3.4.2. Finding Link Partners 101 Top "Fraud-Exchange" Tricks
Now, where was I? Oh yes...
... Not everyone
is as honest as you are.
Trick #1... A month (or two) after you complete an exchange, some Webmasters will take your link down without telling you. That’s the easiest trick to detect. Here are some others...
#2) Make links page inaccessible via a clickpath from home page, or even via any page -- an “orphan” link page is BADLY regarded by Search Engines.
#3) Bury the the link-bearing page ten clicks deep. Almost as bad as #2.
#4) "You link to me first and I will link back.” There’s only one problem. She never links back.
#5) Too many outgoing links start cropping up on what becomes a “links page.”
A good partner is interested in reality... one or two context-sensitive links within relevant Content on a content page. And, if you find the right partner, you may not have any such problems. If you happen to hit the wrong person, if the sheep changes into a wolf...
Unless you are running automated link-checking software (ex., such as the advanced features of Value Exchange available only to SBI! owners), you have to check for this kind of nonsense. Even worse, you have to watch out for the following, which are truly nasty...
#6) Link partner sabotages the link-bearing page by adding a <META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="index, nofollow"> tag to it, or via robots.txt to achieve the same.
#7) Link partner runs the link through a redirect on his own page before sending it to you.
#8) Link partner gives fake links to you (ex., css-styled).
#9) Link partner frames the link-bearing page (which is a low Google PR, even a free geocities page) within a high-ranking site. You don’t get the benefit.
Those last four are truly ugly...
... graduating
from sleaze to thief. If you choose good partners, they are really
unlikely. But the first five tricks? Watch out. And finally...
#10) You submit an “add link” form -- only then do you find there is a hidden cost. This is more of a “gotcha” on a niche hub or themed directory. You can always leave if a link was only worth the few seconds it took to hit “submit.” Think twice about anyone who would use such a trick. Charges should be upfront -- that shows how they do business.
By the way, the advanced features of SBIers' Value Exchange does more than just check for the Top 5. It also checks for the “dirty tricks” such as the META NOFOLLOW nastiness (it even checks for the “nofollow” attribute that can be added to links and that accomplishes the same result within links). Heck, Value Exchange goes so far as to look for “invisibility tricks” that are not even listed above...
- link is “commented” out, making it invisible
- link text is in same color as the page’s background color, making it invisible
- link is inside a NOFRAMES tag, making it invisible
Like McDonald’s, SBI! and Value Exchange “do it all for you.”
No doubt about it... the manual process is simply not worth the effort. Remember, this is just to build a few links from “regular” Web sites to augment your inbound-only link program.
Luckily, there are tools to automate the process. SiteSell’s Value Exchange is the best way to make the exercise “worth the time.” It cuts down the tedious, time-sucking aspect AND keeps it real! You don’t “do it for the engines” -- you do it because it makes your site stronger, of greater value to your users. All you do is tailor it to keep your second “audience” (the SE spider) happy, too.
SIDEBAR
Value Exchange is simply the best, safest, real,
low-maintenance and effective value-exchange program on the Net.
All you have to do is sign up.
There is no registration fee.
After all this, you still want to do things manually? OK, let me give you a couple of tips/shortcuts...
MYLW: <<3.4.1 Manual Finding Link Partners 3.4.2 Fraud-Exchange Tricks 3.4.3 Use Search It>>
