When I started getquotes-it.com in 2003, I knew nothing about link exchanges and didn't even know what SEO stood for. I remember how excited I was when googlebot visited my site 10 times in one day. WOW!!, little did I know it was merely crawling the 10 accessible pages on my site. It's still only a hobby and I am still not an expert, but we're learning.
Quite often when I visit a SEO forum, I see a comment about link relevance and how you should only link to sites with similar content to your own. In theory I agree with this because why send your visitors to an unrelated site and why attract visitors who probably have no interest in your site?
Most often, though, these people say that irrelevant links will not help your rankings in the SERPs and they have various opinions about the effect on your PR.
My first question is whether Google actually knows whether a site is relevant or not.
Say your website's topic is holiday destinations and you have a resources directory. One page in the directory is only for links to software related sites. Therefore, all the descriptions of those sites make the topic of this page software related. If you put a Google Adsense block on this page, you will quickly see that Google considers the topic to be software related. So, the question is then whether Google considers the relevance of the whole site or just that page. I don't know.
More important though, is the perceived importance of that little green bar at the top of your browser. Have you ever tried exchanging links with a PR7 site when your own site is only a PR1 or anything less than a 5? Most webmasters will laugh at the suggestion. So how do you get a link from a PR7 site? Get the green bar to grow!! I think most people do the same as I do when they receive a link request. I open the requesting site and have a look at the PR. I personally link to PR 1 and PR2 sites if they are fairly new (check their whois information), but I don't think most people even bother with that.
As I mentioned before, I agree with the theory of linking to relevant sites. However, until you have a respectable PR, it will often be easier to get links from unrelated sites than just finding willing links in your specific market.
Does a link from an unrelated site help your PR? Most definitely!! Even if it doesn't help your SERP ranking, it does help your PR. getquotes-it.com is a bit of an off-beat site where people can complain about whatever is on their mind. A bit hard to find related sites, so I have exchanged links with sites from any industry. Though not much, it does have a PR4 without me having to spend too much time on it and I don't know whether it has any related links.
So here's my opinion. When you're starting out, get as many links as you can with relatively good PR, even if they're not related to your site. A link from a PR2 site when your own site is PR1, is a good link. Chances are, that other site's PR will increase with yours and eventually that'll be a PR5 or higher link.
Having said all that, I do believe that a relevant link adds a lot more value to your site, both in terms of SERP ranking and directed traffic. Therefore, once you have some PR (say PR4 or 5), it's time to start focusing on your own market. By this time people within your industry will be more willing to consider your site for linking and as we all know, link exchanges are hard work. So spend your time effectively by gaining links that will benefit your site.
About The Author
Dirk Wessels is a software developer and owner of getquotes-it.com. You may redistribute this article, but please keep this "About the author" section within the article.
Mercedes Benz s500 rentals Salem ..Not so long ago I had read an article about... Read More
All too often I find site owners are confused (or... Read More
There are multiple ways to drive traffic to your website.... Read More
Let me ask you a question. What is the most... Read More
There is so incredibly MUCH you can do to successfully... Read More
Every website owner faces the same challenge: How to get... Read More
Building a web site is only the first step in... Read More
Would you like to get unlimited viral traffic to your... Read More
I cannot stress the importance of targeted traffic for the... Read More
The results of the social bookmarking experiment I have been... Read More
One of the most popular ways to generate free traffic... Read More
When I started getquotes-it.com in 2003, I knew... Read More
1: Original and Fresh Content Present your visitors content they... Read More
You have just uploaded your web-site and it looks great!You... Read More
If you're feeling a bit of confusion and frustration about... Read More
Web sites are a major part of the tourism marketing... Read More
Creating a simple links page to exchange links for the... Read More
In the real world when you buy real estate the... Read More
If you're feeling a bit of confusion and frustration about... Read More
It is an open internet promotion secret that the more... Read More
If you agree that traffic is the true currency of... Read More
There are three main sources for you to get the... Read More
The purpose of analyzing your web site statistics is to... Read More
If you advertise through click-exchange traffic programs or GPTR programs,... Read More
Need more traffic? There's a lot you can learn from... Read More
Dowagiac cheap limo service ..Quality traffic, website promotion and product and service advertisement is... Read More
Webmasters look for ways to get a higher ranking with... Read More
There have been a lot of changes on the web... Read More
This is the first article of a three-part series. I... Read More
(Continued from Using Traffic Exchange Programs Part 2)Hello again!In the... Read More
If you are looking at ways to increase traffic to... Read More
There are many ways to cheat traffic exchanges and generate... Read More
If you're feeling a bit of confusion and frustration about... Read More
This old saying which addresses the variability of the weather... Read More
The number one question among webmasters is "How can I... Read More
Let's face it; the Internet is cluttered with all sorts... Read More
A reciprocal link is when a web site links to... Read More
Link popularity is becoming the latest "in-thing" to get your... Read More
Nowadays, we have created numerous methods so as to bring... Read More
Creating a simple links page to exchange links for the... Read More
You want to start your own online business. You want... Read More
Alright, so you have a website but are lacking visitors?... Read More
How to Build Web Traffic DailyI - Introduction II -... Read More
You can create more traffic for you and your business... Read More
Proper Use Of Meta tags For A High Google RankingGoogle... Read More
3 years ago when I started trying to make money... Read More
So, you've spent hundreds of thousands on a state-of-the-art website.... Read More
Building a web site is only the first step in... Read More
Even the best websites with the best marketing plans can... Read More
With all the buzz going on about the importance of... Read More
Traffic Building |