Still think link exchanges don't work?
August 30, 2006
I love it when I'm right. I had a reader write in and tell me about his successful link exchange campaign. He's given me permission to share his results. Here's the email:
I'm getting CRAZY of happiness today, look what happened minutes ago:
See Emanuele's #1 ranking at Yahoo.
NUMBER ONE for my main keyword! and i used Seo Elite (although extensively) just for a week! This is in addition of what happened yesterday, where I started to see #2 positions in many international MSN search sites:
See Emanuele's #2 ranking in MSN
I'll come there and kiss you 
No kisses please! But I'm always happy to hear from readers who write in their success stories.
Notice that his success came from using SEO Elite, a software tool that I strongly recommend for getting links to your site.
In addition to using the software, Emanuele took my advice about how to word the link exchange requests. Look at this results from that (again, in an email he sent me):
I want to let you know what just happened. I just started to apply what I learned from you (my fault, I should have started immediatly). I'm totally shocked. I'm inundated with answers. But what shocked me is how people are reacting versus how they were nervous using classic "link exchange" request. Also people are blogging on how "cool" I am. I can't believe it.
See an incredible example
I couldn't believe it
Of course, thanks.
Emanuele.
So there you have it! Evidence that link exchange campaigns do work, and that the way you word your link exchange requests makes all the difference in the world.
P.S. What are you waiting for? Get a copy of SEO Elite now and start seeing results for youself!
Comments
30 Responses to “Still think link exchanges don't work?”
-
Jonathan Leger has been earning his living online full-time since the fall of 2004. He regularly posts advice about search engine optimization (his current passion), AdSense and Internet Marketing. He is the creator of a suite of popular software tools, including: Jonathan L Leger 
-
Hi, I also use SEO Elite to promote my video and film transfer to DVD services in Australia and we have a top 10 results for all our keywords not just the main one. I am usually number 2 to a huge website that I know spends thousands on SEO so my minimal efforts with SEO Elite have really worked well.
One-way links also help a great deal so blogs and word press are another part of the strategy we use.
Matt Calen is a smart man who proved it is all in the Links.
Cheers
Jonathon
Avid Tech DVD Transfers-Super 8 to DVD a speciality Frame-by-Frame film scans.
Thanks for this post on SEO Elite. I use Keyword Elite and the sofrware is very good, I'll buy the SEO Elite as well.
Jonathan,
SEO Elite is an excellent product that will search for link exchange partners. What I like is that you can specify sites with similar content or themes so that your exchanges are from have relevant sites.
Link exchanges do "work" to a degree but the "power" in a one way link today really out guns the power in an exchanged link by about 10 to 1. Yahoo is still giving some credit to them but not much, msn gives a lot but only has 10% of the traffic to play with. Google is not inclined to give any credit for two way links any more UNLESS signifigant one way links exist on enough unique IPs to be the primary cause of the ranking in the first place.
In other words if two sites are "equal" for a term it may tip the ballance on Google.
I am also somewhat underwhelmed by ranking for the term, "how to play acoustic guitar". For a few reasons.
First the ranking displayed on Yahoo is misleading at #1 as it is really a #3 rank which is still good. The link goes to it.yahoo not the generic yahoo domain. The real rank for the term on Yahoo.com is number 3 http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=how+to+play+acoustic+guitar to claim "#1 on Yahoo" this way is misleading.
Second the term is a long phrase and just not that competitive. Using the overture seach tool I see about 1200 monthly searches which is decent traffic for the phrase but probally slightly higher then reality because yahoo will combine some phrases in their tool.
Thrid, the site does not rank on the top 50 in google which is where I stopped checking. Google has far more traffic then Google and Yahoo combined. If two way links "work", why is there zero ranking on google?
I don't mean to be a jerk here but honestly this post is spinning fact to the edge. Do the links work, sure, what does "work" mean? A lot less then seems to be being conveyed here.
I eat, live and breathe SEO every day and have for 10 years. I maintain top 10 positions on all the major engines for phrases with over 1 million exact matches that are competed for by tens of thousands of affiliate marketers. I am glad some people are still getting decent use out of Brad Callen's creation and it is indeed still useful for research and acquiring linking partners.
Yet to say at a minimum that "reciprocal" are deeply discounted today and will be more so in the future is being MORE then kind on the subject. The tools like SEO Elite and services like Got Links in fact are what killed the power of exchanged links to a large degree. Trust me when anyone comiditizes a ranking factor the way reciprocal links have been, Google adjusts and were Google goes the others follow,
Jack
Yes, no kissing and hugging, if you make Jon happy, send him a surprise gift like I did in the past (he got some socks with his name :-), hope you still wear them!). Greetings from Semmy - www.semmy.name
Jack,
I understand why you are "underwhelmed" by my ranking but I also understand that you are totally missing the point here.
