Gimikera Is In
Your resident gimikera is here to share her expeditions in this journey called life.
#1 Thou Shalt Always Put Up A Link BEFORE Asking For A Link
Putting up a link to someone before you ask them for a link is proper
linking etiquette and is much more effective than the alternative. If
you’re going to ask somebody for a link then don’t waste their time
unless you’ve already linked to them. This shows that you are serious
about linking with their site and haven’t just sp@mmed the universe
asking for links! And if you tell somebody that you’ve linked to them,
be sure that you really have. Otherwise, you’ve just lost your
credibility. By the way, always tell your prospective link partner
exactly how to link to your site.
#2 Thou Shalt Not Build Link Farms
I’m seeing this commandment being violated more all the time. Some
people are in such a rush to get links that they try to link to
EVERYBODY. They don’t have any type of cohesive theme to their link
directories. They are just a mish mash of totally unrelated websites
thrown together - in other words a "link farm"!
Think about the types of sites you want to link with and build a
useful directory that is complementary to what you are offering.
#3 Thou Shalt Not Hide Thy Link Directory!
This one really makes me want to smite somebody! Some guy will ask
you for a link, but when you go to his home page, you look around for
10 minutes and can’t find a way to get to his link area from there.
Most of these jokers are just trying to be sneaky and not let their
customers ever find the link directory. My general rule is that I
require a link to the link directory be prominently displayed on the
home page. If I can’t find it in 15 seconds or less, chances are nobody
else will and it’s of no value to me!
#4 Thou Shalt Have No More Than 50 Links On One page
Actually, 50 links on one page is really pushing it in my opinion.
If you have more than 50 links on one page, then you are doing
something wrong. Google now ignores most web pages that contain more
than about 50 links because many are just link farms. When I see the
4th Commandment being broken, it’s usually because somebody is trying
to have just one page of links. Of course, they’re usually violating
the 2nd commandment also because the site is usually a link farm too!
It’s very important that your links are broken up into relevant
categories and that each one isn’t over 50 links.
#5 Thou Shalt Only Ask For a Link When It Makes Sense For Both Websites!
This is a pet peeve of mine actually. I can’t stand when some idiot
wants me to add their Pet Food website to our Wedding Services
Directory! I don’t know what planet these people come from, but they
need to get a clue! Remember, you need to be building a valuable
resource with your link directory. If you are marketing Pet Food, then
build some kind of a Pets theme into your link directory, or maybe a
link directory of all the things to do in Pets perhaps. Be creative but
always keep this in mind. Your goal is to build a resource that will
attract the kind of people that would be interested in what you’re
offering. If you do this right, your business will pick up dramatically
because your link directory will always be attracting potential
customers.
#6 Thou Shalt Always Tell Others Where Their Link Is
Don’t make someone hunt for 10 minutes on your website to verify
that you posted their link. Just give them the URL where you’ve put the
link or tell them what category you posted them in. Everybody’s time is
valuable and nobody wants to hunt for their link for very long.
#7 Thou Shalt NOT SPAM For Link Requests
If you send email to unrelated web sites in your link directory
just because you want to possibly get a link, then you are spamming in
mind and spirit. The webmaster who receives this kind of email is not
going to be a happy camper because your web site does not remotely
match their web site and has nothing to offer their visitors. The
webmaster is most likely just going to delete your email but if you
catch them on a bad day, he might report you to the spam police. Either
way you loose! Make sure you only send email to sites that match your
chosen theme and tell them exactly what page you’d like to see your
link on in the letter. That way the person that gets your email will
know that you’ve actually been to their site and that you cared enough
to tell them where to stick your link!
#8 Thou Shalt Keep Thy Link Requests Short And Sweet!
Don’t tell people your whole life story when you ask for a link
because they really don’t care! When I get a link request, I’m looking
at these factors.
Is this site somewhat related to our site and does it fit in our links directory theme?
Has this person already linked to us?
Can I easily find their link area from the home page?
Does this site have a coherent theme or is it just a link farm?
Is the page that our link is on have 50 links or less?
Does at least the home page of the site have some Google PageRank?
If not, then I’ll probably let it slide if the site is fairly new.
So in your link request letter, just tell them where their link is
and where in their directory you’d like to be placed. Also, give them
the description that you’d like to use for your website’s listing too.
That’s all they need to know.
#9 Thou Shalt Always Keep Thy Word
If you tell somebody that you’re going to upgrade them to link
partner status, then make sure you do it right away or let them know
when they can expect it to be done. Update your link directory promptly
and always keep your word to your link partners. They did give you a
link when you asked for it and therefore deserve your respect.
#10 Thou Shalt Not Take Down Your Link Partner’s Link
If you give somebody a link, then don’t delete it when you think
nobody’s looking! I’ve seen people try to pull one over on me by
getting a link, then deciding to delete their entire link directory a
few months later! These people must think that a link directory is just
something that you do for a while and then delete when you have some
links or something. Linking is not just something you do for a bit and
then throw away - it’s a total way of life dude! When you’re doing
linking right, you’re building a valuable resource that will get lots
of traffic.
Yet another nifty command to use in Google is:
?intitle:index.of? [file extension] [file name]
Example: ?intitle:index.of? mp3 josh groban
Typing this command listed the parent directories of sites that contained MP3s of Josh Groban. I found a Quicktime version of his song To Where You Are using this index command.
[From the American political term ‘logrolling,’ which means supporting another's pet bill in the legislature in exchange for reciprocal support]
Nowadays, when you link to other bloggers’ blogs (and/or other bloggers’ specific blog entries) in your own blog, then you are blogrolling. This is frequently reciprocal, so if you see your blog link here, kindly add Gimikera Is In to your blogroll as well. If you wish to add your blog to this list, feel free to contact me through my email or through the guestbook. Thank you.
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