The Tak Team Blog

Webmasters understand that quality and relevant inbound links can increase site visibility; your search engine rating; and with any luck increase your traffic and revenue.

While working to locate relevant links for our site, we discovered a disturbing practice apparently being used to increase link popularity and search engine ranking. The following are the sorted details of our journey and discovery.

1) Most webmasters understand the hunt for quality relevant sites is, like most things of value in life, a time consuming and difficult task. Being limited on time, we first tried to hire a leading SEO expert to locate relevant links. When the SEO expert did not return emails, we tried a few link exchange sites. While a few good quality links were unearthed, the link exchange sites simply did not offer a large quantity of good relevant sites. After all, our competitors had hundreds of thousands of inbound links and we had less than 900. While tempting, we skipped over the advertisements for traffic as our desire was for prospective customers not traffic.

2) We finally decided on the DIY approach. First step, check current reciprocal links page to insure all was well. A few sites no longer linked to us, so our webmaster links page required a few updates.

3) Next we chose to use Link Popularity Check to locate links that our competitors have, that we perhaps missed. The first thing we noticed was hundreds of inbound links a competitor had, all coming from a few specific sites. Upon visiting the sites, we noticed that one was a “directory” and several others were normal sites that contained very little content. In short, the directory and other sites were nothing a competent webmaster could not create in a day or two.

4) We found it odd the inbound sites all have the same visual look, color scheme, and navigation. Our competitor’s site was also listed in the “Related Resources” area on each and every page. The light bulb suddenly switched on! The inbound sites appeared to have been created for the sole purpose of increasing link popularity and therefore the competitor’s search engine ranking!

5) Ping the four sites to locate the IP addresses. Four different addresses, not in consecutive order. Perhaps we were mistaken.

6) A few mouse clicks to see who owned the domain names of the four sites. All the sites are owned by the same company, are housed at the same ISP, and have the same email address listed for the administrative and technical contact names.

7) A few mouse clicks at Alexa.com to review traffic patterns show the sites have very little traffic, yet all have a PageRank score of 6 or higher. Site traffic is increasing for each.

Nope, it does not appear we were mistaken. It appears a competitor actually created web sites for the sole purchase of increasing his/her link popularity and search engine ranking for their primary business site. To recreate such a process:

* Register a domain name that is tied to your primary sites keyword list. For example, if your primary site sells widgets and has a domain name of Widgets.com, something like “Widget- Directory.com” would be ideal;

* Setup a new hosting account with your ISP, using a different IP address, for Widget-Directory.com;

* Create a few pages that use the keyword list from Widgets.com, then setup a link system that invites webmasters to exchange links. Remember, no need to get carried away with content as the purpose of Widget-Directory is really keyword tie-in and link exchanges;

* Now, code every page of Widget-Directory with a link back to Widget.com;

* Sit back and watch. As webmasters enter their sites and subcategories into Widget-Directory, the results will increase the link quantity and apparently your search engine ranking of Widget-Directory AND Widgets.com.

We were curious to see if this was an isolated incident or a rampant practice. While not rampant, it did not take us long to find others companies utilizing this technique. Is this ethical? I am sure some would argue this is a savvy internet marketing practice, while others will view the practice as repulsive. Ethical or not, this technique is simple, cost effective, and apparently will increase your search engine ranking. One thing is clear, I will never look at directory sites or link exchange pages the same.

Hopefully, the search engine will adjust their algorithms and nullify this practice. In the interim, for those that take a negative PR and/or link exchange hit, remember that honesty builds longevity and lasting relationships. Remember the SEO expert we previously tried to hire? We went back and checked his site, and yes he utilizes the same technique. Odd thing however, his sites no longer enjoys top ratings on the major search engines. Perhaps, the search engines are starting to figure this one out.

1. Offer other web sites free content to post on their web site. Include your link on all of your content. The content should related to your web site because it will be in front of your target audience.

2. When you visit a web site you’ve enjoyed a lot, write a review for the site. Write about the benefits you gain from the web site. Tell them they can publish it on their web site if they link to your web site.

3. Allow other people to publish your e-zine on their web site. Include your web site’s ad and link in each issue you publish. This may also help you increase the number of people that subscribe to your e-zine.

4. Market your web site as a free web book. Design your web site with a title page, table of contents, chapters, etc. Just allow other people to give away the web book by linking to your web site.

5. Give your visitors an instant article directory. Tell your visitors they can instantly add a free article directory to their web site by linking to yours. Just place your ad or banner ad on top of the article directory for your main web site.

