Strategic
Linking for Success
by Bob Cortez
The only thing is, hardly anyone gives much real thought to
the basic ingredient of selling by mail - the writing of profitable
classified ads. If your mail order business is to succeed, then
you must acquire the expertise of writing classified ads that
sell your product or services!
As getting a good (top 20) listing in the major search engines
and directories becomes increasingly difficult, having a good
base of incoming links from other web sites will become proportionately
important. Some search engines will even rank you higher based
on the number of incoming links that your site has, providing
a dual benefit. If these two reasons aren't enough to convince
you to start a strategic linking program today, then consider
these:
Quality
links provide a valuable resource that visitors appreciate
and give them a reason to return often.
Quality
links tell visitors that you are well known and respected
by others in your area of expertise.
Quality
links carry on the traditions that the Internet was built
on, the free exchange of knowledge, resources, and information.
Quality
links carry on the traditions that the Internet was built
on, the free exchange of knowledge, resources, and information.
Do
these reasons outweigh the reasons not to link to others? Excuse
number one why not to link to other sites, "Links just open
the door for visitors to leave my site and that is a sale lost".
If that visitor wasn't convinced enough to buy and was just
researching the market, they would leave anyway. The only way
you can receive a benefit from a visitor leaving is through
a reciprocal link of one form or another. The reason we call
them visitors is because they all leave at one point or another,
with or without our product. If they leave without our product,
isn't it better that they leave via a route that provides us
a benefit? Excuse number two: "I don't want to be bothered with
having to check to see if my link is up at the other site."
If your links are well chosen and well executed in the beginning
then this isn't a problem. Sure you may lose a link once in
awhile, but it shouldn't be that big of a deal, because you
are still adding value to your visitors and that is important
too.
There is a variety of forms for exchanging links. From the least
effective free-for-all, to the most effective content provider.
Links can be banners or text. They may lead to a site, an email
address, or an auto responder. In exchange, you could receive
any of these in return. You could choose to use one or all of
these methods depending on your needs and the needs of the other
site. You can just list them randomly, first in, alphabetically,
placed in a searchable directory, or spread throughout your
site. Choose the method that works best for your product and
your presentation. I currently use all of these forms of link
exchanges at both of my sites.
http://athome.hypermart.net
and
http://www.ptialaska.net/~cortez/.
Who are you going to target for link partners? Think first in
terms of what would be of value to your visitors. Where do you
go for information and resources? Who are your suppliers? Who
offers a product that compliments yours? Who are your competitors?
Yes, I said competitors. Here is why:
If
you are offering a quality product, competitively priced,
you will help close the deal with your customer by providing
them the information they need to make a decision.
If
they are researching options, they will probably find your
competition anyway (may as well get a link in return).
It
makes good business sense to have good relationships with
your competition. If you can't help a customer because you
are too busy, or their requirements don't fit yours for
whatever reason, it never hurts to have a place that you
can refer them to. It is also beneficial to be able to just
have someone in the same field that you can share ideas,
problems, or vent a little steam when things are frustrating.
I suggest you approach looking for link partners the same way
you approach looking for customers. Be very specific in what
you are looking for, and what you have to offer. Constantly
watch for and be open to opportunities to link with sites.
I was doing some research for a potential client and came across
Senior Search: http://www.seniorssearch.com. They have a directory
of web sites particularly for the over 50 age group. I never
thought of that as a primary target for my services, but it
has turned out to be one of my leading link traffic generators
and all that it has cost me is a button on my site and about
10 minutes of my time. I am constantly looking for potential
link partners, just like I am constantly looking for customers
and opportunities. What specialized directories or associations
can you partner with to your mutual benefit? Another good example
of this is SOHO Web.
Two good resources to get started.
Link-O-Matic
is a directory of web sites that are looking for reciprocal
linking arrangements. You can post the information about
your site and what you are looking for in potential link
partners.
(http://www.linkomatic.com/reciprocate.cgi?1601).
Many times as I am surfing through sites for the first time
if I think they would be of value to my site visitors I will
use the feedback form or email to ask the web master about the
possibility of exchanging links in some way. This is probably
the most effective and efficient method. You are at the site,
you know whether or not they exchange links and with what type
of sites. It only takes a minute of your time and could be the
beginning of a very lucrative and long-term relationship.
By the way, would you like to exchange links?
mailto:bobak@eagle.ptialaska.net
Copyright
1998 Total Quality Marketing
and Bob Cortez
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