SEO Text Links

I don't know about you, but I must get at least ten or more requests everyday from other websites who want to link to one of my websites. I actually wouldn't mind being contacted except for a couple of things ....

If you're using those automated tools, and especially if you're not,...  before sending out that email requesting a link up, you really should make sure that the webmaster hasn't already built in a directory that you could just ad your link to yourself. Hello people!

I always reply to these email requests to be added with the URL of my website's directory with a nice little "go for it" note attached. To date, not one of them has gone back and signed up ... what does that tell you?!

Well, that is to say that they get that note if they bothered to tell me which domain they're requesting to be hooked up to. SEO guys ... yeah, you ... give the domain name you're seeking a link on. Never assume that the webmaster only has one domain. If I can't tell what domain you intended, I hit the delete key.

Some of my domains do have free directories where you can link up if you want, but I'm rapidly moving into the "if you want a link, pay for it" realm because I'm tired of doing all the linking work and getting nothing back for it. The vast majority of requests for links are coming from new websites with no Page Rank (PR) and that does nothing for me.

It's like a double whammy, in that they want me to do all the work linking them up and they offer me no advantage for my efforts. Hmmm, you do the math.

I've been doing some research, looking at various link brokers and checking to see who's real and who's questionable. I've found some real companies and a bunch of fakers ... so, let me share.

Getting high scores for Text Link sales is Linkworth.com ... mostly because they pay their sellers what they owe them and on time. I was looking at LinkSmile.com until I read their forum postings ... you should probably read that for yourself.  I was considering LinkAdage.com until I interacted with them. I didn't have such a good time. Your's might go better. I decided to use the services of Linkworth.com, and I'm still test driving a few others too.  One that I gave a run to was LinkVault.com as an open link exchange service, but what I got for my trouble was lots of nothing. They didn't help PR at all, the sites they linked up to me have no PR and when I went to the places I was supposed to be linked up to ... I was unable to find the links. So, you might do more research on them before jumping in there.

You might also add PublishHub.com to that list of questionable resources. The site was advertising a new SEO that was going to revolutionize SEO ... blah, blah, blah, and they said if you linked to them they would give you one free month of their services ... blah, blah, blah. I linked them up to my blog here and never heard a peek back ... it's been well over three months. I've gone to the website to check on things, and the offer is now gone ... site's blah, blah, blah is gone ... looks like they're pulling back. And, you probably should too.

One more word of caution with regards to using link brokers. If you care what search engine zars like Google think of you for hooking up to these services, you might want to reconsider your position. There are rumblings that Google will punish you for using other brokers. That's understandable since Google wants to rule the world. I'll be testing to see what Google thinks about Yahoo and MSN ads, but so far my other links haven't caused problems.

Oh and a parting word about Google. I no longer put Google Ads on all my web pages. Word is that Gooogle will rip their ad network away from you without so much as a warning or contact of any kind other than to say bye-bye. One day you have it and the next you don't. I can't afford to invest that much time with Google especially since the ads provided zero PR or link rank benefit. You don't have to advertise or post ads with Google to get rankings, and that's a fact.

About the Author: Bobbie Grennier is an SEO copywriter and web site copywriter. She publishes several blogs, but you're most likely to be interested in her Writer Blog and Webmaster Blog. She can be contacted by email at webmaster @ wildwolf.ws. Visit her web sites http://www.wild-wolf.com or http://www.wildwolf.ws for more SEO information or more FREE reprint articles.