The Ten Commandments of Linking (Part 1)
by Glenn Canady "Gorilla Website Marketing"


I've been teaching people the virtues of linking the right 
way for a long time in my book, "Gorilla Website Marketing".
However, there are many people out there that just haven't got
it figured out yet. It seems that we are in the middle of a
"linking crisis" and it's time that I did my part in helping 
to stop it before it gets out of hand! 

Right now, I'm getting about 20 link requests a day from
webmasters that haven't a clue about the right way to link! So I
decided to write the "Ten Commandments of Linking" to cover all
the basics for effective linking. If somebody told you to read
this article, you just might be violating one of them! If you
are, don't worry about it, you're not going to go to hell or
anything. But you might just get banned on Google and that's
almost worse than going to hell! Your website's search engine
rankings and traffic ALWAYS go up when you do linking right so
study them carefully and figure out if you're doing anything
wrong!

The Commandments

#1) Thou Shall 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. I do this on all my sites. For an example
of how I do this, just go to one of my link info page here:
http://www.5starshine.com/linkinfo.html

#2) Thou Shall 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.
For example, my website, 5 Star Shine, sells a unique type of
car wax that lasts for 5 years. If you look at my Automotive
Link Directory on this website, you'll notice that I have built
a nice directory about anything related to cars. Since I sell a
car related product, the people that will find useful
information in my directory are also a great source of potential
customers. I'm building a useful resource and that's why I've
been so successful with this directory. Pick some kind of a
niche that is complementary to what you are offering and build a
great themed directory. For example, if you sell merchandise,
you might build a gift directory. That's what I did with my
website, 5 Star Closeouts. Since the people that are in my "gift
directory" on this site are also potential buyers of my closeout
merchandise, it's a great way to build a useful resource AND let
potential customers know about my website. This seems to be
working really well.

#3) Thou Shall 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 Shall 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. To do this properly, you can use a
program like Zeus to organize your links properly. This is the
program that I use on all my sites and it's been the key for my
own number one rankings. If you'd like a discount on Zeus, be
sure to get a Gorilla Marketing membership at
http://www.gorillawebsitemarketing.com/membership.html

#5) Thou Shall 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 Thailand hotel website to my 5 Star
Shine automotive 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 a hotel in Thailand, then build
some kind of a travel theme into your link directory, or maybe a
link directory of all the things to do in Thailand 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. 


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Glenn Canady teaches fellow entrepreneurs how to get traffic to
their website with his course Gorilla Website Marketing.
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