Learn more by reading PPC Blog today.

Check out these Link Building tips

Incorrect Link Requests

The perfect example of how not to request a link

Link to me now - does not work. Hey I saw your site ... generic message ... please link to me does not work.

Personal Link Requests

What does work? The first thing you need to do is cross the impersonal boundaries the web offers. Be courteous, and make it obvious that you actually visited their site.

If they have a personal email in the site, ask that person. Do not immediately use the contact us link. Look through the site and see if it is a good site. If it is not a good site, or appears to have broken links all over, the site is not worth the effort. A bad site will eventually disappear after loosing enough money, and anyone who does not care enough to have their own links functional will probably not give you the time of day or does not care about their site.

Example Personalized Link Request

My opinion is that there should be no prototype email. Links are a business partnership and quality link exchanges will require some time investment.

Sections will be exceptionally similar, but the emails themselves...you should try to attach to the empathy or driving force each person exhibits on their site...

-------

example sent to a personal email (if they have one available)

hello <actual person>

I have been browsing around photography sites for hours now and just ran across yours...its awesome (stroke their ego)

wow your picture of that dove, bla bla bla...bird photography is one of my bla bla bla
(be specific)

I took this pic or a flying mongoose here: (look we are the same)

<optional>I have already added a link to your site on my cool sites page</optional> (/ pay them if you feel you need to... link or cash or whatever other offer. if you feel a phone call is necessary then you may want to give them your number or call them up versus send an email.)

your site visitors may well be interested in bla bla bla at my site bla bla (show them how linking to you benefits them)

if you like my site please consider linking to it however you like (let them know they have choices - don't come across as ordering them to do something)

or with this code (make it easy for them)

I think my site matches well with the theme on this page

either way thanks for reading this and keep posting the awesome photos (reminder ego stroke)

thanks
me
me at myemail.com
http://www.mywhateversite.com

Eric Ward & Linking

I was at a conference with the man who crafted Amazon's linking campaign and he said, "It is only worth asking for a link if you think the traffic you get from that link will be worth the effort." That is a very simple concept, but if you follow it then your efforts will usually not be wasted.

I sometimes do some more aggressive link buying, but for people new to the web Eric's tip is a valid starting place.

As you get more advanced then you may want to consider renting links and looking for links that effect search results even if they do not drive much traffic. Most beginners would probably be wasting their money if they rented links right out of the gate though.

Topical Links

Most search engines are not real strong at clustering documents right now. Over time they will get better at clustering documents though. If an authoritative site will exchange links, it is usually worth it.

Linking Spam

The thing you really want to look out for is viagra links, gambling links, and links to other off topic or poor quality sites. Chances are if the link is not somewhat exclusive it will eventually be worthless.

Automated Link Exchange Networks

Any person who can see that you are putting in honest effort and are sincere is much more likely to link to you. Do not join linking programs unless you want your inbox to get more cluttered. If you do make sure you use a separate, throw away email.

Many of these link sharing programs have tons of aggressive marketers in the prescription drug and gambling market in them. Generally wading through these link exchange sites is a waste of time.

Many of these same sites are designed such that incoming links (from other sites) all come to them and then they link out to you (a million links from the same site do not help as much as 100 different sites linking to you.)

Site Wide Link Exchange

Some people offer exchanges like "a link on every page of my site for a link on every page of your site." This usually does not help you much more than a single link from their best page would. In addition, it makes you question the quality of their content.

Create a Resource Links Directory

Consider making your own small onsite web directory so you can provide reciprocal links to some of the sites that link to you. No matter what you call it, a good idea is to call it a directory or resource list and not just links.

You also want to have your link directory organized so that it is a useful resource to your visitors.