Linking to competitors

[richardb]

This is a no brainer but we are struggling to get competitors onboard!

Scenario: Our site is new but doing very well… however geographically our services are limited so why not link to competitors in geographically removed (non competitive) areas, e.g. people who find us on the web but choose not to bother due to geographical location rather than resuming their search click on the “partner companies” link and find the best match for them… OK it’s a link network, however, a genuine one rather than some spammy #*$!.

So you did it successfully, mind sharing how you did it?!

TIA

Rich

[webdoctor]

Depending on how clever you want to be, you could geotarget these links - detect the visitor's location, and if they're in an area you don't serve, recommend a LOCAL supplier from a database of suppliers and locations.

[mister charlie]

does your competitor offer an affiliate program, or can you negotiate some type of rev share on sales coming from you?

if so, you could offer your competitor's offerings in cities you don't service. if you are feeling adventurous, you could offer them as supplemental results in areas that you do serve. maybe feature your info prominently at top, and display their stuff below...

[richardb]

Thanks guys

Simply put we operate in regions (UK) A, B & C. We have located competitors (who rank well) in (UK) D, E, F…. and rather than loose trade we want to link to companies providing similar services in D, E, F….

I don’t think that we can geo target on a county wide basis, or can we?

Rich

[ytswy]

I don’t think that we can geo target on a county wide basis, or can we?

Looking at Google Analytcs for a UK based site, it's claiming to know where about 80% - 85% of UK visitors came from - UK ISPs usually assign IP addresses on a geographical basis AFAIK.

[richardb]

OK thanks M8

[pageoneresults]

You may want to consider starting a Distributor Network and set the benchmark in your industry. There is absolutely nothing wrong with providing the consumer with referrals to other companies outside your region. This should be naturally occurring anyway. I work with a few industrial type companies and they have territories. They've developed a list of companies that they feel comfortable referring those leads to, these are the assigned representatives for those territories. In turn, the leads come back from the Distributor Network.

Forget about the money for a moment. Get the thing set up first, start generating referrers to those competitors and it's going to raise a few eyebrows. ;)

You could also "get on the horn" (the telephone) and alert those companies to your plans. You never know, it might be the next big thing in your marketing efforts. ;)

[F_Rose]

We have a competitor linking to our site.

When I do a link: search on Google,they come up as no. 1.