How long do you keep it up?

[melaniejk]

Hi.
I sent several email messages to genealogy web sites telling them that I placed their link on my web page and would like a reciprocal link in exchange.
Now, the web sites that I sent these messages to all had "Reciprocal Link Pages" requesting that you send them an email telling them where you put their link.

I haven't heard from any of the sites yet. How long should I wait before I take down their link? For example, one site says that all submitted links will be reviewed and responded to within 24 hours. It's been 3 days. What do I do?

I would like links from these family history sites. But, I don't want to link to them if they have no intention of linking back to my site. And, since I only want to have so many links on my genealogy tools page it is preventing me from requesting other link exchanges.

I would love to hear how long you keep such links up?
Thank you.

[dilligaf]

Melanie, now you had to know you'd get a few views with that perfect description of your question.

This not advice, just what I do. I put it up unconfirmed for a month, e-mail the webmaster, wait three weeks, then don't display it but don't delete the record. I don't drop it as it keeps me from duplicating the process.

It's funny, I got two e-mails this week from people who had been dropped last week unconfirmed. Something about lost data... (smiley here) I posted them.

Found this http://www.seo-guy.com/forum/thread1277.html

[melaniejk]

Dilligaf,
Wow, I'm surprised you keep it up that long. The links I mean. ;)
Ok, I admit it. I realized the suggestive implication after I wrote the title and I still clicked Submit. :o

After the three weeks, before you "drop" the link do you notify them by email again?

I just sent a message to the one web site where they wrote it would be reviewed within 24 hours. I wrote that I would be deleting the link to their web site in 24 hours if I don't see a reciprocal link. And, I put in the title of the message, "Your PR6 link to be deleted". I figured that if the title on this thread can get a person to read it then why not use an attention getting subject line for an email. I guess I'll find out if it works soon enough. :)

Dilligaf, I guess I am not a patient person. I don't think I'd want to keep someone's link on my site for 3 weeks without hearing from them. I try to always answer my email messages within a few days. Most of the time it's the same day.

But, then again if I kept their link up long enough to count as a backlink and then "threaten" to take it down perhaps that would finally get their attention. Is that too cruel? :D

[dilligaf]

Melanie, I guess if you looked at the link one things for certain... I keep it up longer than His Uberness. (sorry, couldn't resist)

My thinking is that any number of these potential partners could be engaged in any number of other pursuits that may divert their attention from linking (some having any number of sites, perhaps checking them manually).

Honestly, it's more out of consideration for me that I afford the time. I'd much prefer to have a potentially valuable but useless link sit there for a bit (as I know what it costs me to find them) than to close the door early. In the end it's just a record in a db so why not.

What I'm finding pretty coonsisently though is that if they don't do it in a week or so it aint gonna happen about 90% of the time.

I don't bother to warn or suggest that I'll take it down. Just two notes, hello it's here... and hello it's still here... then it goes but stays in the db so I don't bother them again.

[owlcroft]

Keep in mind that the folks who run such sites are rarely professional webmasters, and with the best of intentions may not even read their email daily. With larger and/or commercial sites there's one standard, but with smaller and/or amateur sites, you need to grab your patience with both hands.

[rizla]

from my experience a lot of site-webmasters don't understand the power of links, don't know exactly what is PR (hey, it's the middle east here) and apply these requests as non-important-unreadable-spam,
when I need a link I'm calling by phone or writing to the site's manager private e-mail (when I can have it...), Once personal connection established - the chances are better.

[melaniejk]

Thanks everyone for your responses.

Well, all the sites that I asked for a link exchange were all commercial (no personal pages). And, the fact that they had a link exchange request page and a high PR on their home page suggests to me that they know links are good.

Calling by phone? Hmm, I hadn't thought of that. But, that could get pretty expensive. And, I'm kind of shy. Not that you can tell from my messages here, but in person I am. I don't think I'd feel comfortable calling a company and requesting a link to my small site.

