Link swap by location?

[mford]

I've read some old posts suggesting a link swap area on here and I agree an all-you-can-eat approach would lower the quality. However, I was wondering if it would be a good idea to experiment with a geographiclly based link database?

I think a database of location based sites would be a lot easier to moderate. What do you think?

[Dante_Maure]

Doesn't support the WebmasterWorld Mission Statement [webmasterworld.com] as per the following excerpt:

We are here for members to discuss the process of doing business. . . We are not here to actually do business with one another.

[mford]

Okay.. can someone suggest a good place for location based link swaps?

[Dante_Maure]

Okay.. can someone suggest a good place for location based link swaps?

The regional sections of both Yahoo and DMOZ, your local chamber of commerce website, and any other regional directories. (city and state guides etc.)

Start with the smallest geographical sphere and then expand progressively outwards.

Town> Neighboring Towns> City> Neighboring Cities> State> Region of Country> Country

[Marcia]

>>location based link swaps

Telemarketing for links ;)

Sometimes it can be as simple as using the local Yellow Pages. I'll be doing some sorely needed link development for a local person in a highly competitive market, and that's exactly what I'll use, to contact people with sites who are *not* in that industry, but whose sites would be of interest to the same potential customer base.

Lead development is an important part of the sales process, and sometimes the phone is the most efficient tool, time-wise.

[Monkscuba]

Not meaning to stray off topic, but in terms of relevance, especially for the all powerful Google, is a "location" link just as good as an "activity" link.

For example, if I had a site about making widgets in Denver Colorado, would links related to widgets be more important for PR and relevance than links from a company making tuna sandwiches in Denver? I know the answer already....It's anyones guess and so why not go for it. I do a search on Google for Denver "add url" or similar, which helps to find sites that will exchange links.

I try to get links all the time which are related to my activity, my location and even the same country (especially general guides to the country). Some of these links are getting good referrals, meaning we get less reliant on search engines and especially less reliant on Google. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify. Put your name all over the place. Just keep it relevant.

[mford]

Well, I've often read reports about online shopping habits where the customer does most of their research on the Internet only to go offline, either locally or by phone, to make their purchase. I'm sure there is a lot of potential for cross indexing but ultimately I end up thinking location, location, location.

Btw, thanks for the feedback so far.

[Marcia]

It probably depends to a degree on what type of site and the needs of searchers how important locality is.

Someone wanting to learn dog grooming won't care, but a person looking for a dog groomer will want one local. Someone looking to relocate would do a lot of searches specific to localities.

In some highly competitive markets a lot of sites are penalized, narrowing down linking possibilities. So going local is a good way to find clean sites with a potential for mutual audience to exchange traffic and links with. In some cases those exchanges can have an added benefit of bringing targeted local traffic that others wouldn't.