Web site links policy
As a web site owner you will get requests from others to place a link from your website to theirs. Should you agree?
Not automatically. Most of these requests will be from misguided people who think that having lots of links will result in a better indexing of their site on Google. Google have a patent on their PageRank system so we do know a bit about how it works. They assign a PR value to each site based on the number and quality of incoming links. Some people think this is the magic bullet to get them top ranking on Google. It's not, it is just one of over 200 factors Google consider.
Good quality links to and from your website may benefit you and your visitors. Low quality links are best avoided.
This is how to decide who to link with:
- Are they proposing that you pay? Ignore them, Google sometimes reset the page rank to zero for sites that charge for links.
- Visit their home page - how easy is it to find their links page? If it's hard to find then their aim is to mislead Google rather than send "real" visitors to your website.
- Check the PR of their site. Don't accept links from PR zero sites.
- Having found their links page, look at some of the links they have. Are they about goods, services or information which might in some way be relevant to visitors to the parent site? Are there a few good quality relevant links or dozens of links to second-rate irrelevant sites?
- How "self-interested" do they sound? Is their request is along the lines of "tell us when you've done as we ask and we'll add a link back to your site"? More reassuring would be "We believe visitors to our site may be interested in yours and we would like your permission to add a link. We would also be grateful if you were to add a link back to our site."
- Can you tell if the request has come from the site owner or from a "marketing" company who may be less selective in their choice of links and more interested in quantity than relevance.
- What does their proposed link look like? Do they want an image link which might detract from your page? Typically a text link will be a short phrase as the link text with an associated sentence of description. Do you agree with the sentiment of that text? As the link is going to be on your web site the link may look like some kind of personal endorsement from you.
If you do link to other web-sites these are some things to consider:
- Will the links be useful to your customers.
- Do I want the target site to benefit from my high PR (if not the links can include a special "nofollow" instruction to Google).
- Do I risk losing the customer's interest to the other site?
- What is the PR of the target site? You don't want links from PR zero sites, they may reduce your own PR.
- If the customer does link to the other site will they find a list of my competitors there and risk me losing the customer?
- How prominent should the link be? If it's on the home page you risk people going there before you've had the chance to tell them about your product.
- Should the linked page replace mine or open in a new window? You can use target="_blank" in hypertext links to controls this behaviour (although it is classified as "deprecated" which means there is a long term intention to end it's use).
- Think carefully about the link you would like the other party to show - it is intended to attract visitors but should also be "Google friendly" and incorporate one or two relevant key phrases.
There are some special cases to think about too.
Your action is a matter of individual choice depending on your circumstances and commercial relationships.
- If you are a paying member of a trade association or professional body you should have an expectation that they will provide links from their website to yours. If not, seek the support of other members and raise it at the AGM.
- As a manufacturer should you link to retailers of your product? This is closely linked to whether you sell direct to the public. In general there is probably mutual benefit. But what if the retailer sells a competitor's product too? Might you lose sales?
- If you only link to some retailers then others will not unreasonably ask why you are favouring them. You should establish a links policy you can share with them. Perhaps categorise retailers based on sales volume, the extent of your product range they stock, the size of their stockholding, their relationships with your competitors.
- As a retailer should you link to manufacturers of products you sell? The manufacturer may sell direct and may list competing retailers. They may have announcements of new products which will damage your ability to sell stocks of the older model. On the other hand the information the manufacturer provides may benefit your customers and save you dealing with unproductive queries - such as manuals for obsolete models.
- As a wholesaler you are "piggy in the middle" and have to think very carefully about links to manufacturers and retailers. Is there a risk of those two parties eliminating you from the supply chain?
Should you ask permission before linking to another web site.
It is neither obligatory nor common practise but in the rare event of the other party complaining then you should remove the link promptly.
Can I stop someone else linking to my site.
In general it is to your benefit - they are sending visitors to your site. If there is a problem the first option is to ask them to remove the link. In extreme cases we can implement a technical block.
Deep linking.
This refers to links which go deep into another web site rather than, say, the home page. Deep links can be used to give access to useful information on another web-site without the visitor having to navigate to that from the other site's home page. In general deep linking is bad practise and can result in a legal challenge from the site owner as he may be losing the opportunity to benefit from those visitors. Deep links should only be implemented with the agreement of the site being linked to. Deep links to non-commercial sites, Government Information for example are less contentious.
What about paying for links from well-known directories.
Most common with "business pages" directories and in respect of holiday accommodation. Some are very expensive and not cost effective. If you do choose to try one of these services we can arrange for you to get statistics showing how many visitors they send your way (rather than relying solely on figures they provide). That will at least give you negotiating power at renewal time.
An online "yellow pages" directory who provide free phone and street address listings offered to add our web address for "only" £400 p.a. I wish I could get away with charging £20 per keystroke.
Don't pay for links from places you've never heard of and beware of actively promoted "free directory listings". Some of these are scams, you may find you have inadvertently signed up to an "enhanced listing" and will receive an invoice.