Guess what? I got an email finally from the one I sent a message to last night saying I was taking their link down. They answered within 2 hours of that message. Hmm, this might be the way to go.

Thanks again.
Melanie

[rizla]

Good Luck,
U R not SHY if U don't believe in it :o . if U really want the link - get over it 8-|

much of my customers and projects came from personnal knowledge and human-trust rather than good price or proven professionalism.

[Robert]

[QUOTE=melaniejk]And, I'm kind of shy.[/QUOTE]

You are?

After reading your title for this forum, I had to clear the room of people, lock the doors and turn off the lights before I could see what it was about. :o

Thankfully it was not some new government standard infringing in our personal lives. I have finnaly convinced my wife 3 minutes/inches are both very long measurements.

[melaniejk]

Hi Robert.
You are too funny.
Yes, I am shy. Actually, really shy with people I don't know well.
But, on the internet.... I don't know.
My Leo traits tend to come out. I'm braver.
:)

[jocelyn]

[QUOTE=melaniejk]Guess what? I got an email finally from the one I sent a message to last night saying I was taking their link down. They answered within 2 hours of that message. Hmm, this might be the way to go.
[/QUOTE]
You found the speed up technique... As dilligaf said, if they don't reply within a week, 90% is they won't.

I put the link on the page and send the email saying they have 3 days to reply. I give them 72 hours, then I send the 'your link is removed' email. If you make them feel you mean business, usually they move their butt. It's an usual technique not to respond to the exchanges they don't like. If you forget to remove the link they got a free one...

[soupline]

is it your real picture ? You seem wonderful , you should find a boyfriend to help you out

don't take it badly i like everything in this like

see you there!

[dilligaf]

Yo Soup, you hitting on Jocelyn or Melanie?

Seriously though, hard to see how your art helps Melanies links. If you want to continue posting etc. Please realize.. 1. Your art may relate to everything, but not everything relates to your art. 2. There's a time and place for poetry... SEO Forums will provide either on only rare occassions and most of us speak english.

You are also welcome to put a link in your signature file.

[dilligaf]

Figured I'd throw this out there for what it's worth in the patience department. Got two e-mails today from a couple that weren't confirmed and about two weeks past the second notice. One was posted on a higher PR page than mine the second offered three ways to about 30 related sites all with links pages either PR-4/5 or new (not yet indexed).

[melaniejk]

Thanks Dilligaf for letting me know.
That's great that those sites finally responded with a link exchange. And, a good exchange at that.
Patience is a virtue.

[dilligaf]

Sorry to keep doing this but LMAO, here's a really good one. I had added ten of their sites and dropped them 3 weeks after the second e-mail.

"Thank you for your e-mail. I am really sorry to reply you late. I would love to add your site to our related 49 sites. If you are still interested in exchanging links with our sites, just reply me and I will post your site on our sites immediately. I will make your link outstanding by highlighting your link title."

They're all PR3-5 link pages and.... damn, I'm gonna have to put them on a whole new non-indexed no PR page (smiley here)

[SPARKO]

It is annoying how some people work .... you add there site ( they say your site will appear in 4 weeks or something rediculous ) I Ignore these fror a start unless they are High PR. Then Ive noticed this a few times after you remove their link you get an email saying sommet upon the lines of ' our link cannot be found ' pretending that its the first time they've ever seen your email .... ( just happens to be the day after you removed it because they haven't linked back for a month ).

I do it more strictly now if my link isnt on within the week there's is removed... I also stipulate this in the nicest possible way when doing reciprocals.

[seo guy]

Hey Im a leo too! July 28th how about you?

[Nick0r]

I'm obviously a chief link pimper but anyway, I would like to say that I'm yet to ask for a link exchange and get a negative reply or no reply at all. I've probably sent out about 50-100 emails for links to my site (NOTE: 80% of these weren't link exchanges, I wasn't linking back to them) and got positive links from them all. I guess I'm just in an easy field.

[melaniejk]

Aug.19th. I'm in the third decanate of Leo...which means I have many Virgo traits as well. It's an interesting mix.

