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Currently, there are XXX sites projected for the year end. The entire network is cross-linked and centrally manged, allowing Spammer? to reach any targeted psychographic and filter traffic to meet specific campaign objectives.
Try here:
[webmasterworld.com...]
here...
[webmasterworld.com...]
here...
[webmasterworld.com...]
...and here.
[webmasterworld.com...]
The site search [searchengineworld.com] is a very valuable tool. :)
Pendanticist.
If however extensive reading and research isn't your cup of tea...
don't do it... it's bad. There is nothing simple about it, and a very large subject.
<added> pardon my lack of attention - welcome to WebmasterWorld. ;)</added>
I will start by saying I strongly agree with fathom. If you want easy answers crosslinking is not a strategy for you. There are huge risks involved with crosslinking and I don’t think you’re ready.
Start back at linking strategy. Run a search for that and researching your industry. Search for building authority and linking outside the box. Search on hub or directory building. Search on interlinking, internal linking and navigation. Once you understand and comprehend those concepts and are able to successfully implement and maintain sites utilizing them, then and only then will I share my secrets of crosslinking with you. Why? Again, as fathom so creatively states [which is now my favorite line of the week]…
If however extensive reading and research isn't your cup of tea...
don't do it... it's bad. There is nothing simple about it, and a very large subject.
I’m not ever one to judge or point a finger and say no-no, although my children would attest that I am prone to lecture. If you want to know the truth, just about everything works on the web and for linking with Google. I believe it’s a matter of comprehension or perception even. You want to know what does amaze me rfgdxm1? It is how complicated people want to make things. Good effective linking is just plain common sense.
There’s always someone willing to walk on the edge, craving the rush that comes from risk, anticipating overnight success. Ok, I can get into that. First though you have to understand that taking those steps over the edge require a good deal of forethought and planning. Try some research on extreme sports. On the Today Show I saw an interview with a survivor of the avalanche in CALGARY, Alberta. He was so firm about how prepared they were, the training they went though and their confidence level and yet these incredible and very experienced skiers died.
What’s your website mean to you? Who is in charge of deciding on your marketing and promotion and do they understand the risks they take by not first determining a plan or strategy for promotion, optimization, marketing and linking. It will help when people start to take linking out of the box and begin to consider it’s greater potential in networking.
I’m not picking on you finditnow, in fact I really want you to come back and talk about it. I mean even though rfgdxm1 laughed at me <big grin> there was a question posed for you…
How many sites is this?
So, there’s a start for further discussion if you take pendanticist’s most excellent recommendations and begin to read up on some of these issues then jump back in with more talk. It’s not the questions that I think bother members but that need for “the answer” without taking the time to dig around in the trenches. It’s like give me the key and so I can open the door. Well I have given many of my keys freely over the years and will continue to add to the knowledge base as I can, as do all of us participating here at Webmasterworld.
Well at about this point my kids would yell stop! Enough! But really finditnow, this was fun. I hope you understand that when I post I think not only of you and what you’re needs are but all those other people reading this and their level of understanding. It can be difficult, really so please understand the position we take in responding to posts. For me it’s all about perception.
...and to expand on the key point of your post:
Good effective linking is just plain common sense.
Link as you would for the visitor... to amplify, expand, to cross from two for more primary themes that are distinctly different but share common markets or interests
(marine life, as to coral reefs, skin diving, scuba diving equipment, wreck diving, diving charters, live aboards, sailing, cruise charters, boating, whale-watching, deep-sea fishing, sport fishing, etc.) would be a very effective model for crosslinking.
But only if... the links are so the visitor is guided not the bot. The bot will do its job on its own.
The best cross-linking designs revolve around theming.
What not to do... cross-link for the sole purpose of developing PageRank, Link Popularity, or manipulating ranked positions such that you are results 1 - 10.
Many professionals do ride on the edge... and many are also quite prepared for the eventual fall from grace... disposing of those domains, IP's, hosts, and moving on without blinking a eye.
The remainder seldom can afford this disposability and tend to post here - I did nothing wrong and Google ban me.
the links are so the visitor is guided not the bot. The bot will do its job on its own. - fathom
Ah, very good to point out fathom and if I might add, the audience. Think in the broader terms. Beyond the visitor the audience is a compilation of these individual guests, each intent on a similar overall theme but entering from separate points, somehow related. Do you get what I mean?