My email to Jonathan was simply a proof that what he suggested to his list (SEO Elite + a specific way to write the link requests) works, and works well. You are right when you say that reciprocal linking has less importance than time ago. But it still works, and can works very fast. Why? Because obtaining a reciprocal link is MUCH easier than obtaining a one way link. And if we are good enough to use this advantage we can still get great results. At least my experience shows this.
Also you wrote "If two way links "work", why is there zero ranking on google?". What's the point here? We are talking of a site born ONE week ago. I repeat: ONE week ago. And in ONE week I got good ranking (AND TRAFFIC) from Yahoo and a bit from MSN and Google. Yes, because after this SINGLE week of work I'm already getting visitors from Google.
What's the problem with the keyword "how to play acoustic guitar"? you say it's not competitive… well, do you think that I had to choose "make money"?
My target was to get decent traffic from SE's in the shortest period of time. To reach this I though to balance the keyword competition with the number of potential searches for that keyword. But I was quite surprised to have these results in 7 days.
Bottom line, dear Jack, maybe "one way link today really out guns the power in an exchanged link by about 10 to 1", maybe my keyword is not so competitive, maybe whatever you want, but if i'm not wrong I'm already getting double traffic with my 7 days old site than you are getting with your older (great) blog
Hi
How do you word the link request emails, do you have a link to a previous posting.
Thanks, Chris
I don't usually chime in on such discussions as most people simply have too basic an understanding of seo however, we are talking about marketing here and if a new site targets msn and yahoo to get started…THAT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO….because google will only come along later. Meanwhile he will not starve and have fish to take home to his family. Good for you. Getting the low hanging fruit is always the first and smartest thing to do. Keep going and win Google over time. Meanwhile eat, drink and be merry.
Normally I dont even bother with leaving comments on blogs, however I am glad Emanuele that you fired back on your success with SEO elite.
I find it very annoying that people are so quick to discount success because they have been told or believe that there is only one way to skin a cat.
At this point if exchanging links still works with measured results then why not try it. It workes for me and continues to do so in a some what competitive real estate market.
I think that before making a comment about whether or not the site was listed in Google I would have a least questioned how long the site had actually has been in online. It's pretty common knowledge that G does not generally list sites in its SERP very quickly (AKA) sandbox… myth or reality it does happen. Beyond that it should be noted that when it comes to G mainly or other search engines getting links in any fashion is the quickest way to get indexed and gets the ball rolling.
Exchanging links is a nice foundation to get thing started then you can start working to get those valuable one way links that really solidifies the site as a relevant a valuable resource.
My advice keep exchanging links until you see zero affect from them, none nada zero zilch.
Nice Job.
One last thing could you please post the link address ,or maybe someway of getting the info you spoke of when it comes to asking for the links?
Thanks,
Alan/Jacksonville, Fl
Emanuele,
My issue is not with you or with your success, it is with Jonathan holding your success up a claiming, "proof" that link exchanges still work, as though they work just like aways. Indeed that was the tone of his post.
I actually think you should be quite proud of your achievement and I actually recommend seeking as many terms that fit the profile rather then just one or two power terms because it creates sort of a mutual fund approach to traffic.
Just reading the post unchallanged you would think that this tool worked as good as it did back when its creator (Brad Callen) used it to rank number one on Google for the term "weight loss".
As for you getting more traffic then my blog I won't bother arguing that with you much. My blog has never been optimized for ranking and it does quite well. That blog is just one site of the dozens I maintain. There is not even any monitization of the blog, it exists simply to be a link magnet, gain link power so that I can use it to provide my own powerful links to other sites at will.
The result is a powerful PR5 site less then 90 days from launch. It just seemed Jon was trying to jazz up and sell the product as being more then it is.
I actually admire Jon a lot as well but if you can't be honest with people you admire who can you be honest with. Link exchanges are a good tool but they have their limits and I am sorry cause reading my own post I was indeed a bit over the top in making my point, Good luck with your blog and I will even find a way to toss you a link in the next week or two,
Jack
I agree , link exchanges are important. Keep up the good work
Yes! All Elite Guru's are throughing there comments.
I have also tried Elite software… waiting for back links to show up in search results !
Actually both sides of arguments are valid. One way links certainly are better than link exchanges, but it's good to have both. I can testify to that because our site has thousands of reciprocal links and we are ranked within top 10 on Google for keywords that has over 100 million pages! Of course that's a lot of hard work getting so many links.
Tom
Same question as Chris, above. I've looked all over your blog looking for the wording for a reciprocal link exchange letter.
