Forum Moderators: martinibuster
"If I link and provide traffic I'd like it reciprocated. Any chance of that? I thought I'd ask before I stick a link as these things ought to be reciprocal."
I conclude that what she's actually doing is asking for a link to her site from mine and just using the idea of her linking to my site as a cover.
So I explain to her my general linking policy:
"If I find a site and I like it and it's relevant to a page on my site, I will link to the site from that page. Whether anyone wants to link to a page on my site or not is up to them - but they should only do it if visitors to their own site or blog are likely to find the link useful."
Apparently slightly miffed, she replies:
"I wouldn't 'request' a link unless and until I myself decided to place a link to this site from my own, which I am not necessarily going to do either. If I do so I will let you know, if you do decide to link to me, great, if not, well then that's fine too."
I say:
"Great. That's exactly as it should be. None of this "I'll link to you if you link to me" nonsense."
She replies:
"Oh right - reciprocity is all of a sudden nonsense?! Fine!"
I respond:
"Not all of a sudden. Reciprocal linking has always been nonsense. If you like a site so much that you want to link to it, it shouldn't matter whether that site links back to you or not. If the prospect of a link back is what makes up your mind, then you don't like the site enough to link to it."
I link to sites all the time from pages on my site, if they're good quality, useful and relevant. I don't contact them to ask for a link back. If you genuinely want to "vote" for a site, a link back is an irrelevancy, isn't it?
Or am I missing something?
Or am I missing something?
Not at all - I think you've explained it to her extremely well. If she doesn't get it, then she doesn't get it.
TJ
If somebody want to link in to my site (I only have one for now) then fine. If not, that's that.
Some people simply cannot understand this. I kiss them off as politely as possible. -Larry
I get a LOT of link requests from people all over the world. As mine is a niche site and specific to one very small part of the world, it always floors me that people think that a link to or from a site in Viet Nam or China or Timbuktu would be a good thing for either site!
How stupid do webmasters think people are? Its time webmasters come to the reaslization that people are sick to death of seeing completely off topic links on more than half the web pages in the world!
People (surfers) are becoming more and more web savvy every day. They know why Pam's Bed & Breakfast site in Maine is linking to a hobby site in Australia ... and it ain't because that site is likely to be of interest to her potential clients! IMHO, this is a signal of a low quality website which can't help but reflect badly on Pam's Bed & Breakfast itself.
I'm simply not interested in this kind of nonsense. Since its not likely that my competitors will link to me, my (on topic) link possibilities are limited to directories and the occassional site in my region who hasn't been told that linking to other sites will "bleed" PR away from their site.
Why would I want a link from a travel site in Timbuktu? The chance of those persons planning to go to Timbuktu also being interested in visiting my part of the world are slim and none. Even if they were, who says they would be the least bit interested in what I sell?
Its my choice who I link to ... and I choose to be very selective. I only link to sites in my region or to on topic and well executed sites which are likely to be of interest to my clients and potential clients.
I'll let the search engines figure out the popularity and/or value of my site. By linking to sites which are of interest to my target audience, I believe I am helping them do just that!
Why confuse the poor little robots by sending them to Timbuktu? Are you planning to start a satellite company there? If not, I would suggest you think twice before swapping links! ;)
Sounds like she wanted any link and didn't care who it was. If she linked to you, she may of swiftly removed it once you put up her link.....
If she gave a one way link to you, that sounds more like a vote than anything else. Yeah, she was trying it on.
I can't stand this behaviour, if they like a site then link to it, or don't link to it. It's all this one-upmanship that irritates me hehe.
the link should be about the user. will your user find the information on the page that you are linking to valuable? if so, then link to it. don't worry about using javascript to horde your juice. forget about using any "nofollow". just link to the page. your users will be grateful, the link recipient will appreciate it, and the web will be a better place.
