“Will you exchange links with me?”
- 22 Comment
It is a common occurence that I receive emails from individuals who ask me to do a link exchange. It is also quite common for me to disregard or email a “no” response to the request.
Why?
- I don’t know “you” (or your business/Web site) and you (most likely) don’t know me. It’s like if we met for the first time in person and instead of getting to know one another, you’re already selling me.
- My blog roll are sites I actually read, enjoy and feel comfortable endorsing to others. I promise if I like your site and read it, I’ll add it to my blog roll.
- Your blog/site has nothing to do with public relations, journalism, social media and/or technology. Those topics are kind of important to me.
- I’m part of a generic link spam campaign. Heck, you don’t even take the time to include my name.
This post does not refer to those who email or contact me with a sincere request or question. I enjoy finding new sources, sites and blogs to read. However, that will always be my first step. I must READ your site, want to come back and visit again and then decide for myself if it’s something I’d like to link to or include in my blog roll.
Your thoughts?
22 Comments on this post
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Kristina Allen said:
I completely agree with you.
When I was younger I used to run a popular fan site and even then when I would receive e-mails like the one you posted an image of, I knew enough to send it to trash without a response.
Today, being older and wiser (I hope) my philosophy is still the same with all the sites I run- TRASH it. If the sender isn’t going to take the time to find out about me, why should I take the time to find out about him/her when he/she is the one who is initiating the request!
September 20th, 2009 at 12:27 pm -
Selfish Mom said:
For me it totally depends on which of my blogs they’re after. If they want a link on Selfish Mom, the answer is no, because that’s my personal blog and all of my blogroll links are either friends of mine or sites I like. But my other blog, Filming In Brooklyn, is a very specific niche, and there’s a good chance that if they’re writing to me for a link, it’s a site my readers might like and vice versa. So, I check out their site, and if it has nothing to do with film, tv, production, or Brooklyn, I give them a very curt “Sorry, I don’t do link exchanges.” (Some beg after that, which gets them thrown into the spam folder forever.) But if it’s something I think might be related, I tell them I’ll check it out and leave it at that. I don’t want links that I had to make a deal for. If I like the site I add it. I’ve never checked to see if they’ve added me.
I really hate the whole idea of asking for links, asking for followers on Twitter, etc. I like these things to be organic.
September 20th, 2009 at 12:50 pm -
Meryl K. Evans said:
Those that email me link exchange requests don’t even come close to the topics I cover or read. After nine years of blogging — I think I can honestly say fewer than 10 requests came close to the topics I cover. Besides, people are nice enough to stop by my blog — so I’d like to point them to resources I enjoy, rather than add anyone and everyone who covers the topics I read and write about.
I’m with Selfish Mom — organic is the way to go. Numbers mean nothing if they’re not relevant.
September 20th, 2009 at 7:31 pm -
Ricardo Bueno said:
I disregard most if not all emails requesting a link exchange. First off, I don’t know the source (how can I trust it?). Second, well, I DON’T KNOW THE SOURCE! Lol. I think that’s my reason.
Take you and I for example Sarah, I’d gladly share a link with you. Why? Because we interact on Twitter. We’ve had exchanges there on occasion and so I trust you. I’ve never engaged on any level with either of these individuals (the ones writing the emails) so I have not reason to want to exchange links in any way whatsoever.
Anyway, just my thoughts on it…
September 20th, 2009 at 9:07 pm -
Cute Graphics said:
That looks like a request by a bot to be honest. It is very impersonal as you said. I tend to ignore these requests as well, unless I know the site and enjoy reading their content.
Anyhow I think it is fair to want to know about the site you are going to exchange links with, otherwise you would have tons of links to sites you don’t even like yourself.
September 20th, 2009 at 9:30 pm -
Erica Mueller said:
My readers trust me. They know the content they’re getting is good and if I highlight someone else’s post or content, it’s because I honestly think it could benefit my readers. Why would my links or blogroll be any different?
Even the ads on my site are very carefully selected. I never want my readers to feel I’m accepting ads just to make money, or doing a link exchange to boost my ranking in search engines.
September 21st, 2009 at 8:55 am -
Amanda @ High Impact Mom said:
I agree. I also get the emails often and find myself doing the same, disregarding or replying no. I’m not comfortable adding a link to a site I’m not familiar with or wouldn’t interest me. If I did wouldn’t it speak something to my integrity as a writer and person?
September 21st, 2009 at 9:01 am -
Justin said:
I agree I hate those e-mails. I don’t know if you get it but even worse are the spam comments. I really bugs me when someone won’t even use their real name in the comments. Those comments are generally not approved, the only way the may be approved is if they add real conversation and then I reserve the right to change your name from keywords to a real name.
September 21st, 2009 at 9:10 am -
Amber said:
Wow, that is extremely annoying. Do those people actually think that works? They are the reason that PR, SEO, etc. get bad reputations.
September 21st, 2009 at 11:01 am -
George Spink said:
I find that an offer to exchange links is often a one-way street. Like you, I post links to sites I like on my big band web site, Tuxedo Junction, and my blog, George’s Blog:
http://www.tuxjunction.net/bigbandlinks.htm
http://www.tuxjunction.net/favorites.htm
http://georgespink.blogspot.com/
Come to think of it, in a few minutes I’ll add a link to your site, Sarah, to George’s Blog, where I write about anything I feel like. My latest post answers the question men have been asking for months:
Who’s That Girl in the Rosetta Stone Commercial?