[Nick0r]

hehehe I just noticed the title of this thread and wondered WTF :P

[seo guy]

Ahahahhahhahahahhahahahhahahahhahahah

[seo guy]

And out of 11 million + results we are #1 http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=how+long+do+you+keep+it+up

[Nick0r]

Lol!

[soupline]

thanks , many thanks , i went there it's ok.
Take care by the way

[melaniejk]

Soupline,
All you've been doing is spamming the forum.
And,your posts have been edited. I don't know what you are talking about.

Seo Guy,
Hmm. #1 Yikes. Not something I want to be know for. :o
Guess, I should be more careful. Temp. forgot that everything here is available via google forever. Should watch what I say...
So, I edited it. Please, forgive.

[seo guy]

heheh its all good

[wwhhomes]

I was looking for a DIY forum and found a thread saying 'How to get it up' and the thread had a few hundred visits, wonder how many were actually looking how to get a shelf up :o

Getting back to links. I have to admit being a bit of a tight arse where this is concerned. I dont put up a link to my page until I've seen it on there site, some webmasters argue about it but hey I want my PR.

Then every two months I go through a sample number of links and check PR / and to see if the link is still there, if the link has dropped to a PR1 from PR4 then it's dropped, if the link is not here, they get a snotty email and there link dropped too

What a badass I am :D

Darren

[Robert]

[QUOTE=melaniejk]Soupline,
Hmm. #1 Yikes. Not something I want to be know for. :o
[/QUOTE]

Just be thankful, it could be even worse.

Being #1 out of 11,000,000+ pages you should have got more traffic than anyone else. If visitors found the your post "helpful", you could have become known as the girl on the net that helped more people... ...than viagra. :rolleyes:

Too funny.

[melaniejk]

Robert, that is too funny.

Well, it's now 12,500,000. The number keeps getting bigger.
I tried editing the title. But, it didn't change on the SERPS. :(

Hmm, more traffic. I haven't seen any. And, I'm sure they would be disappointed if they visited my site. And, that wouldn't help get a sale. I do genealogy research and help people discover their roots. Perhaps, if I had a different link in my signature...one that could be of help to a person who found that listing. Then, watch the sales rise.
whoops.

[Robert]

Well rats!

I was hoping you would be getting alot of hits. I was going to suggest putting up an adsense ad and make millions from the Viagra ads.

I was just going to get a small cut of the action as reward for my suggestion. Nothing too large mind you, 45% would be fine.

It is funny how we can spend so much time working to be ranked higher, and then things like these go right to the top.

I have someone in my office that is trying to learn SEO. A couple days ago we were looking at spellweb to compare a few different combinations of phrases.

I looked today, and the page she is working on dropped about 40 spots to about #106, but spellweb is listed about #30, because it displays the last searches and was showing the keywords she was typing when g00gle got there.

Talk about adding insult to injury.

[melaniejk]

Ouch. Yes, that would hurt to then see spellweb listed higher. Almost makes a person want to give up. But, I see it as a challenge.

And, a 45% cut of the profits. Ouch, that would hurt too. But, it was your idea so I wouldn't have mind sharing if it would have worked.
;)

I'm not doing too well with the "family history" keyword that I'm targeting.
My site floats between 140 and once in awhile DigitalPoint shows I'm at 74, but I've never seen it there. They must use a different data center. I'm doing so poorly for that keyword I wouldn't be surprised to see a forum message of mine from here listed higher.

Well, I wish your co-worker luck.

Have a great night.

[Robert]

Wow, you went for the 45%!!!

I was willing to drop as low as 43%. :D

It looks like you have done quite a bit of work on your site, and have some great links and PR. Great job.

I will pm you about a couple other ideas later tonight. (Don't worry, I gave up on the viagra idea already) :rolleyes:

[melaniejk]

Hmm, no PM.
No other ideas?

[Robert]

Oops.... Sorry, I will pm you before I leave the office tonight.