| Exchange Links but Carefully |
There are several factors that determine the benefit that
you get when you exchange links with any website. Sometimes
you may be giving away some of your hard earned PR (Page
Rank) without getting it back in return. While it is
debatable if the primary purpose of exchanges is the
traffic or the PR gain, a combination of both these
motivations is usually present when we exchange links.
Apart from the direct traffic, some of the other factors
that help to determine the value of an incoming link are
1> The PR and number of links
The higher the PR of the page linking to your site, the
better the link in general. The PR that a page has, gets
distributed between all the links on that page, so the PR
and the number of links together should be used to
determine the worth of a link. You can use the PR Checker
tool at http://biz-whiz.com/prchecker.html to compare the
pr transfer figures, this tool provides an exact value for
the estimated pr transfer based on a presumed formula.
2> Direct or Redirected Link
Some sites like to keep track of which link gets how many
clicks. Many people believe that this will prevent the PR
from flowing; generally this is true but not always. A 302
redirect is a temporary redirect which does not pass the
PR, where as a 301 permanent redirect allows the PR to
flow. For example, see the google back links at
http://www.google.com/search?q=link:http://biz-whiz.com/eboo
ks/imm/ you will find that all the links are redirected
from http://biz-whiz.com/Downloads-req-getit-lid-4.html -
This is true for all our ebooks for sale at
http://biz-whiz.com/Downloads-req-viewdownload-cid-5.html -
So the point I am making is that not all redirected links
are bad. The HTTP Headers tool in the IP Toolbox at
http://biz-whiz.com/Sections-article17-page1.html can be
used to find out if the redirect is a 301 or 302. It is a
good idea to allow the partner webmaster the choice of a
direct link or a redirected link as done at our link
submission page for our links directory at
http://biz-whiz.com/Web_Links-req-AddLink.html
3> Meta Tags
The robots meta tags determines if a page will be indexed
by the searchengine or not. If the page linking to you has
a meta tag like
then there is no use of a link from that page
4> robots.txt exclusions
The robots.txt file is used to inform the searchengine
spider which pages on a site should not be indexed. When
you exchange links it is a good practice to look at
domainname/robots.txt just to get an idea if the page where
your link is going to be placed is within reach of the
crawlers - or not.
5> javascript includes or redirects
Some webmasters may place links in an external javascript
file! Google has been crawling external .js files and it is
not likely that the search engines can be fooled. You
should always prefer an on page link to a javascript link.
6> IFRAMES
An IFRAME is a page inside another page. If you encounter a
site that is using an IFRAME to link to other sites, you
should visit the IFRAME url and check the PR of that page
independent of the outer page. You should determine the
worth of the link by the PR of the inner page.
7> In Context Links
There is a good amount of speculation and I myself do
believe that incontext links are given more importance by
the searchengines. So if there was a choice between an
in-context link like
The work at home business
community ...
and a standalone link like
Work at Home
I would certainly go for the in-context link.
8> Link Title
It is important to have your keywords in your link text. In
addition to the link text the link 'title' parameter also
is believed to play some role.
Work at
Home
is preferable to Work at
Home
When you move your mouse over the first link, you will find
a small tooltip like description for the link. The title
parameter works link the alt for images.
9> Bold
Links in bold are believed to be given more importance,
Work at Home
Is preferable to Work at
Home
10> Prominence
Some people have debated that the higher on the page that
your link appears, the more important it is considered by
the search engines.
Those are the points to remember when you exchange links.
When you search in google for link:yoursite.com you will be
able to see the important backlinks for your site (or your
competitor's). Usually pages with PR4 and above will show
in google backlinks and these links are the most valuable
link partners from the viewpoint of the search engines.
About the Author:
Submit your link to our links directory from
http://biz-whiz.com/Web_Links-req-AddLink.html
Mufad runs the Work at Home Business Community at
http://Biz-Whiz.com - Work at home related articles,
ebooks, forums, links and tools are available. You can get
points when you post, review or submit; articles, links &
downloads - Get your membership today while its free to
join. SignUp now at http://Biz-Whiz.com
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