6. Allow other web sites to use your discussion board for their web site visitors. Just have them link directly to the discussion board. Include your web sites ad or banner ad at the top of the discussion board.

7. Start a members only web site. Tell visitors what’s in your members only site and what it costs to gain access. Offer them a free membership if, in exchange, they link to your web site.

8. Offer your visitors a free sign up to your affiliate program. Pay them commission to sell your products or services. Just give them an affiliate link to track their sales. People will link to your web site to make extra money.

9. Create your own award site for other web sites. Give the winners a graphic or text link to place on their web site when they win. This will link your web site to theirs and draw more traffic to your web site.

10. Are you an expert on a particular subject? Offer people free consulting via e-mail if, in exchange, they either link to your site. People will consider this a huge value because consulting fees can be very expensive.

11. When you purchase a product and it exceeds your expectations e-mail the business a testimonial. Make sure your statement is detailed. Give them permission to publish it on their web site if they link to your site.

12. Create a directory of web sites on a specific topic. Give people the option of adding the directory to their web site by linking to it. Put your business ad at the top of the directory’s home page.

13. Exchange content with other web sites. You could trade articles, top ten lists, etc. Both parties could include a resource box at the end of the content.

14. Allow people to download software at no charge from your web site, if they link to your web site. The software could be freeware, shareware or demos.

15. Trade other forms of advertising to people that link to your web site. You could trade e-zine ads, print ads, autoresponder ads, classified ads, ebook ads, etc.

16. Give away web space to people for free. Since you are giving it away for free, request they link to your site by placing your ad or banner to the site.

17. Join or create a web ring. A web ring is a group of web sites on a similar subject agreeing to link together. To find a web ring to join type keywords “web rings” into your search engine of choice.

18. Create an online club or association. Tell your visitors what’s included in the membership and what it costs to join. Offer them a free membership if, in exchange, they link to your web site.

19. Allow people to use an online service or utilities from your web site if, in exchange, they link to your web site. The online service could be an e-mail account, search engine submission, web page design, copywriting, proofreading, etc.

20. Offer a free e-book to your web site visitors. The ebook should be related to your target audience. Allow them to give the e-book to their own web site visitors by linking directly to your web site.

I’ve been engaging in reciprocal linking with other websites for some time. I’ve always been aware that a single incoming link from a high PR website is worth far more than many links from low PR websites (the actual ratio is known only to God). I’ve also always been aware, at least over the last couple of years, that incoming links from non-relevant websites is not only valueless but can, in fact, have a negative effect on your Search Engine ranking (*as opposed to PR).

I’ve written previous articles about linking, one or two of which have been specifically about the practice of requesting and accepting links from anybody and everybody. However, I’ve never been armed with any ‘hard evidence’ with which to support my plea for some sensible thought about the way in which some people handle their linking practices. This time around, I have this little offering from Google, the people who are responsible for the whole ‘PR’ caboodle.

“How is PR effected if you have text links on a page that is irrelevant to the website? Links from a non-related site will still pass PR, but will have little or no effect on the SERPs. Too many of these might even have a negative effect on SERPs. Remember, PR matters when all other things are equal, but that is never the case. You are much better off getting back links from a relevant PR4 page (and site) with targeted anchor text than getting back links from an irrelevant PR6.” - Ref: http://www.prlookup.com/faq.htm

There you go. You may not have heard it here first, but it is out of ‘the horse mouth’, so to speak. I don’t know how long this particular piece of information has been available at Google for all to see (I don’t spend much time in Google’s ’support’ pages) but it’s there now and I hope that it becomes common knowledge very quickly.

To some it may not be a revelation. It won’t be of any great concern either, because like many, they have always been a little particular about the ‘relevance’ of the websites from which they accept or request reciprocal (or incoming only) links. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about being ‘tight’ or ‘mean’ about linking with lower PR websites. I have always agreed to link with any website that has relevant content. Provided the website has the same (or related) subject matter, I don’t care about the PR.

You see, that’s what it’s supposed to be about - supplying worthwhile links and even alternatives to your users and making your website available to users of other related websites. How is this purpose served by supplying users with links to (and accepting links from) totally unrelated material? Google, along with the rest of us, tends to think there is no purpose served at all, hence the possibility of negative effect on your SE rankings for thinking otherwise.

I know there are many thousands of websites, which use software to manage their ‘Linking Programs’. Some of this software is ‘automated’ and allows links from anyone who is willing to fill in a form and post a link to their website first. This type of ‘Linking Program’ has turned many websites into ‘Mini Directories’, with pages of categorized links which have absolutely nothing to do with the theme of the website whatsoever.

What good is a high PR if it doesn’t help your SE rankings, or even hurts them?