Care to share?
Interesting comments on SEO and SEO Elite and the value of one way links, again, it is fine to have both exchanged and one way links. We did well with both. All my sites are highly targeted niche sites and I wanted to state that non competitive keyword phrases can do well as for my site I am pushing along for "DVD transfer services" just one if my long phrases but of course I also have many competitive keys such as DVD, Super 8, Mini DV abd VHS.
The point I want to make is any traffic from any SERP is money in the bank if it gets unique visitors. One way links are valuable if you have a site that can not have a link directory like one I own which is on a community portal so one way inbounds and swapping one way links is the only option.
Where SEO Elite helps me is to keep up with firece competitors in the tough niche Australian market not globally. Reciprical links are not dead, but one way links are hard to get so you have to find partners. I agree on "Got Links" comments above because most links are spammy and low quality, I used it once and never again it killed my google rank real fast.
I also wanted to say that everyone has overlooked the new phenonemon of social bookmarking which is another source of one way links.
cheers
Jono
Emanuele,
You mentioned "a specific way to write the link requests". What do you mean by that? I am also on John's list but maybe I missed something.
Can you give an example of how a link request you are sending yout looks like?
Thanks
Stefan
I think link exchange is the first thing we must consider when we want to bust our traffic
I tried to use SEO Elite to email potential link partners, but couldn't get it to recognize my email, as the ISP says the server requires authentication. It didn't work.
Al Weber.
You need to send emails from your own server from your website email accounts,sending bulk mail via yout ISP will get your account closed as it is against most ISP "acceptable use policies" so you use your email from your webserver. The help files have the answers. for the dudes looking for sample email request for links here you go.
Dear busy Site Manager/owner
I recently visited your web site and I was very impressed with the information and content.
We are currently writing the best web sites related to small format film” Super 8" and Standard 8MM or film transfer sites for the purpose of link exchange with highly relevant web sites to our web site www.avidtech.com.au.
We are a small video, film and audio to DVD outfit located in a small regional town in Victoria Australia.
Our PR4 page needs a boost as will our super 8 page and this is why I am approaching you for help with a link exchange request.
If you would be interested in assisting a small company on the web we would really like to hear from you.
We are not using a script, so your link is not on our directory, as we believe we should ask first, there is no obligation to respond.
Should you wish to exchange links please reply to this email and we will add your link, we are also willing to add a link on our home page PR4 as we are more interested in traffic than just getting a better PR, after all no visitors means we go broke.
I appreciate your time in reading and we apologise if this is an intrusion on your busy day.
All the best and thanks in advance
Jonathon
Avid Tech-DVD Transfers
Vidtoria's first choice for film transfer to DVD
Wonthaggi. Victoria. Australia
this is a gemuine mail I use, be honest and direct
about what you need and why. If you just want 2000 junk links to get up fast on MSN then pay the 19 bucks a month and use GotLinks or simolar
but kiss your butt goodbye if you want Google PR4 anytime soon let alone in the next 12 monhts.
As noted in the email example we are looking only for speciific targeted 100% relevant links for google optimisation not just the PR push which will come if you get those really tight and absoloodle relevant to the page you need to promote.
My site gets a lot of pages ranked and we only have a total of 800 reciprical links and a dew authority sites links in pages as opposed to the directory.
Quality links not qunatity will get you there faster.
Too many people only look for links to home pages and stuff it full of keywords, wrong, you really do need ot do the home work and the best thing about SEO Elite is that you can see the link strategy of sites that rank high but you have to look deeper than index pages.
regards
Jono
Dear Avid Tech DVD Transfers,
Thank you for your comments. I have my website hosted at Brainhosting.com (reallyimportant.info). I use SBC Yahoo DSL to interconnect with the Internet, and when I use SEO Elite to connect to the emails I created at reallyimportant.info, I get that error because of the server authentication. Are you suggesting I create a home web server to host the sites on ??? Thanks for your advice, and I like your letter. Jonathon wrote another post about sending out an invitation for them to add their link to your "directory", which is really a linking script on your site, and then with the thank you page, asking for a reciprocal link. You might consider this approach as well.
Al Weber
Jonathan,
What linking script do you recommend? I've used chipmunk scripts, which are free. They actually don't link (on the html) to the linking partner, but to the MySQL database with a lookup number that then acts as a redirect. I'd be interested in looking at whatever linking script you use. Thanks.
Al Weber
Well, that's an interesting post. I like posts where people argue each other opinion.
For my part, I'm not so convienced to buy this product SEO Elite because I'm not sure if it can give such benefits in my specific situation and because of the price. Of course, it certainly not bad to use one tool like that.
