Reasons You Will Delete a Link Exchange Request Hands Down...

What makes you promptly delete an email?

[Teshka]

Ever get link exchange requests that are more like lectures? What lines will make you delete a request in annoyance without even reading it through?

Here are a few of mine....

We would appreciate if you could adhere to certain guidelines before we become link partners:(Uhm, no)

Let me tell you something about search engine optimization...(I know something about it; that's why my site is higher ranked than yours, and you're asking me for a link)

If you want to exhange links with us, click this, go here, and fill out this to make a request(Are you kidding--aren't you making a request from me?)

Amy email that goes on more than 2 paragraphs.

Sound familiar? I don't know about the rest of you, but I've only got so much time in the day (and I don't want to waste it reading letters from strangers), so my advice is to keep it short and sweet if you want a link. Oh, and atleast pretend you've gone to the front page of my site by mentioning the topic somewhere in the email...

[jo1ene]

How about those tell-tale signs that their first language is not English?

Or that they are a direct competitor. Or they are in a completly unrelated field?

Or they say, "I've placed your link here...", but they didn't?

[sit2510]

>>> If you want to exhange links with us, click this, go here, and fill out this to make a request

This will be the only one that I will delete immediately.

I think some people wrote long and boring link request as you described, because they were advised to write nice, sweet and personal e-mail or they use someone's else template. Good advice, of course, but wrong practice.

In most of the cases, I don't read between the lines, but click directly to the link page to see if my site is there and then look around the site a bit if time allows.

>>> so my advice is to keep it short and sweet if you want a link.

and that might not be enough. You also need "good image" if you want the link. What is "good image" - it means that you need to return good link with good link page too.

Each month I would not mind to exchange some links with PR0 sites in order to help some new sites to stand on their own feet a bit, but the problem is there are tremendous requests with PR0...Though I might be willing to help a few, but not everyone because my link exchange scheme is not for charity, so you need to think more creatively than others how to get high PR link with your PR0.

Be specific, serious, sweet, and humble in your e-mail request, and moreover, try to offer the best possible link location (permament) on your website for the "early-bird premier" link partners.

[GranPops]

Have now sent over 2,000 link requests, a reasonable amount from which to draw a few conclusions.

Who am I contacting?

Owner webmaster - always polite, whether yes or no.

Webmaster of large sites - perhaps an employee - nearly always opinionated and impolite.

Percentage replies:

Australia 73%
Mexico 60%
India 58%
Canada 56%
Holland 40%
UK 15%
USA 1%

Have also received many requests.
Am happy to give a link to a competitor.
Am happy to give a link to a new site regardless of PR.
The manner of asking has no effect on me, unless they are impolite - 13% actually are.

May all your search terms be No.1

GranPops

[martinibuster]

• Their website has copied content.
  
• Their reciprocal links section has as many categories as dmoz. :o

[Romeo]

I sometimes receive spam (different requests but always the same obscure wording) requesting link exchange but not telling for which site
"I'll keep the web address confidential ...".

LOL.

Regards,
R.

[jimbeetle]

I always like the great new link strategy.

You take the time and effort to link to each of my fifteen sites.

Then, when I get around to it, I'll give you a link back from each of 15 different pages in my nobody knows it's there, even I won't link to it, gray-barred, all orphaned pages, won't ever be found, standalone link directory.

It's a great deal!

[Jane_Doe]

I'll only link to you if you link to all fifteen thousand of my PR0 sites on topics ranging from body part enlargment to septic tanks.

I would like to exchange links. You put my link up first, let me know when my link is up and then maybe, just maybe someday, when the moon and planets are aligned just right, I'll link back to your site.

I'll link to you from my new, unindexed, orphan page and you link back to me from your PR6 home page, okay? It's fair because my site get lots more traffic than yours even though it's new and not in any seach engines. I can show you my Alexa rankings to prove how honest I am.

Let's exchange links. I'll link to you from my new, unindexed orphan page that shows PR6 on the toolbar because I'm really, really smart and I know how to do programming and can do cool stuff like this and you are most likely some idiot.

Link to me using this HTML - the one that actually has four links imbedded in it - and someday I'll maybe give you one link back, if you are lucky.

[figment88]

I generally delete link requests without an offer of payment.

[edit_g]

If the sender sending the request hasn't even bothered to (or can't) set up an email addy originating from the domain in question.

[digitalv]

Honestly I just delete EVERY link exchange request. If you're worth linking to, then I already know about you :)

If they've already linked to me, great, yay for me. If they haven't then they haven't. I get a lot of those requests, probably because my PR is 8, but I don't have an outbound link to a single site. Lots of inbound links, high PR, high search engine position ... why would I possibly want to link out to anyone?: :)

[nativenewyorker]

We've added your link to lowPRsiteA.tld

Please link back to us at higherPRsiteB.tld

Yeah, right!

