Link checking software

is there a program everyone can agree on?

[sierra11b]

Does a good program exist that can help lighten the task?

I have a handful of links and am on the steady incline of links everyday. I can already tell it'll be a daunting task trying to maintain everything down the road. Makes me wonder where you guys find the time. ;)

Are there any good, reputable programs (free or not) that can help with this? Or is the manual way the only decent route? I realize that manual is good to perform now and then anyway, but...

I searched for this and found information on Xenu. But it seemed like a questionable program to some of you.

If it means having to spend $300 on reputable link checking software then i'll consider that a business investment.

Thanks in advance,

Eric

[ncreegan]

I use a custom php script. I have a site that sends out really good se traffic to many of my link partners, so it is important to me that my link stays up in return. It runs through a list of about 1000 sites daily.

There have been people that tried to trick the script by hiding recips in divs, same color bgs, etc, and at first I wrote a pretty hefty set of functions to search for any way I could think of to hide a link. The programming ended up getting very tedious, and as the database grew so did the resources required to iterate through it, so now in addition to sites that show no recip back, I flag sites that don't send more than a certain number of hits a day to be checked manually.

It's worked out nicely for me and now I only have to spend a couple minutes a day checking for dropped recips. I've even gone so far as to automate the messages sent to webmasters, giving them a friendly reminder of what sure is an honest mistake ;).

[WebDude911]

Hi,

I am curious if there are other ethical out-of-the-box software packages that are worth exploring to manage a links page vs. an internal solution. For instance, I have heard the names Zeus, Arelis and LinkCapture.com thrown around, but I am very skeptical of them all especially as they seem to border on being like a link farm,not tomention their automatic link collection processes could possibly run a risk with the engines - right? However, no link solution seems a poor choice also.

Any insight (or links to reviews) on all the link management tools available for consumers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
-WebDude

[Matt Probert]

Xenu questionable? I use it and find it a god-send. This on a site of over 2000 HTML pages, fully interlinked and with about 10,000 images also linked in.

Matt

[GuitarZan]

Hey,

Since people are throwing out names, just sticky me, and I will give you the one I have started using and love.

All the Best,

C.K.

[Woz]

GuitarZan, feel free to share in public.

Onya
Woz

[killeraces]

I'm new to this and would love to hear some good suggestions. Thanks.

[GuitarZan]

Hey,

Ok, I used LinkMachine at linkmachine.net

It really helps me organize link exchange campaigns, and it can do a number of things.

It does all the link checking for you, so you can see who took your link down if anyone did. It also does something with the "nofollow" tag I believe so if your partner is using this, it will also see that.

All the Best,

C.K.

[killeraces]

Thanks! I do worry about the "no follow" tags and the various robot file manipulations. People are getting sneakier all the time. *sigh*