How to Identify Bad Link Exchange Transactions

by Tony Zhu, 8/10/2007

Now that more emphasis (to get better ranking in SERPs) is put on the quality of links rather than the quantity, I will try, in this article, to identify the signs that may be precursors of bad link exchange transactions.

1. Quality of content

I try to make sure that my links come from pages with original content that are not sourced from an affiliate program or duplicated hundreds of times on the Internet. I want links from websites that someone seemingly to have taken time and effort to put together. In addition, it is steer clear of ecommerce sites that is only recently launched and heavily SEOed.

2. The links page

Check what the links pages are like. Definitely avoid links pages that have over 50 links, or use dynamic URLs, or are not ind exed by search engines.

3. The links page should be too far from the home page

Search engine bots are unlikely to go more than three levels deep on any website. So links buried deeper may not be found. When looking for quality links look for websites that provide links as close to the home page as possible. Even a massive site like BBC News has a rule that every piece of content must be available within three clicks of the News home page.

4. The topic

Unless the links page of the site receives a large amount of traffic or that they have a high PageRank, stick to sites about the same topic as your own. If your site is about widgets, I usually look for sites that are about widgets, widgeting, or anything widget-users would find useful.

5. The request email

When I receive link request emails, anything that ...

Has a generic subject line (i.e. attn webmaster, link request, We linked to your site! etc)
Makes ludicrous claims (ie.e we believe <stupid claims>...)
Doesn't use personal names (i.e. Dear Site Owner -- you want a link from me - find out <strong>my </strong> name!)
Resembles an automated form email from bots
Contains excessive grammar/spelling mistakes
Are long and tells me how good links are for me etc etc etc.

... goes to the trash.

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