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10 Things To Check BEFORE You Agree To A Link Exchange |
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Written by Kila Morton
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 I’m going to say something and it’s going to sound mean. Before I say what I’m going to say, I want to ask you a question. If someone in a prison jump suit with handcuffs on their wrists came up to you while you were sitting in your car with the window partially down and asked you for a ride, would you give them a ride? There are some people who would say yes I’m sure. The majority of us would say no! Although this was an extreme example, it illustrates the point of this article. Never agree to a link exchange just because someone asked you to exchange links!
Our websites and our blogs are a window into who we are as people and what we think about things. We are mini-kings and queens on the Internet! We set things up the way that we want. We say the things that we want to say! We do what we want! We market and advertise what we want! Some of us are more successful and some of us are less successful. No matter what, we are in the ultimate position to control what is put out there in our little space. Since this is true, we have to pay attention and make sure that our ‘kingdoms’ represent who we are.
So what’s the point. The point is that this is your space and you have to take care of it and respect it when it comes to people asking you to put links on your site. In fact, you should have a set of guidelines that you follow when asked to link to someone’s site. I love sites like BlogCatalog.com, as you know if you read this site. I think it is a vibrant community full of interesting people, sites and groups. When you join a community like that, inevitably you will find someone who asks you for a link exchange. Here are some guidelines you should use when evaluating if you should put up a link on your site from whoever asked you.
Look at the site of the person asking you for the link ALWAYS. Never put a blind link on your site! You could be linking to ANYTHING! If you don’t know, think about how your readers will feel when they click on the link and find more than they bargained for!
Is the site updated consistently?
If you don’t update your blog regularly, then why would I want to link to you?
Is the content great?
If the content is great, I may link to you even if you don’t update your site everyday, however, the key is that the content must be great!
Is the site inline with what your visitors came to your site for?
In other words, does the site you are looking to link with match your genre? If it does, great! If it doesn’t you should think about why you would want to link to it.
How old is the site and what type of traffic does the site get?
Is the site a site that no one goes to or does it get traffic. I want you to think about this for one reason. If the site is an older site (you can tell by the posts) and has little traffic, that means that the owner is NOT actively promoting the site the way they should. If the site is new and has little traffic, then it could just be that the owner is working on the traffic issue and traffic is going to build. One path shows that the owner is not going to care about their site as much as you care about yours and the other path shows a new Internet neighbor that is going to hustle to get traffic to their site. I don’t know about you, but, I want to link to the person who is going to hustle like me!
Does the other site fit within my branded message to my readers?
If your site is about great religions and the link for the other site is advertising one way tickets to hell, you may want to think twice about linking to that other site! Think about it!
Does the link I would put on my site add any value for the readers of my site?
Does the site give your readers anything that would be worthwhile, in your almighty opinion, to them? Remember you are the guide and you determine what you think is important for your readers.
Does the person seem interested in actually building value for them AND you or is the person just looking to hitch a ride on a blog for something like say PageRank or to use your traffic?
There are people out there that I call ‘Professional Link Exchangers’. All they do is exchange links. When you get to their sites you see little content and a HUGE list of sites they are linking to. People like this may create a backlink for you, but it isn’t a quality link. Remember that your site is YOUR kingdom. Do you want to be associated with something that isn’t quality?
Do YOU think the exchange is worthwhile? A lot of times you may know that the person’s content isn’t great. You may also know that the site isn’t so great either. However, you may still have the desire to help a person you feel is genuine. If that is the case and you still want to link to the other site, make sure that you point out some of the things the person could do to build a better blog, send them to PureBlogic.com and link to them. There is nothing wrong with making a friend or helping someone with a link as long as YOU understand why you are doing it. You are, after all, IN CHARGE.
Evaluate if link exchanges are something that you want to get involved with.
There are lots of sites out there and linking to just one looks kind of crazy on your site. Just look at people’s blog rolls, do you just see one link? If you aren’t prepared to actually start linking to other people then be honest.
Last, but certainly not least - NEVER EVER BE AFRAID TO SAY NO!!! If you visit a site and see that you don’t like it please just be honest. Honesty is the best policy and it helps you stay true to yourself. Be nice about it. Leave the window open, if you like, by explaining to that person that you would love to link to their site if they updated it more. Remember that you are in charge and your site represents you! Make sure everything on it says what you want it to say!
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