Got my first request for a link exchange today

[Dana_W]

...And it was from a site that said they had a PR of 2, which is lower than mine, and has NOTHING to do with my site's subject.

Not that I would participate in a link exchange anyway but if I were, I at least would want to do a link exchange with a site that was related to mine.

What I have done so far instead of link exchanges is write blog posts for other people's - related! - blogs that link back to mine, and also put a lot of good content on my site and link back to it from Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and Friendfeed (using ping.fm so I simultaneously update all of those sites).

[dvduval]

Yea, I usually report as spam these unsolicited link exchange request which are usually automated.

[melanied]

I get a lot of those. They're automated, and irritating.

They usually start out something like -

"Webmaster! Congratulations on your quality site!" LOL

[R Hagel]

Yep, I get those too.

I also get people wanting to exchange links with article directories. I don't own an article directory. But because I have a few articles posted on these sites, they think I own the site. Guess their bots can't tell the difference. lol


Cheers,
Becky

[Devon Brown]

Those link requests are definitely bogus, and the other laughable ones are the SEO companies who have automated fill-in forms for my website, my title tags, and pulled keywords. I don't like automation, I like personalization.

[Jagged]

I receive a few of these a week for a lot of my websites. 90% Automated BS... for the most part I just report as spam.

I have received a couple legit requests...one's targeted to a specific niche, actually related content that I have followed up on...

Ken

[Dan C. Rinnert]

The only ones I respond to anymore are the ones that offer to pay for a link.

First one was sold on a site where their link and the site's topic weren't even a close match, but they offered me more than the site made in AdSense in a year, so my response was SOLD!

[Dana_W]

For some reason I never got an emailed link exchange request before. And you all did??? Now I don't feel at all special.

Among other bad things that I have heard about link exchanges are that Google spiders can tell when you are doing link exchanges and they will count it against you. Doesn't sound smart. Although it would probably take more than one link exchange to raise the Googlebot red flags.

[melanied]

It does take more than one link exchange, because from just 2 or 3 or even 5, Google wouldn't be able to tell if you had arranged to link to each other or if you really just happened to be friends and colleagues.

[Shannon Tani]

How funny...I think I got the same request today. Was it for something to do with cedar?

I've recently been offered money for a link. Woot!

Love,
Shannon

[Garch]

I don't like automation, I like personalization.

Automation is a good thing, just as longs as there's a human behind the automation to fix things when they break.

[Shannon Tani]

Originally Posted by jpaduchak

Just a question, did either of you who were paid for a link advertise on your site that you would accept a paid link or did it just come out of the blue?

I don't list prices on my site. It came out of the blue.

Love,
Shannon