If you wish to reciprocate, that would be nice, but I certainly don’t expect it, Sarah.
I worked in public relations for a number of years. My favorite part was working with the media. I found it easy to talk with reporters and editors. I lived in Chicago then, my hometown, and a terrific media town — and without a doubt the best city in the whole world! Going to New York from time to time to meet with reporters and editors was always fun for me.
The downside of media relations work is that some clients think you should be able to persuade reporters to write whatever the client wants about them — and ASAP. That isn’t the way it works. Having worked as a writer and editor before I entered media relations, I was sensitive to what reporters and editors wanted.
Now that I’m retired, I enjoy working on my web site and blogs (I have more than one). I have enjoyed meeting you online, Sarah!
Your buddy,
George Spink
Los AngelesSeptember 21st, 2009 at 11:16 am -
Dataflurry said:
LOL, I hear ya. I get tons of those emails on a constant basis, and I only consider 1 out of 20 or so as relevant or having some value to me.
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:32 am -
kissing bears baskets said:
I would like to put some links and banners to my website so that I can get some traffic. I don’t want to go and use banner exchange websites but I want real people who owns their websites and can exchange links or banners with me. Do you know any place that I can find such information ?
September 24th, 2009 at 1:53 pm -
nc10 - john said:
Yeah, it looks like an automatic or spam request. I don’t think these work anymore anyway, except for reailly naive webmasters. Obviously, if you don’t ask you don’t get, but it’s usually the case that sites worth linking to don’t need to ask, because you already know about them
Don’t forget that linking to dodgy sites can harm your own site too!
September 27th, 2009 at 10:05 am -
Vicki Zerbee said:
Seems fair. And that’s really all a blog owner should be able to expect (and provide).
September 27th, 2009 at 12:57 pm -
Stormy said:
Hey! Yes that is extremely annoying. Do those people actually think that works? They are the reason that PR, SEO, etc. get bad reputations.
October 5th, 2009 at 4:47 pm -
buyer said:
Hello, I too would like to put some links and banners to my website so that I can get some traffic. I don’t want to go and use banner exchange websites but I want real people who owns their websites and can exchange links or banners with me.
October 5th, 2009 at 5:06 pm -
Metal Laptop Case said:
Yes, anyone with a popular website is bound to get a flood of these link exchange e-mails over the years. Spammers see your rankings and want to ride that by trying to get a link from you. These people rarely take the time to personalize their e-mails to actually make a connection first. Instead they are playing a numbers game. If they send a generic e-mail to hundreds of sites, maybe 1 or 2 dozen will actually want to exchange links.
October 7th, 2009 at 12:38 pm -
PSP Go said:
Good points. You can’t expect people to take the time to help you out if you don’t bother to take the time with them.
October 9th, 2009 at 3:54 pm -
Kristen said:
Really, he thought that was going to work? If I received an email as undistinctive as that I would trash it immediately! Does he even know your name! As far as the more personable requests, I totally agree with Selfish Mom in that it depends on which blog they are asking me on and what their content is-if it is applicable and has great content then I will consider it!
October 10th, 2009 at 4:36 pm -
Alex Making Money Wedding Planning said:
I just had to chime in here. I really understand your reasoning behind not linking to people you don’t trust, but not linking in general isn’t smart marketing if you’re blogging in any way to make money.
Those of you saying that you prefer organic links probably don’t blog to make any money. You’ve been in business for years, and make probably $200-$300 a month. I’ve been in blogging business for 6 months and I make that on a bad month.
I don’t sell bad advice, I don’t market crap or lie. You can see some just one of my websites on the link to my name if it didn’t remove it.
I make money doing what I love, writing about weddings and fashion. Understanding why those marketers are asking you for links is a good place to understand why the link back and forth is beneficial to both of you.
I have my blog that I write for personal reasons. I, like many of you, choose who I link out to on it. But any site where I am blogging and specifically making money doing so, I am more than open to blogroll exchanges.
If you have a 9 year old blog, you have no idea what kind of goldmine you have there. I guess that’s your choice not to monetize it, but I have my principles and make money at the same time. Win-win really.
Btw anyone that understands how to make money online will tell you that social media has no place other than links. Socializing is nice, but you limit your sales that way.
Oddly enough I found this site while trying to find a widget for my blogs that has the html for people to link back to me =D.
Best of luck to you all and sorry for my buttinsky =).
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:06 am -
Nicole said:
I just recently received an email asking me to do a little link exchange. The guy said that he reads my blog all time, but had never made a comment or anything. I went to his site, and looked at it. It looks like no one is reading it, and the material is a little blah. Plus, all of his links are on a static page that you have to clink on a link to get to while all of my links are flat out on my very front page for everyone to easily see and access. Any nice way to decline the email other than ignoring it?
November 17th, 2009 at 9:27 am -
Generic online said:
That simply looks like a request by a bot to be honest. It is very impersonal as you said. I tend to ignore these requests as well, unless I know the site and enjoy reading their content.
January 15th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
