3 replies to this topic

[bobmeetin]

In some of the articles I read regarding reciprocal link it says page, others more nebulous.

And so the first question, when you are building up links to your site should you be concentrating on links to a specific page or to the site in general?

And invariably the follow-up question, does it matter?

-Bob

[Jill]

Both are good. Links to your home page help all your inner pages because you spread its link popularity to the rest via how you link to them internally.

On the other hand, links to individual pages, can help boost them individually, plus their link popularity will also spread to the pages that they link to.

So yeah, it's all good.

Better to get links from authoritative sites, rather than just trading links, however.

[bobmeetin]

I designed the navigation system to be uniform on all pages; when I get to a really large site I include a simple site map so you're never more than a hop from home, etc.

Authoritative sites would be sweet, however many of the businesses I work with are Ma/Pa shops and in my mind I need to go after anything that breathes short of link farms, then work their way up the food chain over time. So, anything is better than nothing? Debate?

With almost all my clients I give them a link building overview, then give them an opportunity to build it into the budget. This is kind of a learning process, i.e. acquiring the right mindset clients, but I also give them a cheatsheet on some (save $$) homework they can do to acquire links, then turn over the would be tech stuff to me for details. Yeah it's work in progress.

[Randy]

So, anything is better than nothing?

Yes. But if the site is in a relatively competitive field it'll usually need at least some authority links to compete. And that's not to say Ma & Pa type sites cannot be authoritative. All of my sites would fall into this general category and some of them are quite authoritative.

To perhaps expand your range of possible link partner sites, make sure the type of visitor you're trying to attract is part of the equation. Getting links from sites that already cater to your target audience will not only help by bring you well qualified, direct traffic from the links, but will also help considerably with the search engine rankings.

As an example, let's say you had a site that sold some type of software or tool that was designed to assist primary school children in their learning this or that subject. Teacher Resource sites would be perfect candidates for linking to you, as would sites that attract parents who homeschool their children. Even though none of these sites may currently have anything to do with software development, when you view it from a perspective of who the potential customers are creating healthy, productive linking relationships becomes a lot easier.