I really am not sure if link exchange programs work anymore. Honestly.
I am currently enrolled with Link Metro, and I’m not sure that I’m really enjoying it much. A LOT of the sites that want to link with this one (I used my BuildingMyEmpire.com website for the test-run) aren’t in the “niche” I have here. So links with them would be futile.
I’ve also found that the sites that seem to be “quality” either have a really bad looking website, or I’m stuck on page 16 of some generated software program for link exchanges. Not a good choice either. I have added several sites to my links page - but more in attempt to see if the links would help my PR. But when I’m exchanging links with a site that has 100 links to a page - there’s little PR to go around. I think if anything I’m giving away my good PR to a site that really doesn’t give a crap about quality - even if they’re in the niche/subject matter that would work with this site.
Do I recommend LinkMetro? Perhaps if you’re starting out… but overall I think the link exchange days are severely limited and sites like this take advantage of people new to the Internet who think that they NEED links and it doesn’t matter from where they get them. I’m just not enjoying going through all those link exchange requests and trying to sort out what goes where - they’ve got the “gold” edition that will do that sort of thing automatically - but I don’t want to pay for this program. I’m sooo cheap!
I will be cancelling my subscription with them. I will be removing the links that I’ve added from them (unless I think they’re worth keeping around) and stick with QUALITY sites - even if they don’t exchange with me, at least I’m giving you an opportunity to see something that I think is worthwhile or cool.
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pagepeel by webpicasso.de
December 12th, 2005 at 6:17 am
Empress,
I have used several link programs and to be honest have found them sadly lacking.
My main gripe is with the quality of links. You are ‘bombarded’ with request for links to completely unrelated sites. You find many of the request have link pages longer than your arm and many times no link to the link pages from the webmasters site.
I would suggest going for quality as these sorts of links are more likely to be detrimental than useful.
December 12th, 2005 at 3:52 pm
Looks like we’re thinking alike.
I think link exchanges are one more type of SEO that’s off-putting to visitors. In the end, I think it’s more important to please the visitors you have. It’s a slower way to get your site in front of people, for sure, but the long-range prospects should be better than linking to junk.
Love your holiday layout!
December 12th, 2005 at 9:02 pm
YES!
I wish people would go back to the straight text link for text link exchange - pick 15 really good quality sites with related content that has actual real people visiting and trade links.
I see so many people using PHP Link pages that really do no one any good - really how much traffic do the get ( i am soo sure I spend 30 minutes surfing the link directory of the pages i visit - NOT) and what SEO advantage do they have?
So how do we convince these other sites to trade links with us without the use of a link exchange program and get them to give us that three word link ? Well we ask! You never know unless you ask
If someone approached me with a request to trade links with any of my sites - someone that has taken the time to realy ensure it is a good match - and that their site is properly layed out and looks good. I would be all for it;)
December 13th, 2005 at 7:30 am
You may want to check out:
http://www.honestlinks.net/
They are attempting a new model of linking, for traffic as well as SEO.
December 13th, 2005 at 9:14 pm
Thanks everyone for your feedback!
I’ll be checking out honestlinks.net to see what’s new there.