26 replies to this topic

[Shane]

True, AllAboutWidgets would actually be linking to both sites, but GreatWidgetStores wouldn't link to AllAboutWidgets because it's not a store.

Sites like BestBuy.com, Crutchfield.com, etc. have very little incentive at all to link out to other sites. When users get there, they're either actively shopping or comparing prices, neither of which the store wants to distract them from.

If the company wants an informational site for users wanting to know more about a product (or product group) before buying, very often it will be handled as a completely separate site. In a large company, the managers of your online store will often be completely separate from the managers of a content site, as will the sites themselves.

[Shane]

Another scenario:
- Careers.org links to Monster.com
- which links to Content.Monster.com
- which links to Careers.org as a great career information source

Again Content.Monster.com actually links to both sites, so it's not a pure 3-way, but it's definitely not reciprocal. Monster is never going to link to Careers.org.

[Jill]

If a site wants to do reciprocal linking, that's fine.

If a site can't or won't, that's fine too, there are plenty of other ways to build links.

To come up with some convulted linking scheme JUST because you think it will help your rankings, however, is just not a good long-term strategy, imo.

Do other things that will get you links. You don't have to trade links. Some people just don't like to trade links. (I personally don't, so I can understand this attitude completely.) Some sites are not conducive to linking out at all. Again, that's fine, then don't link out. But then use a different strategy for getting links in, is all, and don't worry about the whole reciprocal thing.

[Rwh909r]

I just don't understand the point of 3-ways.
I've only been in the SEO field a couple of months but the way I see it is, if its a good solid link that will help my customers then link to it. Most the time, and from my own searching experience if I come to a site I like and they also have good links, I return to that site often.
What is the point of placing a link to someone elses site that might have more information on the product you are selling on your site when you can easily place a new chunk of content on your site making it better for both the SE's and the users??

btw, Hi everyone !!!

[Michael Martinez]

3-way linking scams are ill-advised attempts to inflate link popularity and PageRank by hiding the direct relationship between two sites. It's a foolish waste of effort, in my opinion.

People can get all the links they need from a variety of trusted sources, but many people are too lazy to go and find those trusted sources.

Edited by Michael Martinez, 18 September 2006 - 10:49 PM.

[mcanerin]

What I don't get is that people setting these up don't seem to clue into the fact that search engines analyze links for a living.

You'd have to do something a LOT less obvious than a simple 3-way link strategy for it to "work".

There are times when a 3-way link system may be appropriate, but it should be assumed that the search engine will simply treat it as a design methodology for your site, rather than some sort of unrelated site that suddenly decided that it really likes you.

In short, you should assume that the search engine will consider it to be part of your site and treat the links accordingly, rather than assuming you've somehow outsmarted a computer designed to detect and analyze link patterns on a massive scale.

If you think that you can analyze linking patterns better than a search engine, then you should probably start your own, rather than trying to game one of the existing ones. It would be more profitable, I imagine.

Ian

[Jill]

Please note that this was a couple year old thread...

[Michael Martinez]

Please note that this was a couple year old thread...

Rwh909r's post was dated today. I thought it was a relevant question and post to respond to despite being in an older thread.

[mcanerin]

My excuse is that I sleep-type...

Ian

[projectphp]

Old thread but worth saying: if you want to get out of a small area, you need to get links from a whole 'nother community.

Think SEO. There are only so many sites, and they all interlink. If you get a link from NY Times, you stand out. It really isn't terribly hard to find whole communities who just interlink. Not that hard at all.

[Jill]

It may have been said 2 years ago in this thread, but I would recommend only the trapezoidal linking matriflux technique if it were me...

[projectphp]

The original, and still the best