I know this will be disappointing for those who have spent money on these facilities (especially recently), as well as those who have had them installed for some time. I feel for those who have been doing what they have thought to be, or have been advised is the right thing to do. But I’m sorry, it’s very clear, judging by Google’s own advice, that these programs have been in the very least, achieving nothing for the SE rankings by collecting so many irrelevant links and it’s also possible that in so doing, they have been “tying a millstone around your necks” and your website may well have been penalized for it.

That’s not to say that the programs have somehow not done their job. I believe they are for the purpose of improving ‘link popularity’, and this is exactly what they have done. However, link popularity ALONE is not a consideration in the SE ranking algorithms when the PR has been established with unrelated links. Remember - “Links from a non-related site will still pass PR, but will have little or no effect on the SERPs”.

Every day, I still get emails requesting a reciprocal link from an unrelated website, in which the sender informs me that “reciprocal linking is a very effective way to increase your website’s PR and SE rankings”. I hope now that we can all realize and agree that when it comes to linking for the purpose of improving SE rankings, it only works if it’s done properly. This means, as with everything else, there is no quick way and no ‘automated’ answer. You have to check each website that you are considering linking to, in order to ascertain if it’s relevant and consequently, of value to your users (and your site to it’s users) and the Search Engines.

I wonder if there’s a software program that can quickly and effortlessly remove incoming links from unrelated sites? I seriously doubt it, considering it would involve removing content from websites belonging to others. I feel that for most, this will be the most difficult problem to deal with as once they are there, they are there to stay. How do you undo so much hard work?

When shopping online for Link Management Software that can help create and automate your links directory, some important features that you should look for are as follows:

Create the links page based on your own template.

Allow addition or removal of links at the click of a button and have the links page rebuilt.

Allow webmasters to submit their site.

Notify you when a webmaster has submitted their site and give you the option of accepting or rejecting their submission.

Automatically check whether link partners linked back to you.

Help to automate the process of finding new partners.

Be easy to install.

The key to success for a website or online business is good search engine ranking. All of the major search engines use link popularity to determine how well a site will rank so the more high quality, relevant links that lead to your site, the higher it will rank. LinkMachine makes it easy to get the links you need .

LinkMachine is a link exchange management software that makes it easy to find and contact quality link partners, generate custom link pages that match your site, and keep track of reciprocal links. LinkMachine automatically updates your link pages the instant they’re changed - no uploading required. Link exchanges increase a site’s targeted traffic, search engine ranking, and sales

LinkMachine finds hundreds of popular, relevant sites to potentially exchange links with. Invite the webmasters of these sites to exchange links, using LinkMachine’s fast e-mail templates. Generate custom link pages that perfectly match the look of your site. And keep track of each reciprocal link to your site.

LinkMachine is a Php application that runs on your web server. So it can automatically update your link pages the moment a change is made - no need to upload files each time a new link is added.

Non-Reciprocal Link Building For Higher Search Engine Positioning By Dave Davies, Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning, Inc.

It’s no SEO secret that inbound links to your site are an important part of any complete search engine positioning strategy. You’ve undoubtedly received numerous emails touting the benefits of exchanging links with other websites. Provided that the sites are related, reciprocal linking can definitely help you in your quest for higher rankings however, establishing quality non-reciprocal links to your website will provide added weight and many of the tactics used in developing these links have built-in relevancy.

There are two main advantages to non-reciprocal links as opposed to reciprocal links. The first is that these links will hold more weight, as they aren’t reciprocated (the search engines can detect whether links are reciprocal). The second advantage is that they don’t have to be monitored as closely as reciprocal links. With reciprocal links one has to be aware of unethical webmasters who will take links down or use other tactics to insure that the search engines don’t see the links pages. You have to be aware of these events so that you can remove their links from your site if warranted however with non-reciprocal links you don’t have to be as concerned as you’re not linking to them.

These are far from the only benefits of non-reciprocal link building but they are two of the most beneficial for your site and for you as its webmaster. But how do you get something for nothing? Why would someone want to link to you in exchange for no links back? Keep in mind the acronym TANSTAAFL (There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch). In short, you’re not going to get something for nothing but it’s well worth the “something” you’ll have to put in.

So non-reciprocal links are beneficial to your search engine positioning campaign … but how do you do it? There are a number of tactics that will work. Here are a few of the more successful:

Write Good Content It’s shocking but some people will actually link to your site because it is a valuable resource that their visitors may find interesting or useful. The search engines initially gave incoming links value based on the belief that sites with incoming links tended to be sites that others find worth linking to. People actually linked to sites simply because they found the content useful. Believe it or not this practice still exists today.

