I'm so confused

so confused with all these links

[amythepoet]

Hi,

I have good links on my site, but they are on my links pages, now do I need them also within my site? I don't want to mess up my site . I'm afraid of putting links on within the site as that will take people away from my site.

Please help me!

thanks

-a-

I think you are going to tell me that yes I need them on my home page and within all of my other pages, but if so, why?

[grandpa]

I think you are going to tell me that yes I need them on my home page and within all of my other pages, but if so, why?

I won't tell you that they are needed on your home page, or in the content pages of your site. You probably will get link requests that ask for them on your home page... I tell them to shove off.

Links pages are exactly what the name implies, *the* pages where you place links to other sites, reciprocated or not.

I'm afraid of putting links on within the site as that will take people away from my site.

This is the nature of the web, no? People search the engines, follow other links, type in interesting addresses. A recent discussion on this topic (sorry, no link available) makes several good points. If you have quality content then people won't surf away.. or at least they might bookmark your site before they do surf away. If you don't offer what someone is actually looking for, they will probably appreciate finding the link to their dreams on your site, and may remember you for that. Another way of looking at it... show me a site with 100% conversion rate and I'll tell you about a site that *should* be afraid of placing outbound links on the site.

The same general rules apply on my site(s) that I apply to people in person. Be useful, helpful, courteous, friendly, professional. Folks remember these qualities just as much as they remember negative qualities.

[amythepoet]

Yes thank you, good advice.

[chrisnrae]

"The same general rules apply on my site(s) that I apply to people in person. Be useful, helpful, courteous, friendly, professional. Folks remember these qualities just as much as they remember negative qualities."

Nice point. It gets said in here a lot - link where it makes sense. If you have an article on something that would be made more complete by linking to a government site offering additional information, then go for it. If you are using the bottom of your content pages as a spot to stick any old link exchanges, I wouldn't do it.

Good luck. It can be confusing at first, but keep reading here at WebmasterWorld and you'll soon have the hang of it.

[amythepoet]

Thank you, I'm reading : and learning a lot.