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Went Hot: October 22, 2007 - 4:51 pm
Posted By: TimDineen 359 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://searchengineland.com)
Category: Link Building
23 Comments
Went Hot: October 22, 2007 - 4:51 pm
Posted By: TimDineen 359 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://searchengineland.com)
Category: Link Building
23 Comments
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Comments
First mistake is to title your message "link exchange request"...that would get an auto delete from me.
The second mistake is to send the request from a gmail account.
third mistake is using bad grammar (getting links of web site...)
fourth is to ask me to add the link first. If you want me to link to you, you should add the links and show me the actual pages where my link appears.
fifth is to assume I'll do it just because "the sites have decent PR", they need to articulate exactly why these sites would benefit me
And, (sixth) if he actually visited your site, why didn't he notice the contact info? That would suggest he didn't actually visit, sice you offer four methods of contact.
seventh, all of the sites he offers a link from drop to PR 0 once you go 1 level deep.
"I'm in charge of getting links" is a lousy way to introduce yourself. Your purpose in writing to the other site isn't to imply that you want them to play along in your numbers game. Instead, you should be pointing out how their audience would be interested in your content.
The three sites from which they're offering to link to you are not just general directories, which is bad enough, but they appear to be identical to each other.
I received a similar email from linkhelpers a couple of weeks ago...had to blog about this as well.
Personally I suggest leaving mention of "Web Marketing" or SEO or even PageRank out of any emails. While it's probably impossible in this example, since it's the name of the company, I don't think the recipient cares what your title is or which department you work in.
The only thing a site owner should care about why they should link to you and what value that has to their site's visitors. If the link-requester doesn't provide that (or if there is none) then any other mistake just compounds the problem and makes the whole email annoying.
In this email, the requester starts off by saying that such an effort would benefit both, but doesn't provide how.
Yep, I've had several of these exact same emails. Ha ha. I wonder if they actually get anyone to link?
Writing a bad link request. ten minutes
Sending it out to thousands of sites. incremental cost of zero
Getting ridiculed on search engine land. priceless.
This was so funny because it's so true. I get a lot of these and unless there's some synergy or value implied in the request....well, it's always easy to click delete.
Right now, ever link in the sidebar of http://www.webmarketinggroup.co.uk results in 'Server Error in '/' Application.'
I have little doubt this guy's requests -- and those like them -- work. There are a lot of people with web sites out there who would get this and think it a good deal -- think ma-n-pa web sites where they are well-intentioned, have read a book or two on HTML and maybe SEO for Dummies, and probably still get very hung up on the content of their meta-keywords tags.
There are a LOT of these on the Internet.
Sending a Link Exchange request to a site that has a published policy of not accepting link exchanges - Big Mistake, Huge! And one that often make me shake my head in disblief, especially when the request is received from established SEO type people who should know better.
Hey. Don't knock SEO for dummies. That's how I got my first Job.
He might not have collected many links, but 1 thing that he did get plenty of for the site www.webmarketinggroup.co.uk was hits, I know I checked the site out!
1. Sent from a Gmail account. This just looks plain dodgy.
2. Subject line - 'Link exchange request'. Hardly going to get my attention!
3. No personalised greeting - just a generic 'Greetings'.
4. 'I'm in charge of getting links'. So you haven't targeted me specially? Gee, thanks.
5. You want me to link to your SEO company's website after sending me a bad link request? Quite possibly the definition of 'irony'.
To follow on from tamecrow's comment:
6. "after I verify them" - downright insulting if you ask me
7. "decent pr" - who cares?
8. "I'll provide you the details" and "getting links of web site" - if you're going to do English language link requests learn English.
9. Why the offer of a 1 to 3 swap? I'm not sure this is strictly bad practice but it doesn't work for me. Where's the relevance of the exchange?
10. No offer of further information or partnership or anything. The sign off is cold and strictly related to this particular "offer" rather than an attempt at forming some sort of dialogue between the site owners. Again, not strictly bad practice but doesn't help with the whole "personalisation" aspect.
Hello! A nice post especially if taking into consideration that each webmaster receives such requests at least twise a day! Funny thing I must say but whether you realize it or not, it was a nice ad for the sites you've mentioned, though a bit negative =)
As for me, when writing a request I try not to give unrealizable promises respecting other people's and my own time.
"Yep, I've had several of these exact same emails. Ha ha. I wonder if they actually get anyone to link?"
I have worked with first time website owners, that are brand-new to the SEO world, who absolutely freak out when they receive a link request of this very nature. They feel honored that their site, out of the millions on the web, was chosen to receive a link from 3 websites if they link to only one website. 3 links for the price of 1!!! So, yes emails of this poor quality do work, because for every 9 people that delete it before opening, one person will oblige.
Love it.
There is only 1 mistake - asking for a link in the first place. :)
What awesome feedback! You'all have spotted more blunders than I'd ever imagined. iBrian's comment hit me dead on. Anyone looking at my site would realize I don't swap or grant links to anyone, no matter how they ask. I link when it makes sense for my site's readers or when it illustrates a point or when it helps me convey the message I want to convey. The down side of having a 14 year old pagerank 6/7 site devoted to link building is that I'm a target for any link seeker who doesn't know better.
Agreed - great feedback from all.
There's a fantastic list going on over at Webmaster World on how not to ask for a link http://www.webmasterworld.com/link_development/3565920-2-30.htm - some of the examples will have you rolling around laughing or crying, depending on how many stupid link requests you receive every day.
Looks like I am a bit late for this, however, I wanted to say I found the article and comments very interesting and I too receive quite a number of these dodgy link requests and unless they are sent to the proper email address and they are from a genuine looking domain email I just delete them. I will bear all the advice in mind if I need to request a link from another fashion related website though. Thanks everyone.