3 Link Exchange Methods

Link exchange is one of the many Internet marketing strategies aimed at:

1. Boosting Traffic
2. Increasing search engine ranking
3. Enhancing content
4. Taking advantage of Free Advertising on the Internet

It involves a website owner (link partner) placing a link to your website on his (an inbound link for you) and you placing a link to his website on yours (an outbound link from your site) It's a fact: The more inbound links you have, the higher your website will appear in search engine results pages.

The link may be on a dedicated links page, in the actual content of the website or as a banner ad / text ad somewhere on the website.

1 - A Dedicated Links Page

On a links page you can have one place for all your outbound links and one place to refer potential link partners. It can be easily managed using your Content Management System.

One thing to remember with a links page is not to accumulate too many link partners ? your visitors will be overwhelmed with the bombardment of choice and possibly avoid having to choose; while a potential link partner might feel that his link will not be noticed amongst your other link partners. This is called "Link Farming" and is something to avoid.

2 - In The Body Of Your Textual Content

When having the link in the body of the actual text content, you are essentially recommending that the visitor visit that website, even if the visitor isn't conscious of it. Thus, this type of link exchange is highly attractive to a potential link partner. Of course, this is not easy for every kind of business ? it might be easier for a magazine business to offer content to offer linking space, than it would for an accounting firm.

Some website owners may even pay you to include a link to their website in the body of your text content, not only because it is such an effective advertisement, but it also improves their keyword rankings in search engines (if the words you use in your content that link to the website owners site are considered keywords). Good example: About.com publishes articles with links to websites in their content.

3 - A Banner Exchange or Text Ad Exchange

A banner is a graphic, usually animated, that serves to entice the visitor to visit your website.

A banner can be above-the-line (visible without having to scroll down) or below-the-line (you need to scroll down to see the banner). If you are not willing to pay a website to display your website banner, you may consider approaching a website to exchange banners with.

A text ad is a verbal advertisement linked to your website and also serves tp enticing the visitor to visit your website. It is not as eye-catching as a banner, but from a search engine optimisation perspective, you can enhance your search engine rankings by linking using keywords in your link.

An important aspect of reciprocal linking is trust ? you trust that your link partner will reciprocate and that if he does, the link will be there in the future.

Choosing A Potential Link Partner

Here are two decisive factors you should consider when selecting link partners:

1. Competitive or Complementary?

Are you selling the same product or service, or can this potential link partner add value to the product / service you offer, thereby allowing you to indirectly increase customer satisfaction?

Of course, you should not link to a website that is totally unrelated to your content or your product, as this does not help you or your link partner

If you believe you have a winning product that your competitors can not beat, you might exchange links with them to prove to your website visitors that you are the best, by allowing them to compare ? this is obviously a more risky tactic as you may not only be losing customers, but actually giving them to your competitors.

2. Quality Of The Website

What is you're perceived credibility of the potential link partner?

Are they worthy of being featured on your website? Can they help you offer more satisfaction to your website visitors?

John Simms is an Internet Marketer for Eiledon Solutions, a website development & design company in Cape Town, South Africa. Visit the website for more info.

---

URLs Everywhere

Your URL (www) should be everywhere and more. I know... Read More

How to Make Money from People Who Type the Wrong Web Address

How many people visit your web site but type in... Read More

Candy Jar Marketing

What is one of the main keys to a successful... Read More

The Struggling Internet Marketer

Instead of giving you advice on how to make a... Read More

How To Make A Lot Of Money On The Internet Doing Nothing

"You can make a lot of money on the Internet... Read More

How Knowing Your Customer via Direct Marketing Helps Your Online Business to Prosper

What is direct marketing? Put simply, direct marketing is a... Read More

Things I Learned from Corey Rudl

On Wednesday, the first day of June, I received the... Read More

Shopping Search Engines, The Benefits and Explanations

The Shopping Search Engines are a new breed on the... Read More

Golf Pros Jet to be Sold early 2006 -- Market NOW to Make Large Deposit

Marketing gurus travel all over...Malaysia, London, San Francisco ..so make... Read More

Scared Of Creating Your Own Info Product?

Don't be scare off when you hear about product creation... Read More

How to Build an Asset Out of Giving Stuff Away for Free

We all do it I guess: give something away for... Read More

I Finally Figured It Out - The Largest Stumbling-Block To Online Success

We're going to talk about one of those issues that... Read More

7 Ways to Become an Obvious Expert in Your Field

Obvious Experts enjoy a compelling advantage over their competition; they're... Read More

Book Yourself Solid Key #4: Produce A Powerful Personal Brand That Sets You Apart

Copyright 2005 Michael Port & Associates LLCWould you rather be... Read More

How to Succeed and Stay on Task with Your Internet Marketing Promotion Strategies. A.C.T.I.O.N..

How to Succeed and Stay on Task with Your Internet... Read More

Product Not Selling? This Could Be Your Lucky Day!

So you've created a digital product ready for sale on... Read More

Internet: The Darling Of Business

Internet has become indispensable in our lives. It has become... Read More

Sneak Up On Your Competition

Dear Internet marketers: After going through a couple... Read More

Are You A Web Wannabe?

Web marketers see it all of the time.Companies of every... Read More

The Long Sales Letter: Should You Use it In Your Advertising?

If you're a web marketer and you've done your homework,... Read More

How To Identify Ideal Money Making Web Opportunities

I was winding my way up the levels of a... Read More

How You Can Make Your Ad Command Attention

There are lots of ads for lots of product out... Read More

Free Marketing = Effective Marketing

According to Google.com there are over three billion web pages... Read More

5 Ways To Treat Your Website Like An Employee And Reap The Rewards

People often come to me in a state of crisis... Read More

How To Get Free Publicity For Your Business

You don't have to spend thousands of dollars on advertising... Read More

Sales Marketing: Ten Magnificent Marketing Ideas To Amplify Your Business

You can magnify and expand your business if you have... Read More

10 Amplifying Ways To Turn Up Your Sales Volume

1. Make your potential customers forget about the competition. Just... Read More

A Person Of Value

One of the "secrets" in Internet Marketing is knowing that... Read More

Niche Marketing - How to Find Your Perfect Niche Market

If you don't find a niche market for the product... Read More

Multiple Streams Of Internet Income

Make your website pay?in millionsAlthough opportunities were rare and far... Read More

Exploring Beyond Keywords Into Behavioral Research

If you have ever studied search engine optimization, then you'll... Read More

Marketing and the Hired Guerrilla

It's a jungle out there, so know and use your... Read More

The Best Kept Secret on the Internet

What is the Best Kept Secret on the Internet?This is... Read More