If you have a quality site with great content, preferably updated regularly, others in your industry should naturally link to you. It’s also appropriate to ask other webmasters to link to your site either through direct contact or by posting a page on your site, which provides images and/or link details. If you get even one link out of your efforts it was worth the 5 or so minutes it should take to put up the page.

Directory Listings Provided that you’re willing to invest a bit of time and money, directory listings are probably the easiest way to get non-reciprocal links. Provided that you’re site has some value to it and is not offensive, most directories will list it though usually there is a “review fee” involved.

There are the well know directories such as the Yahoo! Directory (http://dir.yahoo.com/) however you may find that the price tag for a guaranteed review from Yahoo! at $299 to be a bit more than you wanted to spend for a single listing. Another “major player” in the directory world is the Open Directory Project (or DMOZ) (http://www.dmoz.org/) however you may find that with volunteer editors, your site can take many months to get listed, if at all.

Fortunately there are many “secondary” directories and there are also literally thousands of topic-specific directories that can provide valuable listings. In fact, topic-specific directory listings can in many ways be considered more valuable in that the link to your site is entirely relevant and also, you should get some quality targeted traffic from your listing provided that the directory itself ranks well.

How much you should pay for a specific listing is debatable depending on the industry, the value of the link, etc. however topical directory listings are usually somewhere around $30-$100/yr in the majority of cases. If your link will be placed on a page with a good PageRank and will fewer than 50 or so other sites it is worth considering.

Article Submissions As you’re reading this article you should certainly be able to infer that I personally am a fan of writing articles as a form of non-reciprocal link building. Articles provide perhaps the best of all worlds in that they provide valuable and entirely relevant links and also can be a great source of targeted traffic.

That said, articles are also the most time consuming of link building efforts. One must consider the time it takes to write the article, find sites to publish it and also the submission of the articles to all these sites. As a tip, when you find sites you wish to submit your article to add them to a folder in your “Favorites” (or “Bookmarks” for those of us using Firefox). If you decide to publish more articles in the future (and you probably will) it’s certainly helpful to start with a list of the places you’re submitting to rather than having to find them all again down the road.

When you’re writing your article there are a few considerations that you should make. One of the biggest benefits of articles as a link building measure is that the links are relevant in that they are about the topic of your site. Why not insure that your titles and content are written such that they add further weight for your targeted keywords. If you look at the title of this article “Non-Reciprocal Link Building For Higher Search Engine Positioning” you’ll notice that the phrase “search engine positioning” (our main targeted phrase) is present. Additionally the phrase is repeated periodically in the content area. This will add relevancy to this article and our targeted phrase. If you look in the credits below you’ll notice that the anchor text linking to our site is “Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning” (assuming that the site on which you are reading this article allowed for HTML submissions otherwise the link should simply be the http format). This will add additional relevancy tying that phrase to our site.

Because the Beanstalk website is still in the sandbox on Google it is unable to rank for this highly competitive phrase however you may notice that currently the #11 ranking page is one of our articles. This alone should demonstrate that these articles can pick up relevancy. Once Beanstalk is out of the sandbox on Google we will have many highly relevancy links that are strong enough to rank #11 on their own. You can do the same provided that you treat writing your articles the same as your content. It must contain your targeted keywords and it must read well.

Additionally, you are going to want to search for many related websites to submit to. You can visit the search engines themselves to find related sites (in our case we would run a search such as “search engine positioning articles submit”) or you can use a program like PR Prowler (http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/resources/recommended/pr-prowler.ht m) to find the links and also insure a minimum PageRank on the sites you are submitting to.

If you decide to publish more than one article I would further recommend that you add to your list with each submission. Take a few minutes before you submit and find an additional 5+ sites to submit your articles to. You’ll find your link popularity and rankings will reward you for it.

Summary Of course there are many additional tactics you can use to get non-reciprocal links including paid links, press releases, etc. however those noted above are the ones which will produce the most consistently over time and while they can be time consuming, are well worth the effort.

I wish you the very best of luck in developing your non-reciprocal links and in increasing your search engine positioning. It will take time; it will take energy; but done right it will be very rewarding.

Dave Davies is the CEO of Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning (http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/). He has been optimizing and ranking websites for over three years and has a solid history of success. Dave is available to answer any questions that you may have about your website and how to get it into the top positions on the major search engines. To keep informed about what going on in the SEO world you may also want to visit the newly created SEO blog (http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/blog/) on the Beanstalk website.

What is a one way link(s) and how can it help your websites ranking, increase link popularity and help you climb up the search engine result pages.

