Forum Moderators: martinibuster
How do I deal with those sites that do not reply - i.e. those sites that have gained a free incoming link and can't be bothered to reciprocate. They might not know the value of a good incoming link but I sure do!
I want to write to them and prompt them to reciprocate but of course in a way which doesn't suggest an ultimatum i.e. I don't want to say, 'if you don't link to us, we shall remove our link to you!'.
BUT, I do want the letter to be effective. I really don't know how to approach this and I'm amazed at the general reluctance to play ball. Our site has a PR of 5 which should be regarded as a good link.
Any ideas, friends?
It might seem strange coming from someone who's got sales background, but again maybe not so strange. When you think about it, a link exchange letter *is* a sales letter of sorts. Personally, I'd rather be dealt with straightforwardly than have someone give me a sales pitch and pretend that it isn't one.
- You want to link to me? - great, you can even tell, me but don't tell me you now want something in return.
Imagine snoozing off on a Sunday afternoon, and someone walks up your driveway cleans your car, rings your door bell and then asks you to either give him US$ 10, clean his car, or he will throw all the dirty water back all over it!
- You want me to link to you? - great tell me, be honest open and considerate and I will consider it.
Imagine the same guy above, ringing your door bell first and saying, hey I clean cars for a living and would love to clean yours, blah, blah, blah.
I'm not talking about the very transparent manipulation tactics, or classic "hostage" techniques such as... "I've added a link to your site and will leave it up if you link back to mine, otherwise it will be removed in X days/weeks".
I'm refering to something along these lines...
I've added a link to your widget resources page in the WidgetWorld Directory as I felt that it would be of benefit to our users. If you'd like to review the description I posted you can find it at (domain here). If the editorial is inaccurate in any way, or you would prefer to have the link removed for some reason, just let me know.If you feel that WidgetsWorld would be of value to your visitors as well, a reciprocal link would be welcomed, but is not required.
I haven't personally sent out such a request, but appreciated it when I received it. (and saved it as a reference as well)
So with this clarification offered, would you still feel offended by such an email?
Personally, I feel that this type of approach is not only straight forward, but uncommonly eloquent and professional.
Its really six and half a dozen, guys!
You may email a webmaster who is busy and wants told straight; you may email a webmaster who values courtesy above all else; you may email a webmaster who will judge your site from a technical point of view; you may email a webmaster who judges the content value of your site...
....at the end of the day there are a huge variety of people out there and there is not going to be one set way of selling them all at the same time! All youre doing is playing the numbers.
You have to take each case on an individual basis and tailor your email for each webmaster. We all know what we prefer to hear, but none of us know what the other guy wants to hear! :)
JOAT
ps I was "sold" by an email that went along the lines of...."Hi, I found your site in my favourite search engine, google...blah blah professional link exchange". ;)
It didnt work the second time i recieved the exact same email from a different person in the company wanting a link to another site.... :)
I did not respond, next day the same casino guy came with this excuse:
** Our server was undergoing maintenance so you might not have been able to
see the links below in our last mail. Here is a copy of the message again.
Thanks for your understanding **
The chances of you linking to my site if I don't ask are next to nil. The chances if I ask are 50/50. I think I will keep asking and if you happen to get an e:mail from me, I won't be offended if you trash it without opening it. :)
The issue at hand is how the requests are made.
Visit Thailand feels that you should never post a link to their site first... Marcia's pointed out how manipulative approaches can backfire.
Personally, I think that in this, like most things... it's how you go about doing these things that matters.
I look forward to hearing their feedback on the approach I outlined above, and I would love to hear from other WW members as well...
How would you feel about receiving an email like the one I quoted in my last post?
Would you be receptive?
Offended?
Or, would it simply be a matter of whether the site in question was worth linking to?
I'd be very surprised if many share Visit Thailand's position of discouraging any request that includes mention of your site already being linked to... but, I've been surprised before. ;)
So weigh in on the above questions and tell us about the link requests that you have been most impressed by.
What approaches have you personally been most receptive to?
I'm sure that all members that are actively soliciting links can benefit from your experience.
I do appreciate a polite letter.
The exact phrasing of the letter or whether or not they have given me a link doesn't really matter provided the letter is polite and they make it easy for me to check their site by providing a link. Also, I want to know exactly what they want me to say. I don't want to have to do any more work than I absolutely have to.
On the other hand, when I’m taking it outside the box I spend a bunch more time with how I intend to communicate and put a plan in place. That’s when I’m looking for that extra zing out of the link.
Great posts here folks. I am really happy to see this discussion bump up again because there is good information here and so helpful.
I rarely visit the site in question but when, and if I do, even if the description etc are not accurate, I would rarely reply unless it was a very useful link to me which is rarely the case, and the chances of me linking back are extremely remote.
It is strange just yesterday someone sent me an email saying they want to link to me - is that OK. I know the person, and the site both of which are of use to me and the site. I replied politely saying they can link by doing a, b and or c, but what was going through my mind is why are these gus even asking! Perhaps a few years back it was "sort of" polite to ask, but personally I think no more.