[bnhall]

I don't like form letters, specifically the linkbuilder ones, that always say, "I am contacting you about cross linking. I am interested in <my url> because it looks like it's relevant to a site for which I am seeking links."

[bunltd]

what bnhall said. Get those form letters all the time, and they aren't even to the proper contact, they're usually a stab at a generic e-mail. [delete]

LisaB

[akogo]

When it looks like it's a request from a Zeus operator... The link page has "Put Your Header Info Here"... My link can't be found on the link page they said it was on... When I get two emails in a row form the same person. When I get the exact same email sent to other email addresses I use for different websites I have... When their email tells me how link popularity is important to search engines and why I should exchange links with them... When the subject of the email starts out "Regarding Our Partnership"...

[Webdetective]

What about zeus collective? I've been warned to avoid those links directories, because apparantly they have been penalized by Google. I have also noticed most have either 0PR or the PR meter greyed out on the Google Toolbar.

[PatrickDeese]

I got the best recip link ex request yet:

I visited your site and found it really useful for link exchange.

Why bother saying that the site is a useful site about "widgets" or whatever - hey - I thought your (PR 7) site was really useful for link exchange (with my PR 4 on the home page site).

[bether2]

When they want you to respond to the email before they'll tell you the URL of the website. (I think these kinds of requests usually come from link-building services.)

[conroy]

There is one going around that offers to put your link on a PR7 page in return for placing their client's link on one of your ~PR4 pages. Naturally, you rush to do this and reply to them - only to never hear from them again.

[Jane_Doe]

The latest scam I've been getting is people asking me to update the link to their new domain name when in reality I have never linked to their old domain name. The easy way to spot them is that they never seem give out the old URL I am supposed to update. I find most emails that start out saying "We have exchanged links in the past" more often than not means I have never exchanged links with them in the past.

Another scam I've been seeing lately is getting an email that pretends to be a response from an email I sent asking them to exchange links.

[arrowman]

How about those tell-tale signs that their first language is not English?

What's wrong with that?

[Powdork]

linkPartners, linkbuilders, linkageExpress, linksManager, etc. Straight to bin 13.

[bobothecat]

Link requests go to the trash can - not interested. No reason to link to outside sites. ( for me anyhow ).

[sidyadav]

I straight away delete those requests which are generated from an auto link-manager system. I prefer to talk to the site owner him/herself and then make a good deal.

Also, I delete those messages which have the PR factor in them - I exchange links more for traffic and less for PR (unlike most) and I often find that PR comes with it.

Sid

[Webdetective]

What's wrong with Linksmanager sites? I've gotten lots of good quality links from those. I do however like to avoid Zeus Collective sites.

Fred

[edited by: martinibuster at 10:02 pm (utc) on July 31, 2004]
[edit reason] Edited to stay On Topic. [/edit]

[Powdork]

What's wrong with Linksmanager sites? I've gotten lots of good quality links from those. I do however like to avoid Zeus Collective sites.

They devalue the link exchange experience, in my view.

[Freedom]

Anything from a widget website. That'll get you into a bad neighborhood quicking then linking to a widget mafia website.

Despite the fact that I post on my link instructions page in H1 that I will not exchange links with widget websites (among others) they still send me requests everyday. I also have an autoresponder to my link email address that states I will not accept widget link exchanges - and yet they still keep emailing me.

Widget webmasters are the most aggressive and offensive link exchange people out there.

If i offended anyone, ie Widget webmasters, I don't care.

[edited by: martinibuster at 10:59 pm (utc) on Aug. 1, 2004]
[edit reason] Widgetized. Thanks. [/edit]

[Searg]

My favorite is:

"As you know linking is a great search engine strategy and works well with google page rank!"

all of this coming from a pr 2 page...Geez that'll really help me out

[Jenstar]

If it begins with "Dear Sirs", especially when sent to one of my (very clearly) female oriented sites, delete delete delete.

[Webdetective]

Even better, how about the one that starts with:

"Dear Webmaster,

It was an absolute pleasure visiting your site [.....] and I found it truly worth to ask for a reciprocal link exchange with our
quality websites."

I tried temporarily removing my "Add your Link" link on my links directory page, so that other webmasters will be forced to email me to request a link exchange, instead of adding themselves. I figure this will help weed out the undesireables. Despite having had a self-explanatory "Add your Link" page, most webmasters ignore it anyway and ask me for a link exchange. I am using my own links directory script.

The funny thing is some of my backlinks showing up in Google search > link:www...myurl...com are from pills sites, so maybe we shouldn't necessarily rule out all pill sites.

The biggest problem I have had is the lack of available link partners related to my site. There aren't many sites related to private investigators and people searches who are exchanging links, so I have had to settle for more general links.

You will often get link requests from brand new PR 0 sites, so accepting those can really pay off when they soon gain in high ranking.
Fred