1 way link text links or incoming links are the links that points to your websites from another website. When you have a one way link(s), it means that you have a incoming link(s) pointed toward your website and on your website you do not have a outbound link pointed toward that website or web page which the link is coming from. Unless you are a skilled marketer or your website is very popular with a lot of people it will be hard to build one way links. Reason is that many webmaster don’t want to just include your link to their site, they want you to link to their site(s) as well, and when that happens that link doesn’t factor as strong with the search engines as well as it would if it was just a inbound link.

That was just the basic introduction to 1 way link(s), but as long as you understand what we covered so far, you will be able to improve your website page rank if you follow some or all of the six steps outlined below. Note not all of them will be free, but if you believe in your website or what you are offering than you will do what you have to do to get visitors to your website. Remember sometimes it takes money to make money.

Step 1:

Start searching on the net for FFA pages (Free For All pages) when you find them submit your site to the one that has to do with your website content, categories or which every one you thinks will bring you the most highly target traffic to your website. Also search for Classified ads websites or message boards and post your links on there as well. This will start to be very time consuming, but it will pay off in the end if done right.

Step 2:

If you have two or more websites then you can link from one website to another, (incoming) but don’t link to the other website( No outbound link). Or you can go to forums and ask to trade links. But this won’t be your usual link trade. There is more to gain when doing it this way.

This is how you would write the Forum Post.

Example.. Topic- Free 1 way text link to your website. Description: I have two websites and I am looking to increase my page ranking and link popularity. I will use one website to link to your website giving you a one way link, providing that you link your website to my other site thus giving me a one way link from you. We will both benefit. If you are interested than email me here at your-email@.freehomebizresource.com.(http://www.freehomebizresour ce.com is our website, by the way). That’s how you would write a simple post and believe me you will generated a lot of interest.

Step 3:

Do search online for the top 3 keywords that best describe your website. Next email or call the top 10 websites that shows up in the page result and ask them how much will it cost for them to link to your site. (note: this is where the money comes in,) Quick tip: if they agree. Before you pay them do a alexa ranking on them to see how much traffic they are getting. Also (IMPORTANT) the page that your link will be posted on, make sure it doesn’t have more than 20 outbound links on it. Try to get a home page link if applicable. (it will cost you though.) we offer (home page) 1 way text links on our website: http://freehomebizresource.com

Step 4:

Use a link broker. Link brokers supply you with websites that are willing to link to your website for a fee. This is how to find a Link Broker, do a search online . Use the following keywords: text links, text link advertising, seo, text link ads, sell links, text link, link buying, buy links, links, optimization, search engine optimization, search engine placement, search engine marketing firm, search engine ranking, search engine marketing, search engine optimization services, internet marketing, seo, search engine optimization company, search engine optimization firm. Choose the top 5 or 10 (depending on how much time or research you are willing to do) from each keyword, research them, and then use their services to improve your link ranking and page rank. Remember make sure they offer the websites statistic of which you might be adding your link to. Also do your own research make sure the site they offer fits your categories or niche market and will bring you the most highly targeted traffic. Also is in good taste.

Step 5: Write articles . Make sure to write articles about a subject that you know well. It is not hard to write an article, there are millions of articles out there on writing articles on the internet. Remember if your articles is well liked and get publish in Ezines, websites, or even Ebooks then you will receive a lot of 1 way text links coming towards you for free, thus sending your incoming links up and up. don’t forget to add your site url. Tip don’t make the article about your website, it won’t get publish by people or websites. Trust me.

Step 6:

Once you have websites linking to your site, make sure to get email them and get the link address of where your article is being publish or where the text link is displayed. When you get that url from them, submit it to search engines so that page link can be crawled and increase your link popularity.

That’s it for this beginners course, if you want for info on 1-way Links, S.E.O tips and more Home Business, or Home Based Business Opportunities then feel free to visit one of our two websites to view more articles. We have more in depth articles and tips about this subject matter and many more available to for you to read, share or view on our websites.

Don’t be fooled into believing that all backlinks are created equal because their not! Why, you may ask? It’s no secret that many webmasters trade links left, and right, for the benefit of a higher ranking in the search results, but search engines have caught on to this technique, and are very aware that this is major threat to the relevance of the search results.

Search engines such as Google have took steps in an effort to prevent this from becoming major problem by placing more importance on one way backlinks. So, how do you get one way backlinks to your web site? Well, there are number of ways to go about this, but the most effective techniques are listed below.