In my opinion the really ideal way to crosslink is to actually build out each site with unique, relevant and fresh content. I suggest starting with a plan, one researched and well thought out.
Do you get what I mean?
indeed ;)
and isn't that really the magic ingredient... build sites for individual users and make sure they are done by the book and find a couple of quality links and add content and start to receive natural links and you'll beat most people in the serps... unless your in highly competitive land. But really it all starts with building for the user.
I personally spent a great deal of time reading Google's guidelines... they are very insightful... with this in mind, do 20 - 30 searches on unrelated topics at Google...
It's quite humorous how so many not-for-profit organizations without a hint of optimizations receive such high results.
The simple non-commercial approach - if you look deep is crosslinking of themes (other helpful sites) - helpful information to educate their (as paynt pointed out) "audience". In return many, many other site owners link to these trusting resources.
Check out ciml's posts in this thread. He's good on these issues and always gives us something solid that's basic and sound. And see heini's very sound advice there, also:
Cross linking without duplicate content [webmasterworld.com]
Also, there's a lot that can be done internally within sites for link text and distribution of Page Rank that's also intuitive for user navigation - safer and easier than going overboard with cross-linking with other sites.
It's a little different topic because it's dealing with internal structure, but if we look at some of the points brought out here:
Search Engine Theme Pyramids and Google [webmasterworld.com]
we can get the gist of the logic. By working within the site first and then broadening the view to include other sites, there are some principles that make the process and decisions a little easier.
But we can get so nervous it starts to get more confusing, and then we don't know where to begin. – Marcia
I guess that’s part of my point Marcia, shouldn’t this have been part of the plan in the beginning? These are fine strategies to consider, I’m all for linking up sites and I love to link or crosslink mega conglomerates of sites even better. My concern is when someone says they already have a plan in place to produce hundreds of sites by a certain date and now want to link them together, when the linking, especially crosslinking should have been figured out as part of the strategy done to develop the initial plan.
It would not be right to say do this and do that and you’ll be ok because without knowing every aspect of the plan already in place. I’d have to start with how many sites exactly, what are the themes, how do the sites relate, are you using mirrored templates or does each site offer unique, fresh and relevant content? Is this an obvious network of sites that you want everyone to know is held under one umbrella or is it cloak and dagger stuff where you’ve hidden the true ownership under different registrations for domain and hosting. Are we looking at one corporation or a University where I’d suggest one set of recommendations or is this a set of cloaked affiliate sites where my ideas and recommendations are totally different.
It seems people are still looking for a simple way to crosslink or interlink sites using patterns. You know, if I link site A to site B and link site B to site C not taking into consideration that site A is about pickles and site B is about diapers.
At the very least I’d suggest an external hub for the linking, to draw the sites together in a way that makes sense. That’s at least the safest plan if you haven’t considered how you’re going to connect the project before you begin.
While I link Marcia would rightfully appreciate my making it less confusing I prefer this method for getting my points across on this subject. I want people to be careful. I want them thinking about these concepts and issues at the beginning, in the planning phase and not after the fact. Don’t build all the houses without laying down the foundation for the streets first.
A conglomerate of sites linked together can be recognized as such by search engines and people like me who are digging around in the trenches. I see them come and go. The sad part of it is many times they also attach another linking program to this and draw in linking partners who are unaware that the conglomerate they are linking into is not built on a strong foundation. The ripple effect of problems many site owners experience when the big guy starts going down can be very annoying.
This is good though. We’re all suggesting more study and offering search ideas and referring to previous discussions.
When I posted the question (Is this SPAM) it was because I found a network of sites (approx. 200) which used the statement below to market their network.
"Currently, there are XXX sites projected for the year end. The entire network is cross-linked and centrally manged, allowing Spammer? to reach any targeted psychographic and filter traffic to meet specific campaign objectives."
The statement seemed suspect to me, having already read through the numerous posts on the issue of cross-linking. I apologize for not being clear at the outset.
Hopefully good would come from it. Having in mind now the twist of your original post, does anything here respond to your original comment?
Duplicate it.
