How to get links

Beg, borrow or buy?

[tomthumb2000]

Ok, so as far as i can gather you get links by:
1. Pay and freebie directories
2. Link exchanges
3. Buying links
4. Writing copy for other websites in return for a link
5. Just having good dopy on your site that naturally attracts links.

I've exhausted number 1. Then 2 and 3 are out as i believe google does not (or will not in the future) approve of this abused practice.
I have loads of good copy and i'm trying out number 5.
Is there anything else i've missed? What do people mean when they say they have an aggressive linking strategy?

[ken_b]

I suppose it may depend on the kind of site you have.

Most of the commercial link requests I get go something like this...

-----------------------

Please consider linking to us. Our website is..

www.somedomain.com

We sell blah, blah, blah.....

Thanks

Persons name
person@samedomain
Business name
Business phone number.
-------------------------
Those I look at, and most often link to IF they are really related to my topic. I actually look forward to getting related link requests like that. They're good for my readers and that makes them good for my site.

Then there are the ones that start out telling me they looked at my site and deemed it worthy of taking up space on the internet, and I should link to them because they are so great and my readers really deserve it.

Those I pretty much trash.

Trying to guilt me into linking back because they already linked to me pretty much lands a request in the trash too. If you like my site, link to it, no need to mention it to me when asking me for a link. If I like your site I'll link to it whether you link to me or not.

Basically, I don't do many "coordinated reciprocal" links.

Also I don't think I've linked to any pure affiliate sites, and don't plan to. The SE's do a fine job of showing those.

So what's the message here? A plain, simple, straight forward link request for a related site can work fine at getting one way inbounds.

Now if your really hunting PR, ignore this, it doesn't apply.

[tomthumb2000]

Strange, i had never thought of just asking for one way links. I run an information site and i pretty much assumed everyone else is as hungry for links as i am and would demand reciprocity (I have a feeling I'm making that word up...)

So that's what people with 'aggressive linking strategies do, they just beg links?

[limitup]

6. Start an affiliate program (and setup your affiliate links properly so they add to your link pop and PR)

[ken_b]

I don't think of link requests as begging.

They're simple requests. Some I can live with, some I can live without. :)

[buckworks]

7. Press releases

Regarding 2. ... don't be afraid of recip links if they're the sort that would make good sense to your human visitors.

[jaffstar]

6. Start an affiliate program (and setup your affiliate links properly so they add to your link pop and PR)

How are you doing this? through a 301?

[tomthumb2000]

Ok, sure begging isn't appropriate. I just never imagined people were so conscious of having quality outgoing links on their site.

How do press releases work?

And if you have something to sell how do you start up an affiliate program?

[arras]

administrate 1000 pages.

[arras]

sites like .co.uk .ws .cz.biz.whatever

[WA_Smith]

8. Passive method

use a portion of your website (a few pages) to ask for links.

8A link exchange

8b allow people to take a portion of information content in exchange for a link to the source, in that regard to aviod dup content allow no more than a certain percent. or make the content such that the formating will be different if it is published elsewhere [see wikipedia.org for a good example]

[justdave]

How do you set up an affiliate program so that the links add value to your link popularity?

[obiztek]

Build your own good content & administor multiple pages & sites is a good option.

[aleatrix]

Another webmaster and I (we met by exchanging links) have begun to email one another when we run into a quality links partner with good page rank. This gives us some potentially good links exchanges. Try asking other webmasters you trust for links referrals.

[xtro]

There is a simple way to get them - pay and u can get more than 4000 backlinks. Just putting ur paid link on LinuxFroum or Stanford University websites will give u more than 6000 backlinks.

[Robert Charlton]

Then there are the ones that start out telling me they looked at my site and deemed it worthy of taking up space on the internet, and I should link to them because they are so great and my readers really deserve it.

Those I pretty much trash.

ken_b - You've pretty much described part of the bind I find myself in when requesting one-way inbounds.

If I don't say something specific about the site, there's no evidence that I've taken the trouble to look at it. It could be an automated request.

If I do say something about the site, it is sort of beating around the bush, takes up reading time, and can sound like I'm sucking up.

How, from your perspective, would you suggest resolving this?

[ken_b]

Robert Charlton;

First, I don't want to give the impression that I'm any kind of expert on linking. I'm not, and I'm rather opinionated on the issue.

That said, I look pretty favorably on link requests that show that the person has actually looked at my site.

For example, if I have a section on some particular widgets and the link requestor sells those widgets or parts for them, it helps if they mention it. Something like.....

"We'd like to request you link to us. We sell x and b. Since you have a section about x and b, it seems like a pretty good match.

Our website is blahblah.blah

Thanks for your consideration,

signed, etc."

Simple, right to the point, gives me enough info to peak my interest, and lets me know they looked at my site enough to know if there really is a match.

That's a long way from what I was refering to with the comment you quoted.

[Crush]

Get lots of 1 way links? Blog spam :)

[edited by: martinibuster at 9:16 pm (utc) on April 20, 2005]
[edit reason] Spelling [/edit]

[nuevojefe]

6. Start an affiliate program (and setup your affiliate links properly so they add to your link pop and PR)

How are you doing this? through a 301?

?affid, 301, unique pages w/links to internal pages, etc :\;-)