1) Having a useful, and valuable web site, especially if your web site is free, (Such as providing articles, tools, games, and software.) will cause other web sites to link to your web site. Why? Because by linking to useful, and unique web sites offer value to their own web site’s visitors, and therefor increases their own value. This one can take while to really pay off because like all new web sites, you won’t get much traffic.

2) Getting listed in directories, especially related ones, won’t only bring you tons of traffic, but will also improve your search engine ranking. The two most important directories to get listed in are the ODP (Otherwise known DMOZ), and Yahoo’s directory. You can also find directories that are related to your web site by searching with your favorite search engine with your keyword, and adding at the end resource or directory.

3) Writing articles, and submitting them to Ezines, and article directories, which are than picked up by webmasters looking to add content to their own web site, which will get you tons of one way backlinks. You can also find web sites that are related to yours, and ask them to publish your articles. When writing these articles make sure they are related to your web site, so that the link will appear more relevant to your web site’s theme to the search engines.

4) Write a unique testimonial for products, or services, and put a link to your URL in it. Many webmasters will accept the deal because this will cause more visitors to buy their products, or services. If they decide to publish your testimonial you’ll get a free backlink to your web site. Before you write the testimonial make sure you understand the product.

5) Participate in forums that are related to your web site’s subject, which also allow you to link to your web site in the signature, make sure to read the rules first though. They will send you visitors that are interested in your web site, and will provide a related backlink to your web site.

6) Anytime you first start a web site, add a new product or service to your web site write a press release about it. Submit your press releases to news sites such as PRWeb. Make sure that the press release is attention grabbing, and unique, this will make other webmasters add the press release to their web site.

Reciprocal linking scams have increased immensely during the past year. Initially we thought that this problem only related to gambling and casino related websites but an audit of our commercial link partners suggests that it is a serious problem within the broader online community.

Over the past eighteen months, we noticed that our page rank was slowly declining despite the fact that we were continually adding new link partners to our link directory. We had slipped from a five down to a two before we finally identified the exact cause of the problem. Out of the first 100 links on our anchor site, only seven were still being reciprocated.

We recrawled the sites where no link was found with the second spider and got exactly the same result. Then we started manually checking the sites where no link back was found and started discovering patterns of deliberate link fraud.

The scams in order of popularity amongst the scammers

1. The link on the home page to the link directory remained but clicking on it or specific directory links produced a template style page with a few casino banners or simply a page with no directory content - This scam was most popular with the owners of multiple domains with the .co.za and .co.uk suffixes

2. The link on the home page to the link directory remained but clicking on gambling or casino related links returned a list of links to sites owned solely by the same person or company. The worst offenders in this group preferred domain extensions of .biz, .us and .md

3. The link directory index page remained but the link directory had been severely pruned and most remaining links were to the site owners other sites or to casinos. This one is common across all suffixes.

4. Links not clickable - links to the directory and various pages within the directory remained intact. At the time of their link exchange campaign, their links were clickable but at some stage after that the code that makes the link clickable was removed and the site name was placed in bold text so at a glance it appeared to be a legitimate clickable link. This scam is most favored by sites that place a miniature screen shot of the index page of your site beside your back link.

5. A variation of the previous scam. When you run your mouse pointer over the page, the ‘links’ change color but no URL displays in the search bar at the bottom of your browser window. Right click has been disabled on the page so that most people looking at the page cannot see the code. If you use Dreamweaver MX or later, highlight the part of the page you want to look at and then using Control C copy it to the clip board and then use Control V to paste it into the design side of a basic Dreamweaver page. When you click on code you can see what they were attempting to stop you seeing. It may work in the later versions of similar authoring programs. Worst offenders are a poker room and a media company operating out of India.

6. One way link exchanges - usually you are contacted by a search engine optimization company or the SEO person for a large group of websites offering you multiple one way link exchanges with half of their sites if you will link back to the other half of their sites. After a few weeks or months the links to your sites are deleted. The worst offender in this group is a prominent search engine optimization company located in India.

7. Your link starts out on a page with fair page rank usually attached to a domain with high page rank. But after a few weeks is moved to a boon docks page with no page rank that will never be indexed. - common amongst higher PR sites.

8. The link directory is on another domain with no page rank. When you click on the link to the directory on the home page, always watch the bar in the bottom of your browser window and see that the link you clicked is in fact on the domain with which you are exchanging links - watch especially for domain names that are very similar e.g. one letter different in the spelling or a .net instead of a .com and link pages that are hosted on the domain of a link management company. Also watch for redirects. If suspicious go back and click the link again. Often the redirected URL flashes up for only an instant or it just takes an inordinate time for the page to load compared to other pages on the site. If in doubt search for a site map - very popular with some owners of multiple bingo sites. 9. Sub domains of domains with no page rank. Sub domains are supposed to always rank lower than the parent domain. (Of late I have found a few sub domains with up to PR3 attached to a domain with no page rank) If the parent domain has a page rank of zero then link pages attached to that sub domain will almost always be zero so why trade a good link for a dud link?

