I agree with you

Wow, Impressive thread. This is one to keep an eye on.

Jared

Whether you are exchanging or not, find sites like www.REindex.com and get on it. Sites like this that have reasonable google pr and alexa info are at least useful. Because they don't require linkback, they help you get found.

makes sense

Looks like I came to the right place! Thank you for generously sharing this info.

Doug. I'm going to your site for more info.

Reciprocation is not dead, by any means.

We do reciprocal link management for hundreds of domains, and we have done it for years. We do a lot of RE and home-related link work.
We always use relevance to subject as the driving factor. Forget all the rest.

You can waste a LOT of time over-analyzing links. Just get them, and keep getting them. Look forward, not back, and spend your precious time getting new links, not reviewing links that you've already earned, or chasing sites that won't link anyhow.

Stay out of link netwroks where everyone is forced to link to everyone else. That is not natural. But I do see that people get away with it, if they dilute the effect of the network. It's risky, though.

All the talk in the SEO world about reciprocation, as a general concept, being nullified has never been proven anywhere, by anyone. That kind of talk has been circulating since 2001. It's old. It's never held any water.

We can point to a lot of sites that use reciprocation as their primary means of earning link popularity, and they have held rock steady in the SERPs, for a long time.

Anyone who wants, can read our new mini-book:

Search Engine Optimization Basics For Real Estate-Related Websites

It's not a sales piece. It's a compliation of what we have learned in this business, since 1997.

SEO and linking is not rocket science. Again, do not over-analyze it.

Dirk, you are in the business of getting paid for providing reciprocal links for people and when you say .... "We always use relevance to subject as the driving factor. Forget all the rest. You can waste a LOT of time over-analyzing links." .... it seems that you are saying that checking to see if the links pages are actually listed in search engines and are spiderable so they will be of some benefit is a waste of time.

If that is indeed what you are saying them I would suggest that your comments should be taken with a grain of salt since this thread poses a threat to your business if people were to link on the basis of the links actually having some quality.

If people analyzed potential link partners as outlined at the beginning of this thread they would question the value of the links you provide in your business - and that is bad for your business.

Doug,

That is not what I am saying. Your points are valid.

Site that use no follow tags, robot exclusions and hidden directories are not playing above board. They should be avoided, when possible.

Sites that try these tricks often are just the victims of their own gamesmanship. They think they are pulling a fast one, but in fact, are likely hurting themselves.

Pages that are not indexed is another matter. It could be a new page, that will eventually get indexed. Also, Google's cache is working quite unreliably these days.

You could miss opportunities that are valid, using cache status.

However, earning links takes time. Every additional check and criteria that is added adds even more time to the process, as well as frustration. Link exchanage is something that is core to online marketing, but it is not core to being an RE agent. The less time doing it, the better, IMO.

So, yes, I agree, some links are of less value than others. It comes down to the time spent sorting it out, and the value of the outcome.

A similar argument could be made concerning PPC fraud. We all know it is there. Hunting it down to the individual click is maybe possible, but at what cost in time and effort?

Most people using PPC these days resign themsleves to some level of fraudulent cost, and then try to apply general methods to prevent it.

So, my adivce is more based on efficiency. It's hard enough getting links. It's doubly hard making sure they comply.

Limited value links exist. No argument there. But what is the limit of the value? That is somewhat unknown. Some SEO gurus claim that Google ignores nofollow tags anyhow. I am not claiming that to be the case, but we just don't know for sure how this all plays out.

Under that scenario, the links of limited value are not hurting, just not helping much. They may even drive some direct traffic. You never know.

May advice, from considerable experience, is to forge ahead anyhow, take them, and look forward.

Spend the rest of your time as an RE agent, not as a linkmaster.

My experience with reciprocal linking, over 8 years, is that the game players come and go (they move on to the next game), but responsible, above board sites constitute the vast majority of sites that reciprocate. Run with that knowledge, and leave therest in the dust.

Opinions vary. That's why we discuss the issues.

Doug,

Just to clarify, we use LinkSurvey (www.linksurvey.com) to validate our links. That means that the link was found by a search spider.

Sites that do not get indexed get weeded out of our prospect list, over time, since they are not showing up as reliable link partners.

Using www.linksurvey.com is an efficient means of accomplishing what you are discussing, and assures our clients that they are getting value in the links that are considered to be earned.

Just a clarification....

I had read that Google values links from other countries more than those in the states.

Does any one have any experience or thoughts on this approach?

bill@makenawailea.com
posted 11-12-2006 02:22 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I had read that Google values links from other countries more than those in the states.

Does any one have any experience or thoughts on this approach?

--------------------

Respectfully, my own experience leads me to conclude that what you've read has no merit.

be very careful whne navigating through SEO forums realted tl linking and link exchange. Most all of it is BAD ADVICE and just someone's goofy theory.

When it comes to real estate linking, link to and from other home and real estate related sites. Use your own discretion asto sites that you like, but ignore PR issues and such.

It is that simple....

Developing quality content and posting a variety of deep, educational information will ALWAYS trump any form of SEO or SEM strategies, long-term.

MaxReferrals

"Developing quality content and posting a variety of deep, educational information will ALWAYS trump any form of SEO or SEM strategies, long-term."

I agree that good content is a foundation for good results, but good content that is not structured for maximum SEO benefit, and is not promoted and well-linked, can sit and languish indefinitely.

There is no guarantee whatsoever that it will ever be seen, found, read or linked to by anyone. There is also no guarantee that the search engines will ever rank it well.

SEO work, done properly, is not independent of good site content, and it is not improper at all. It's just one component of a comprehensive web marketing strategy for a site.

Ignoring optimization and link development can work. I've seen it happen, but that was mostly in the old days. That was before anyone knew much of anything about optimization and the importance of links. A lot of people in the 1990s simply fell into good search results.

But that approach leaves a lot to chance. These days, it is very hard to compete with other sites that have their content well-developed, has it well-optimized, and then actively gets it linked.

Ignoring links and the optimization aspects of content is not competitive these days, short term, or long term.

Yes, there are exceptions. But for those of us who advise clients on strategy cannot just hope for those exceptions to materialize. Especially when proper and respectable optimization and linking tactics are readily accessible. Why compete with hands tied?

Here's a multi-page document that was specifically written for real estate professionals, using real estate examples:


Search Engine Optimization Basics For Real Estate-Related Websites

I hope it helps someone.

Damn Doug really knows his stuff.

Anyway doug want to trade links? I have numerous sites like:

http://www.mlsisland.com
http://www.mlsflatfeefsbo.com
http://www.flatfeemlsrhodeisland.com

all ranging from PR 1-4