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Why You Need an "Add
URL" Page
by James D. Brausch
Apr. 20, 2002
Exchanging links with sites
of a similar topic is the most effective free form of advertising
I have ever found. It really is the most direct way to improve
your web presence. This is the nature of the Internet... The
more paths you have to your site, the more traffic you will have.
If you don't have a link exchange program, start one today.
What? You don't want links
to other sites on your
corporate or e-commerce site? No problem. I addressed that in
another article called "A Tale of Two Sites". You can
find it here:
http://www.edu-marketing.com/newsletters/
Now that you have an active
link exchange program, I can get on with the real topic of this
article. I want to
talk about the importance of having an "Add URL" page
and the important elements of your own Add URL page.
What is an "Add URL"
page? It is a page where you
describe how you would like others to link to your site
and invite them to submit a link to be listed on your
ite. Here is an example which illustrates most of the
points I'll make in this article:
http://www.edu-marketing.com/links/addlink.html
It is a lot of work to get
your first 200-300 inbound
links to your site by finding and soliciting link exchanges from
other sites. Once you do that work, you deserve a reward. Having
an "Add URL" page like this one is part of your reward.
After doing all that work, you will have enough traffic that
you will start receiving link requests from your own "Add
URL" page with no work to go find these sites. Pretty cool;
huh?
Let's talk about the important
elements of your "Add URL" page that will maximize
its effectiveness:
1. Place a link to your Add
URL page on the navigation bar that you use on every page of
your site. This page is important enough to warrant it's own
place on your
navigation bar.
2. Make your link say "Add
URL", not "Submit Site" or
"Add Link" or anything else. Trust me on this. I have
already performed all of the click-thru analysis on every combination
of words imaginable. You will receive your best response if the
links to your Add URL page use the words "Add URL".
3. At the top of your "Add
URL" page, use your major
keyword in a large heading. The major keyword for the
example page is "Marketing". You'll notice that it
says
"Marketing Index - Add URL" in large type at the top
of the page. This will help the search engines know what your
page is about. After some time, you'll start getting traffic
directly to your "Add URL" page from the search engines
for phrases like "add url".
4. Next encourage your visitor
to link to your site before requesting a link. You'll notice
that the example page starts right out with "First link
to my site". Don't be tempted to start making your visitor
jump through hoops to prove that they have already linked before
going on. You want them to submit their link even if they don't
immediately link to you. If everyone refused to provide a link
before the other site linked to them... well... no-one would
ever link up; would they?
5. Guide them in how to link
to your site, but leave it up to them to create a link of their
own if they want. There are as many different kinds of webmasters
as there are different kinds of people. You need to recognize
that some are lazy and are only willing to copy/paste some code
you provide... while others have a very specific format for links
on their site and want to do everything for themselves.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
James D. Brausch, is the
Vice President of Marketing for Target Blaster, Inc., an Internet
Marketing firm specializing in targeted traffic. http://www.TargetBlaster.com
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