41 replies to this topic

[HostingInsider]

Hello,
I'm new here, and have a question. I run an inkjet cartridge website, and have had it up for around 6 months, but it has been unsuccessful because of a lack of customers. Now, I am trying to make it rank up higher in Google. I tried to optimize it for search engines a little while back, and read up on all of the tips in the osCommerce forums. It finally got a PageRank of 2, but I want some backlinks to try to boost that up even higher. Unforunately, I can't seem to think of types of sites that could link to me. I currently have 1 link, which has a PR of 3. and isn't very revelant. Could I get some tips here please? Thank you very much for your input.

[Jill]

Welcome HostingInsider!

Please read our Link Building Articles as everything you need to know about link building is in there.

If you have a specific question about anything you've read, please let us know!

Happy reading!

Jill

[subnet_rx]

thanks for that link Jill, I'll have to bookmark that and read those.

[Adam Rivard]

I find the articles very interesting but I am looking for more direct ways to find links. Does anyone know of any sites that are say just a bunch of like 100 links directing you to sites where you can submit to search engines and directories.

In link searching we came across this site and it was by far the best we have found in a while. web.gcu.edu/directory/

I hope this helps.

Edited by Haystack, 05 May 2005 - 09:20 AM.

[Randy]

You appear to be under the mistaken impression that it's all about the Quantity of links Adam. It's not.

These days the Quality and Relevance of the links pointing to your site is much more important than the quantity.

So the idea is not simply to obtain a massive amount of backlinks, but to obtain backlinks that are of high quality (Authoratative) and Relevant. There's really no shortcut for finding those. It takes work.

[Michael Martinez]

Right now, Adam is looking for visibility, not link popularity. You achieve visibility on the Web through links.

There used to be some good directories of directories, but they tend to get outdated.

You might take a look at Grackelfish, JoAnt, and GoGuides, Adam.

[Adam Rivard]

Oh theres no question that it takes work but it seems kind of ridiculous that no one has created an effective linking site that helps people meet other people in the same industry and easily allows them to exchange links.

[Haystack]

Adam, how much weight should search engines give to links gained through link exchange networks? i

[Michael Martinez]

There are several link exchange services out there. I haven't looked at any of them recently to see if their members are being penalized in some way. As long as the link exchanges are simply IGNORED by the search engines, you may be able to find a quality exchange which pairs you up with other quality sites.

The problem for these services is that they are subjected to a lot of abuse by overzealous optimizers.

[Adam Rivard]

They should give just as much. Its the same as me taking two weeks to contact webmasters just they make it easier to view there stats and people they are willing to link to. The master sites just act as a meeting place and no links are given to this site so how would this be frowned upon by search engines.

So the direct answer you are looking for is just as much. Avoiding link exchanges is like taking a horse to work because you refuse to agree that cars now exist.

Edited by Adam Rivard, 05 May 2005 - 11:50 AM.

[Haystack]

Take a step back and think about what search engines trying to achieve by calculating link popularity. Should a link exchange make either site more important? If so, why? I don't see the value.

[Peter]

Oh theres no question that it takes work but it seems kind of ridiculous that no one has created an effective linking site that helps people meet other people in the same industry and easily allows them to exchange links.

There are many of those sites. But in my experience the benefits of exchanges aren't that great. Directory submissions and article submissions are much more valuable if you ask me.

Of course great content is also a good way to get new links.

Edited by Jill, 06 May 2005 - 04:27 PM.

[Adam Rivard]

When I was referring to link exchanges I was referring to sites that dont require a link to their site. So not really link exchanges but more directories. But nonetheless it is beneficial to establish partnerships with other sites. The main thing to note is that there is no one thing that can help your PR but it is a combination of establishing good partnerships and getting into high ranked directories.

[Michael Martinez]

When I was referring to link exchanges I was referring to sites that dont require a link to their site. So not really link exchanges but more directories. But nonetheless it is beneficial to establish partnerships with other sites. The main thing to note is that there is no one thing that can help your PR but it is a combination of establishing good partnerships and getting into high ranked directories.

Adam, if we could all agree for the sake of discussion that there is some value in Toolbar PageRank (what I believe you are referring to by "PR"), then I would say the lowest common denominator of agreement would require that you not worry about it until you are knocking heads in the most competitive listings with hyperoptimized Web sites.

Every new Web site's first priority should be to create good content and its second priority should be to achieve visibility (recognition) for that content. That visibility does not have to be the kind of linkage that hangs around.

While strong, permanent links are the most important part of any linking strategy, if you can get a good mention on a popular site that rolls its content off the screen, you're still achieving visibility. It is, in fact, easier for new sites to achieve visibility than most people make it out to be.

For example, you could issue a press release. Do it through PR Leap and it will go into Google News and Yahoo! News (until someone start changing something) for free.

You could also contribute free articles to some ezine distribution services. I've actually been experimenting with ezinearticles.com, to evaluate it for the Internet Authors Network, and my first articles have achieved more visibility than I expected. I've been told by someone else in the IAN that services like this are better suited for business sites than for authors and I have to agree that they do seem to be right in line with what you are seeking.

A good blog on your site can get picked up by dozens of blog directories.

If you have the time and resources, you could put together a podcast and distribute it through the growing number of podcast directories.

There are many things that can be done. No one person can think of them all. But many of us can use a lot of them.

Doing something that sets you aside and ahead of the crowd will help you tremendously. I see from your forum that you are striving to be innovative. Just get to used to the idea that any good innovation will probably be picked up on and enhanced by someone else.

There are many Web sites today that do things I started doing years ago, and they do those things better than I did. That's just the way it goes.

[incrediblehelp]

Good luck Hostinsider, the space of inkjets is VERY competitive!!