Newsletter ArchiveSUBJECT: Building Traffic; Part 5 Welcome to the Internet 800 Directory Newsletter. We are in the fifth installment of "Building Traffic on Your Website". This week, we will be talking about using links to bring visitors to your site. Creating links to your web site is a great way to get qualified customers to visit your site. By obtaining links to your site from other Web sites, you create a free exchange of promoted services with the owner of a Web site that attracts the same audience as you. Most search engines determine the popularity of a page by analyzing how many links there are to it from other pages. Links will give your site a big relevancy boost, making your site return higher on the search engine returns. Some people think links to other sites might hurt them, fearing their customers will leave their site for another. The truth of the matter is, if you don't have what the visitor is looking for, they are going to leave anyway. I'm not advocating linking to your competition. I recommend linking to sites that provide information that someone visiting your web site might find useful. Also, there are some ways to keep your visitors at your site, while still providing them with links. If you want to keep your visitors on your site, add Target=_blank to the link: <a href="http://www.inter800.com" Target="_blank">. To set up links, start by going to the search engines. Do searches using your key words. Visit these sites. You are looking for sites that are not be in direct competition and that provide information you feel your visitor might find interesting. Create an e-mail template for requesting a link. Include in this template information about your site and a line of HTML code that links to your site. Make sure the link is welcoming and interesting. Don't just say "XYZ Web Site." Put some thought into it and don't make it too long. For example: The Internet 800 Directory -Looking for a product or service, use this directory of toll free numbers. Search by company, number and type of industry. Provide some positive feedback about their site. Comment on what you liked about their site and/or why you think the exchange of links will help both sites. If the exchange of links is agreed upon, send them a thank you note with a link to the page where their link is posted. Exchanging links with other sites can be a time-consuming project, but the rewards certainly make it worthwhile. All Contents Copyright ©1995-2001 The Internet 800 Directory Subscribe To The Newsletter: |