I’ve been teaching people the virtues of linking the right way
for a long time in my book, “Gorilla Website Marketing”. However,
there are many people out there that just haven’t got it figured
out yet. It seems that we are in the middle of a “linking crisis”
and it’s time that I did my part in helping to stop it before it
gets out of hand!
Right now, I’m getting about 20 link requests a day from
webmasters that haven’t a clue about the right way to link! So I
decided to write the “Ten Commandments of Linking” to cover all
the basics for effective linking. If somebody told you to read
this article, you just might be violating one of them! If you are,
don’t worry about it, you’re not going to go to hell or anything.
But you might just get banned on Google and that’s almost worse
than going to hell! Your website’s search engine rankings and
traffic ALWAYS go up when you do linking right so study them
carefully and figure out if you’re doing anything wrong!
The Commandments
#1) Thou Shall Always Put Up A Link BEFORE Asking For A Link
Putting up a link to someone before you ask them for a link is
proper linking etiquette and is much more effective than the
alternative. If you’re going to ask somebody for a link then don’t
waste their time unless you’ve already linked to them. This shows
that you are serious about linking with their site and haven’t
just spammed the universe asking for links! And if you tell
somebody that you’ve linked to them, be sure that you really have.
Otherwise, you’ve just lost your credibility. By the way, always
tell your prospective link partner exactly how to link to your
site. I do this on all my sites. For an example of how I do this,
just go to one of my link info page here:
(http://www.5starshine.com/linkinfo.html)
#2) Thou Shall Not Build Link Farms
I’m seeing this commandment being violated more all the time. Some
people are in such a rush to get links that they try to link to
EVERYBODY. They don’t have any type of cohesive theme to their
link directories. They are just a mish mash of totally unrelated
websites thrown together – in other words a “link farm”!
Think about the types of sites you want to link with and build a
useful directory that is complementary to what you are offering.
For example, my website, 5 Star Shine, sells a unique type of car
wax that lasts for 5 years. If you look at my Automotive Link
Directory on this website, you’ll notice that I have built a nice
directory about anything related to cars. Since I sell a car
related product, the people that will find useful information in
my directory are also a great source of potential customers. I’m
building a useful resource and that’s why I’ve been so successful
with this directory. Pick some kind of a niche that is
complementary to what you are offering and build a great themed
directory. For example, if you sell merchandise, you might build a
gift directory. That’s what I did with my website, 5 Star
Closeouts. Since the people that are in my “gift directory” on
this site are also potential buyers of my closeout merchandise,
it’s a great way to build a useful resource AND let potential
customers know about my website. This seems to be working really
well.
#3) Thou Shall Not Hide Thy Link Directory!
This one really makes me want to smite somebody! Some guy will ask
you for a link, but when you go to his home page, you look around
for 10 minutes and can’t find a way to get to his link area from
there. Most of these jokers are just trying to be sneaky and not
let their customers ever find the link directory. My general rule
is that I require a link to the link directory be prominently
displayed on the home page. If I can’t find it in 15 seconds or
less, chances are nobody else will and it’s of no value to me!
#4) Thou Shall Have No More Than 50 Links On One page.
Actually, 50 links on one page is really pushing it in my opinion.
If you have more than 50 links on one page then you are doing
something wrong. Google now ignores most web pages that contain
more than about 50 links because many are just link farms. When I
see the 4th Commandment being broken, it’s usually because
somebody is trying to have just one page of links. Of course,
there usually violating the 2nd commandment also because the site
is usually a link farm too! It’s very important that your links
are broken up into relevant categories and that each one isn’t
over 50 links. To do this properly, you can use a program like
Zeus to organize your links properly. This is the program that I
use on all my sites and it’s been the key for my own number one
rankings. If you’d like a discount on Zeus, be sure to get a
Gorilla Marketing membership at (http://www.gorillawebsitemarketing.com/membership.html)
#5) Thou Shall Only Ask For a Link When It Makes Sense For Both
Websites!
This is a pet peeve of mine actually. I can’t stand when some
idiot wants me to add their Thailand hotel website to my 5 Star
Shine automotive directory! I don’t know what planet these people
come from, but they need to get a clue! Remember, you need to be
building a valuable resource with your link directory. If you are
marketing a hotel in Thailand, then build some kind of a travel
theme into your link directory, or maybe a link directory of all
the things to do in Thailand perhaps. Be creative but always keep
this in mind. Your goal is to build a resource that will attract
the kind of people that would be interested in what you’re
offering. If you do this right, your business will pick up
dramatically because your link directory will always be attracting
potential customers.
#6) Thou Shall Always Tell Others Where Their Link Is
Don’t make someone hunt for 10 minutes on your website to verify
that you posted their link. Just give them the URL where you’ve
put the link or tell them what category you posted them in.
Everybody’s time is valuable and nobody wants to hunt for their
link for very long.
#7) Thou Shall NOT SPAM For Link Requests
If you send email to unrelated web sites in your link directory
just because you want to possibly get a link, then you are
spamming in mind and spirit. The webmaster who receives this kind
of email is not going to be a happy camper because your web site
does not remotely match their web site and has nothing to offer
their visitors. The webmaster is most likely just going to delete
your email but if you catch them on a bad day, he might report you
to the spam police. Either way you lose! Make sure you only send
email to sites that match your chosen theme and tell them exactly
what page you’d like to see your link on in the letter. That way
the person that gets your email will know that you’ve actually
been to their site and that cared enough to tell them where to
stick your link!
#8) Thou Shall Keep Thy Link Requests Short And Sweet!
Don’t tell people your whole life story when you ask for a link
because they really don’t care! When I get a link request, I’m
looking at these factors.
Is this site somewhat related to my site and does it fit in my
link directory theme?
Has this person already linked to me?
Can I easily find their link area from the home page?
Does this site have a coherent theme or is it just a link farm?
Is the page that my link is on have less 50 links or less?
Does at least the home page of the site have some Google PageRank?
If not, then I’ll probably let it slide if the site is fairly new.
So in your link request letter, just tell them where their link is
and where in their directory you’d like to be placed. Also, give
me them the description that you’d like to use for your website’s
listing too. That’s all they need to know.
#9) Thou Shall Always Keep Thy Word
If you tell somebody that you’re going to upgrade them to link
partner status then make sure you do it right away or let them
know when they can expect it to be done. Update your link
directory promptly and always keep your word to your link
partners. They did give you a link when you asked for it and
therefore deserve your respect.
#10) Thou Shall Not Take Down Your Link Partner's Link
If you give somebody a link then don’t delete it when you think
nobody’s looking! I’ve seen people try to pull one over on me by
getting a link then deciding to delete their entire link directory
a few months later! These people must think that a link directory
is just something that do for a while and then delete when you
have some links or something. Linking is not just something you do
for a bit and then throw away - it’s a total way of life dude!
When you’re doing linking right, you’re building a valuable
resource that will get lots of traffic.
I hope you enjoyed this article. If you did, be sure to get your
Gorilla Marketing membership. You'll get instant access to other
articles, proven methods for getting more higher search engine
rankings and more traffic to your website, special discounts on
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Give Away This Article And Help Stop The Linking Crisis!
If you’re a webmaster, you’re probably sick and tired of people
doing linking wrong and wasting your precious time too. Well,
here’s your chance to do something about it! Just give this
article away to anybody that you see violating any of the 10
Commandments of Linking. You're free to give this article away
anyway you wish. With your help, we can stamp out the current
linking crisis in our lifetime!
Wishing You Success!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------About
the Author
Glenn Canady teaches fellow entrepreneurs how to get traffic to
their website with his course Gorilla Website Marketing.
