Improving the link popularity of your web site helps you to get higher search engine rankings. (Not sure what "link popularity" is? Read about link popularity.)
A good way to increase the link popularity of your web site is to contact other webmasters. Nowadays, webmasters get many link exchange email messages so it's more difficult to get noticed.
Do the following things to make sure that webmasters reply to your link exchange request:
1. Don't require too much action from the other webmaster
Some people write link exchange messages that read like this: "If you want to exchange links with us, click this, go here, and fill out this to make a request."
Remember that you ask the other webmaster and not the other way around. Link to the other web site first and tell the other webmaster where he can find the link.
2. Don't teach the other webmaster about search engine optimization
Don't tell the other webmaster how great the effect of a link exchange will be for the search engine ranking of both web sites. The other webmaster probably knows this anyway. Some people don't like to be taught in an email message they didn't request.
3. Keep your email message short.
Don't bore the other webmaster with long email messages. Come straight to the point, tell the other webmaster where he can find his link and where he can find easy to use copy/paste code for the link to your site.
4. The request email
When I receive link request emails, anything that has a generic subject line (i.e. attn webmaster, link request, We linked to your site! etc)
- Makes ludicrous claims (ie.e we believe ...)
- Doesn't use personal names (i.e. Dear Site Owner -- you want a link from me - find out my name!)
- Resembles an automated form email from bots
- Contains excessive grammar/spelling mistakes
- Are long and tells me how good links are for me etc etc etc.
- goes to the trash.
5. Don't ask for a link if the other web site is totally unrelated to your site
Many webmasters don't like it when they receive a request from a totally unrelated web site. Most people will only link to another web site if the other web site has something to offer for their visitors. Only write to related web sites.
6. Quality of content
I try to make sure that my links come from pages with original content that are not sourced from an affiliate program or duplicated hundreds of times on the Internet. I want links from websites that someone seemingly to have taken time and effort to put together. In addition, it is steer clear of ecommerce sites that is only recently launched and heavily SEOed.
7. Link to the other web site first
Make sure that you link to the other web site before asking for a link back. Why should the other webmaster link to you if you haven't bothered to link to him first?
Tell the other webmaster where he can find his link and make sure that the URL is correct.
8. Make sure that your web site has a professional design
It's very important that both your web site and your link pages have a professional design. Your company shouldn't look like a dubious shop. Professional site design is very important for the success of your linking campaign. I look for glaring typos, English mistakes, excessive fla shy banners, broken images, or the ever infamous animated Under Construction gifs.
9. The links page
Check what the links pages are like. Definitely avoid links pages that have over 50 links, or use dynamic URLs, or are not ind exed by search engines.
10. Be polite and humble
Don't praise your own web site. It's enough to mention your web site URL and to explain what both your site and the link partner's web site have in common.
Don't use superlatives or more than one exclamation mark in your email message. Do not use "sales talk" in your link exchange message, for example listing 5-10 benefits to the potential link partner.
11. The topic
Unless the links page of the site receives a large amount of traffic or that they have a high PageRank, stick to sites about the same topic as your own. If your site is about widgets, I usually look for sites that are about widgets, widgeting, or anything widget-users would find useful.
12. Don't use free email addresses
Do not use a free email account, for example "you@hotmail.com". It makes your link exchange mail seem like a spam mail.
13. The links page should be too far from the home page
Search engine bots are unlikely to go more than three levels deep on any website. So links buried deeper may not be found. When looking for quality links look for websites that provide links as close to the home page as possible. Even a massive site like BBC News has a rule that every piece of content must be available within three clicks of the News home page
14. Format of link
I usually look at the source code of the links page to make sure that I will be receiving honest inbound backlinks. Does the site use rel=nofollow or external redirects for their outbound links? If so, they won't benefit you at all (SEO-wise) unless the link gets many human clickthroughs.
15. Are they willing to put the link in a "real" page of their site?
If they are willing to place your link on a content page, then they are definitely my valued link partner.
16. If I see their phone number in the request email...
Then I'd classify them as a valueable link partner. The same goes to your request emails: always include your name and phone number in order to be trusted.
That's it for me. As you can see, I've only mentioned PageRank once. I believe that as long as a site has quality, it has a good potential (PageRank or otherwise) and is worthy to trade link with. Finally, although these are good criterias to stick to in order to identify good link partners when receiving requests, don't forget to see if you are adhering to these when you are the one sending requests!
For more detailed information see