10. We have never fallen for any in this group but many novice webmasters do so regularly. Beware of high PR sites offering you a link exchange on one of their inconsequential internal pages with the same PR as your index page in return for you placing a graphic link to their index page on your index page. This is a deliberate attempt to steal your hard earned traffic. A variation of this one is they have a number of new sites listed on their index page each month and visitors are encouraged to vote for the site they consider to be the best and you are asked to ask your visitors to vote for your site at the high ranked domain. The purpose is still the same as in the first example in this group.

11. We no longer trade links with sites using Linksmanager unless the link to our site is to be on a hard coded page. You can search in their search box for their link to your site and if they are still linking to you, your URL and site description will be returned but no information to show which page your link is on. Google usually indexes only a few pages in each category of dynamically generated link directories. If your link has not been added to an indexed page, it is unlikely to ever end up on one. When we had a large number of indexed back links, no link manager links were ever returned in a back link querry. 12. Be wary of link exchange requests from webmasters using anonymous e-mail addresses because when they delete your back link they also delete the anonymous e-mail address.

13. Beware of webmasters with PR 5 or above sites offering you a ‘link exchange with a high PR site’ and an inspection of their link directory suggests that your link will end up on a non indexed page i.e. a useless link that is unlikely to ever improve. If the link exchange was with a PR 2 or 3 site there is at least reasonable potential for the PR of the page to increase if the link directory has been fairly constructed.

Reduce exposure to link scams To reduce your exposure to such scams it is essential to carefully vet all potential link partners in the first instance. Enter link back partner details in a database. As an absolute minimum, enter their URL, the location of the link back on their site, the page rank of the page on which your link is located, the date of the link exchange and a real e-mail address for the contact person.

Use a good link checking program monthly and contact offenders as soon as you find your link is missing from their site. This is now essential to keep link partners honest. This problem is a direct consequence of the current page rank system and fierce competition for top rankings. It is easier to retain existing link partners than to continually find new ones. Points to look for when Assessing Potential Link Partners

Before trading links, look carefully at the other site -

1. If there is no link to the link directory on the index page -Reject - you will get no traffic from that site.

2. Look at the structure of their link directory and count the number of clicks from their index page to where their link to you is likely to be located and then deduct that number from the PR of the site’s index page. If that page is PR3 and there are three clicks to get to the page on which your link will be located, that page will have a PR0. That link will be worthless unless the site gets a minimum of a PR4.

3. If you have not already done so, download Google’s tool bar. If the page rank bar is grayed out, when you are looking at a site, never trade links with that site. The grey bar is said to indicate that the site is banned by Google. I do not know if that is true but I have only ever seen two sites produce grey bars. 4. A growing number of sites with dynamically generated link directories have no page rank on any link pages even though the directories are often constructed in such a way that you would expect the page to rank to be 2 points below the home page. I do not know how most are achieving this. The visible way is to have multiple folders and index pages leading to the links pages and the number of clicks from the home page destroys any potential page rank for the link page. A rare method is to add a no index command for the link directory in their robots.txt file. Just remember links to such sites are one way links from your site to their site. You give them a good link and they give you a worthless link. A link on a page with a PR0 is a non indexed link and carries no value regardless of the page rank of the index page of the site to which it is attached. When you do a back link check on your domain in Google, you will notice that very few links to your domain that are on Google indexed pages with a PR of less than four are returned in your list of back links. This is why I and others consider that Google now discounts the value of such links. For indexed pages, count the number of links on the page. The first factor in determining the value of the link is the page rank of the page on which it is located. The second factor is the number of links on the page. The value of the link to you is roughly the page PR divided by the number of links. Of course no one outside of a chosen few at Google knows the actual formula but that is a rough approximation and the reason most webmasters will not trade links with sites with more than 40 links to a page unless the page has a very high PR. A link on the bottom of a good content page is always better value than a link on a directory page as more people are likely to click on it. When on the receiving end of a link exchange request, do not hesitate to ask for your link to be placed on a specific page and do not hesitate to reject link requests from sites that do not adhere to basic acceptable linking practices.

When considering link requests from new sites, look at any other sites that belong to or have been built by the webmaster proposing the link exchange. Most importantly, look to see if existing link pages have been indexed and the structure of the directory. This will be a good indicator of what to expect for the new site.

