. The result is the page ranks highly for the
keywords in the link text. Where possible, it is important to suggest
certain titles for links when running a link campaign. It helps
if the link text also corresponds with the page <title>. In
addition, internal links can also be utilized to optimize the link
text.
Other less important considerations are the text on the page, the
use of Heading tags, and the use of Meta Keyword and Meta Description
tags.
All said, when you search for an important key phrase, it is very
common to see the sites ranked virtually in order by the number
of back links. Try searching for a couple of phrases and then check
the number of links using “link:” in Google for each
of the top 5 sites. It will be easy to see there is clearly a pattern.
So if you have read this far, it should lead you to ask yourself
how you can increase the number of links to your site. The most
common method is to locate sites of similar content to yours and
type an email requesting a link (exchange). It is important to exchange
links with sites of similar content or it could have a diluting
effect or even a penalty from Google. Many people have tried to
use various methods to automate the process, including spiders that
surf for email addresses, creating link clubs, mass email and “free
for all links” pages. The reason for this is nobody wants
to take the time to write the emails and personalize them. There
are many search engine optimization companies who use techniques
that are shaky at best. You have to be extremely careful, because
it is fairly easy to get penalized by Google for attempting to use
trickery.
So the answer is not all that complex. The internet is based on
links. You need to develop a system for getting more links to sites
with similar content. A person needs to be involved in sending emails
to request links (automation is dangerous). The pages of the site
need to be optimized better benefit from the PageRank the links
give you.
I have developed a link directory with built in link exchange features:
Sending the emails
- Create a message to be sent.
- Then enter the site name, url and email of the webmaster
- Click Send
- The email will be personalized with the name of the site you are
requesting the link from using the message you created.
Duplicate Checking
- If you try to send a request to a site that is already in the
link directory or has already been sent a message, you are warned
and given the opportunity to either ignore or cancel.
Import/Export (nearing completion)
- There is a module that allows for importing or exporting the list
of emails that have been sent. This is great if you have more than
one site in the same industry.
Directory Features
- Links divided into categories. Each category has a unique page
title.
- There is a submit form so people can submit a link
- Includes mass duplicate checking
Reporting
- Pick a date range and enter the email address of the customer,
and an email will be dispatched to the customer showing all the
emails that have been sent.
Features coming soon:
- Link counting – view how many times a link has been clicked.
Ability to turn this feature on or off.
- Link Validation – checks to make sure all the links in the
link directory are functioning properly
- Require Reciprocal Link – there will be a space on the link
submission form where the person submitting is required to enter
the URL of the page that is linking to your site. When the form
is submitted, a spider go out and check to make sure there is truly
a link. Ability to turn this feature on or off.
- Statistics – I will be adding statistics showing the number
of links in the directory and the number of emails that have been
sent (in the admin section)
Having done MANY link campaigns, I have developed this tool to
make it a little easier to get links and increase traffic (and sales!)
Please contact me for a free demo!
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