Let me explain you my situation. I currently own about 35+ domain name hosted on 10+ different web hosting services for my Class C IP diversity requirement and for my researches/labs purpose.
My last experiences done within the 2 last months shown me that when I launch a new web site by simply added the URL via the Submit URL page of MSN and Yahoo, I can get this page indexed within 1 week and even in the top 10 and sometimes even top 5 on MSN without using any SEO tools or back links.
You could think it's impossible but that's a real case I've noticed during my researches. You just need to consider the following points:
- The keyword I used is a non-competite keyword (KEI above 400), a value indicated by WordTracker. So I don't talk about more competitive keyword!
- The content of my web page is keyword optimized, which means the keyword density is at least of 1%.
And that's it!
Now with Google. Things are completely different. Doing the same things than gave me a Top 10 (and don't even expect a Top 5) within 1 week or even within 1 month.
After learning the trends, I finally succeed to be in the Top 10 for 25% of my 500+ keywords (KEI > 400) in Google. Sometimes even Top 2, Top 3, Top 5 with Google.
The strategy for Google is the same for Yahoo and MSN but with 1 important point is to be added:
- You need powerful links from 3-5 PR5 web sites. Having links from 3-5 PR5 web sites already pushes Google to index my new web in maximum 48 hours.
But it's both the keyword density content and the 1-way link that gives me those Top 10 in Google.
Now, I'm lucky to be member of a articles provider that provides:
- 400 quality keyword optimized articles on a monthly basis
- Access to 20+ powerful PR4-5-6 Web sites and blogs where I can put my new URLs or a URL I want to put some power on.
Well, that's my 0.02!
Hope it can help someone.
PS: If you need info about the articles provider, just contact PM.
Sorry, a major typo in my last post.
It's not:
"Now with Google. Things are completely different. Doing the same things than gave me a Top 10 (and don't even expect a Top 5) within 1 week or even within 1 month. "
But it's :
"Now with Google. Things are completely different. Doing the same things than with MSN and Yahoo N?NEVER gave me a Top 10 (and don't even expect a Top 5) within 1 week or even within 1 month. "
SEO Elite looks like an excellent product that will search for link exchange partners. I think I’m going to buy it very soon.
Jonathan,
I too have SEO Elite. But I have never used the backlink request function. Don't know why. Just lack of knowledge. I'll have to give it a try for I sure need more back links.
Thanks for the topic.
Denise
Hi.My first time here.
I really like your style of conducting your business Jonathon.
Just some random musings from me related to some of the posts.
I wonder if its well worthwhile to pick up some additional very obscure domains that it's a cinch to rank number one for with google.
Now it may be that once the rank is achieved for something obscure, that rank can be protected and then added to, without google penalising you.
In other words you just add more content on the stuff you really want to be known and seached for.
Meantime though you've got the easy rank.
Also I have a quick question for you John ( and others ) and it probably has no answer. I have a website called PropertyNow and I am googles darling for the search term propertynow or property now.
I'm a darling to the tune of Ranked one out of two hundred and sixty five million. My question is this.
How can I make use of that fact or is just somewhat irrelevent? I see sites everywhere making a big do about being one in google for a far lesser number.
You see what's the point if property now is searched as a term or phrase once a year etc. Is there any way for me to utilise this great ranking for that term that I am possibly missing.
If you want to rank well the single best piece of advice you will ever receive is this
Give the world something to click on.
This may not sound deep but think about it, as it's actually profound in terms of ranking
Give the world something to click on?
Surely it has to be more complicated than that to get ranked high in the engines?
Google and the other engines aren't necessarily about quality. You only have to take a look at some of the dreadful sites out there with high rankings.
One look at their content, or their design, and it becomes quite obvious that something other than quality is being measured by Google.
And it's a fair bet that in the majority of cases that something is the number and quality of the external links to their site, that is getting the Google vote.
So just give the world more places to click on if you want to dominate the rankings. In particular give it more places to click on than your competitor is giving.
Hello everyone.This post is related to this thread about links.
I am about to start a niche article site and would like some input.
I am thinking about whether it's better to offer my authors their own area of control. For example if cars were your thing you would own and control the car articles. You would need to post say 2 articles per week and the obvious benefit is that you have no competition for your keywords etc.
The downside is that there would have far fewer submissions this way but the upside is that what does go in will be more qualitative.
My question is - would you be more likely to visit and use, or submit to an article site, that operated in this manner?
Thanks in advance for your opinion. When I launch the site ( within days ) I may suggest to Jonathon the author spots to his readers before anyone else. Any thoughts on that Jonathon and readers?
Great Post. Very helpfull informations. Thanks a lot. Jürgen from Germany.