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By James D. Brausch of Target Blaster
[June 12th, 2002]
[This is the second part of a two part article. The first part can be read here].
- For those who want to just copy/paste, provide them
options... but not too many options. You will want about
three text based links of varying lengths. You will then
want at least two standard banner sizes. The two most
common are: 468X60 pixels and 125X125 pixels. You may
also want to create 120X60 and 88X31 smaller banners.
Stick to these IAB standard sizes because many sites are
laid out to require exactly these sizes. If you don't
provide exactly these sizes, the webmaster may pass you
over for exchanging links.
- Provide an easy way for the webmaster to copy/paste the
code along with a sample of what the link will look like
on their page.
- In each text link, make sure your major keyword is in
the click-able part of the link text. Many search engines
use the click-able part of the link text for links on
other sites to determine the appropriate keywords for your
site.
- For the banner links, make sure the "Alt" tag contains
your keyword. This is what will be displayed for surfers
who are surfing without graphics capability (or who have
turned off their graphics capability). It is also what
the visually impaired will hear when they "read" the
page with their equipment. It is also what some search
engines will use to determine the topic of your site.
- Also include a text link below each banner with your
major keyword. Many webmasters will delete this part, but
some will keep it. Text links receive a much higher
click-thru rate than banners. You want to give every
opportunity for the webmaster to give you a text link...
without forcing the issue. You don't want to give up a
banner link if that's all the webmaster is willing to
offer.
- Have a simple form to request a link on your site.
Ask the minimum amount of information you need to provide
a link. The example asks for URL, Title, Description, and
Category. If you don't need any other information, don't
ask for it. Some webmasters will turn away if they are
faced with a daunting form asking for a bunch of nonsense
information.
- EXCEPT: Ask for their email address. This is
important. You want the ability to contact them if your
link disappears from their site. You also want the
ability to send them a reminder to link back to you if
they haven't already.
- Add the link right away when you receive a link
request from your form. Send a confirmation email letting
them know that you added their link and where they can
find it on your links pages. Some webmasters have dozens
of sites. They will submit your form for just one site.
When they see how fast you add their link, they will be
back to exchange links with perhaps dozens of other sites.
- Check the links you receive in this way periodically
to ensure that they are still linking back to you. If
not, send them a friendly reminder. Often dropping your
link will be a simple oversight during a site redesign.
Don't assume otherwise.
- Never use their email address for anything else.
Trying to sell your product to your link partners is NOT
very effective and will likely annoy them. You may lose
your link on their site or worse. Be responsible with
their email address and only use it to communicate about
your link exchange.
That's it. If you follow all of these steps, you can
start receiving inbound links without doing any of the
work to go find sites to exchange links. Of course, you
will have to do that work in the beginning to get enough
traffic to your "Add URL" form, but then you can rest a
little and reap the rewards of your hard work.
The author, James D. Brausch, is the Vice President of
Marketing for
Target Blaster, Inc., an Internet Marketing
firm specializing in targeted traffic.
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