When you create your own link directory, consider a hand edited directory with the links at the same level as the rest of the pages on your site. That way your link pages will be only one point below your index page and you will attract more link requests because of that.

Many high PR sites will not trade links with you unless you can place their link back on a minimum of a PR4 page. That way you can start shooting for the top once your index page makes a 5 as opposed to a 7 with the way many link directories are set up.

When you are shooting for the top, it helps you get those high pr links you need to make it to the top.

A web directory is a internet web page consisting of categorized links to other web pages. They specialize in linking to other web sites and categorizing those links. Web directories often allow site owners to submit their site for inclusion. One such web directory is http://directory.google.com/. Some sites may offer up to 30,000 different categories. Links provided may be pure HTML- no CGI or PHP. SEO (search engine optimization), friendly links are considered better then other links and help you increase the popularity of your page, in terms of the page rank. The most critical factor effecting the success or failure of a site is its link building. Most well known sites have an exhaustive list of categories and allow for the best category fit.

What these web sites follow is the most effective way of online marketing- Link Building. Link building is somewhat like word of mouth marketing. When a trusted site links itself to yours, it sure acts as a positive recommendation for your site. This is the way linking works. A well synchronized and linking strategy will surely bring in a regular stream of qualified prospects to your site. This not only raises your profile but also boosts your search engine ratings. Linking is another avenue in online marketing, capable of boosting your business without costing you a fortune. Linking can be started from any site, portal, blog etc, and all have a tremendous potential of driving your business to new heights. Though linking can be started through individual efforts, but those looking for sure results in real quick time for their business, they can help themselves by taking the services of professional link building. Linking is not only about having the maximum number of links on the World Wide Web, but rather about the maximum number of effective links, Links that shall bring in more business.

The following categories are the most common for any directory catering to people in general by means of providing links:

Arts (television, music, movies), Business (investing, real estate, employment), Computers (software, hardware n internet), Games (Video games, gambling, role-playing), Health (fitness, medicine, alternatives), Home (consumer information, Family, cooking), Kids and Teens (teen life, school time, arts), News(weather, newspaper, media) Recreation (humor outdoors, food, travel etc), Reference (libraries, maps, education) Regional (Europe, Canada, UK, US…), Science (biology, physics psychology), Shopping (clothing, gifts, autos), Society (people, issues, religion, and spirituality etc), Sports (basketball, baseball, golf etc).

The working for the web directories is not very complex. Users are guided through a series of options pertaining to every option as given on the main page. For e.g.: Business: News and media: Book Reviews if as a typical line of search you follow, you shall be taken to the sites short-listed sites, according to the preferences you have. The above e.g. shall give you results like the following

• XYZ News Business Index - Business news and commentary articles. • 123 Asset Management - Information about various asset management categories. • ABC Business - Information on setting up in business, managing your money, personal finances and making the right career move.

The above three results shall be links to the sites which the directory feels is most appropriate for you search. Thus similarly, other searches aid you in short listing or reaching the sites for your search.

When trying to optimize your website, you will need to gather all the information about the few visitors that you now have. This will help you make improvements to your site and increase your traffic. One of the best ways to gather this statistical data is through the use of a counter.

Some of you may not know that dropping a counter onto each page of your website will not only show you the number of hits to that page, but also logs tidbits of important information too.

The following is a list of some of the data that is collected from a stat-counter.

Screen Resolution:

Knowing the screen resolution tells you how the majority of visitors view your web pages. For example: If your design is based around 800 x 600 screen resolution, and the majority of you visitors use a 1024 x 768 resolution, you may want to redesign your layout.

Keyword:

If a visitor was directed to your site by a search engine, then knowing the search term used will help in optimizing your page around important keywords relevant to you sites topic.

Length Of Visit:

This is important that if everyone is showing up to your site, but doesn’t seem to stay, then check for slow loading of you page or some other reason that might turn away visitors.

Enter-Page/ Exit-Page

If your visitors are leaving from the same page they first come to, then you will need to figure out why they are not visiting other pages. Maybe the links to the other pages are hidden by are too small or non-descriptive.

Returning Visitors:

This will help you determine which pages your visitors find important. You can then concentrate more effort on those topics.

There are many more tidbits of statistical data a stat-counter can provide, and best of all you can get them for free. Theses services are provided for the benefit of building back links, and in hopes to sell you upgrades.

If you think that a counter looks tacky, you have the option to make it invisible. This will still enable you to collect important statistical data without your visitors seeing the counter itself.

So if your serious about getting more traffic, you must first learn all you can from the traffic you already have, and a free stat-counter is one of the best places to start.