Why your link exchanged request failed and what you can do instead

By Michael Bluejay  Chances are someone sent you here so you could learn why they didn't respond favorably to your link request. In this article Michael Bluejay will cover the main reasons why link requests fail.

Like other webmasters who run popular, high-ranking websites, he get requests every day to link to someone's site, usually in the form of a "reciprocal link." And like many of his fellow webmasters,  he trash 99.9% of those requests. Why? Take your pick:

• The requests are annoying form letters.
• The sites wanting link trades are worthless.
• Sites should be linked to on merit, not on whether you get a freaking return link.
  
  
  
  

If you want to increase your success at getting backlinks, here's what you need to do:

1. Build a good site. Make sure your site is worth linking to. This means it should be attractive, easy to use, and most importantly, have good content. If you don't have a decent site then stop right here because the only sites you could get to link to you are other crappy sites which won't help your rankings much.
2. If you're a business, be the best business in your field. If you're the best option for what you offer, you'll get links. If you're not, you don't deserve them.
3. Link to the other site first. Don't play games like "I'll link to you if you link to me." If you want to increase your chances of success, link to the other site first.
4. Don't threaten to delete your link if they don't link back. Nobody likes to be threatened. Never take down someone's link just because they didn't link back. If the only reason you put their link up was in hopes of getting a return link, then you shouldn't have linked to them in the first place.
5. Don't use phrases link "reciprocal link", "link trade", or "link exchange". These phrases are the quickest way to his Delete button (and these days, my spam filter). Instead, tell the other webmaster that you linked to their site, what your site is about, and that you hope they'll link back if they think it will be of interest to their own visitors. More information