Wenchy's World

Targeting Traffic Through Link Trades

By

Wenchy

Adult Copy

Time and time again I have been asked for my opinion on link trades. My standard response to these questions is that link trades are an absolute necessity for the success of any site, both in the realms of traffic and advertising.

Lately, however, a new question has started popping up; "I have a baseball card collection site. Should I trade recips with other baseball card collection sites?" My answer to this question is a resounding, "YES!"

Take a look around the web and what do you see? Major link lists with recips to other link lists; major TGPs with recips to other TGPs, targeted top lists with links to subject-specific sponsors or with subject-specific pop-ups. Targeting is what it's all about. Every surfer is different, and our main objective as webmasters is to give the surfer what they want. That's how we make a living.

Targeted traffic is the lifeblood of any site. When doing search engine work, we all shoot for a specific listing, either a category, a keyword, a niche, or a combination of the three. When doing top lists or link lists, we list our sites on a subject-specific top list or in a particular category on a link list. The idea behind all of this is to grab those surfers who want what you've got to offer. If you have a ladies' apparel site, what good is automotive traffic going to be? The same philosophy holds true with link trades.

Personally I can't think of a better way to get targeted traffic to your site than by swapping links with similar sites. When researching potential recip trade sites, you should always start with sites that are in some way similar to yours. If you have an Australian shepherd site, your list should be comprised of other Australian shepherd sites. If you have a gadget site, try to trade links with other gadget sites. This is not to say that you shouldn't trade links with other types of sites as well, but similar sites should be at the top of your list.

Always keep in mind that you can trade links with any type of site. Your recips can be to free sites, top lists, TGPs, a friend's site, link lists, or anything else you can find that fits into your niche or category. If your site is one of those subjects from way out in left field (carburetors from the 1920s comes to mind), then you'll have to work a bit harder and perhaps consider recips to somewhat similar sites rather than exact matches. Still, you need to remain focused on finding those similarities, regardless of the degree of difficulty in finding appropriate sites to trade with.

When trading links, always keep in mind two things; targeted traffic and diversity. Try to locate as many different types of link trades as possible that will provide you with targeted traffic. If you limit yourself to only trading links with free sites, you'll be missing out on a huge number of surfers who start their surfing sessions with link lists or TGPs or top lists.

You should attempt to mix up your recips a bit, too. Rather than having five recips on a page that all go to link lists, try having two to link lists, one to a TGP, and the last two to free sites. In the end this variety will net you better results.

Keep in mind that link trades are different than mandatory recips for link lists. Yes, both are valid sources of traffic and exposure, but there are distinct differences between the two. With a link trade, the object is to return traffic to the other site. Link trade recips are placed in high-visibility areas on both sites, thus increasing the traffic that is traded back and forth. A mandatory recip differs in that your site is no different than the hundreds of others in that list and your traffic return will be substantially lower simply due to the exposure of your site in the list. Don't get me wrong; you need those listings with the mandatory recip, too. But they aren't the same thing.

In order to provide your site with targeted traffic, you need link trades with similar sites. There are so many sites out there to choose from, you shouldn't have any problem finding more than enough to supply you with decent traffic sources as well as additional exposure for your site. A little common sense, a well-thought-out game plan, a little research, and you'll be ready to sit back and enjoy your new traffic. Yes, it's a lot of work at first, but the rewards will make every minute spent well worth the effort.

Wenchy