Link Exchange, Anyone?
Consider this post as an addendum to my previous article on Two-way Links. Sad to say, many people have not read that post inasmuch as many still want to make one on this blogger. Why make one? Simple. Many have asked me for a link exchange without linking back. Wow! What a good setup that must be if you have a one-way link from a PR4 blog. Does that sound fair? If yes, then where’s our ethics in blogging? Is there such ethics? Well, I honestly think there is.
Link building has always been important in blogging as I’ve previously written. It will help you increase your Technorati ranking, among other benefits. Your Technorati ranking alone can do so much for you to be able to join review companies like SponsoredReviews, Smorty, PayPerPost, etc., which may be beneficial to you as a blogger. Making money online is good. No question about that. But is that all that matters? For some bloggers out there, the answer is yes. Money is what matters most in blogging. However, having said that, the blogger must bear in mind some of the things that will make his blog successful in online venture:
Traffic. This refers to the number of visitors your blog gets daily. This is what fuels the blogging economy. But behind every blogger’s traffic are people who take some time out to go to his/her site either to say “Hello!”, drop a card or read posts and/or leave comments. But how can you attract people to go to your site if you have very little good articles to offer? In addition, how can you expect them to come back if you don’t update your blog by writing new articles or offering something new to see? This is partly related to the number of links in your blogroll. I said partly because other people like fellow bloggers (not in your blogroll) and web surfers can come to your site through search engines or other sites. However, the people who will go back to your site on a regular basis are most likely the ones in your blogroll. This is true especially to those blogs belonging to the Personal category. Some studies even indicate that the Personal blog category is one of the most successful in the blogosphere. The reasons were not given but I can deduce some of them via observations.
First, personal blogs have a more personal touch. Online friendship is common among and between bloggers. Filipino blogs are the most common blogs demonstrating this characteristic. Personal connections between these blogs are very strong. In fact, blogging has united many Filipino bloggers from around the world. There is that inexplicable feeling of joy when a Filipino finds a “kababayan” abroad who is also into blogging. It’s safe to say then that blogging has become a medium of communication among Filipinos to communicate with each other through sharing news, views and life stories. Filipinos, being clannish, tend to stick together when they are far apart from one another knowing that our history abroad (as employees, students or immigrants) is not all bed of roses. With blogging, the oceans that divide Filipinos seem to disappear. A 50,000-kilometer distance has become a shoutbox away. With these, a great need to belong exists. Hence, link building between Filipinos is as easy as a simple request away in the shoutbox or email, and visiting each other’s blogs is considered as good as a personal visit to a neighbor-friend’s house. In addition, traffic is relatively high for blogs in the Personal category. This is because Filipinos are basically sociable. We love to chat, we love to be with friends and family members and we highly value friendship.
Link Popularity. Another criterion for evaluating a blog’s worth (and another requirement for paid reviews) is its link popularity. Many online tools are available for bloggers to use. If you have used one before, then you know that your link popularity shows you who you are linked to and which sites you’ve left your blog URL in. Simply put, this is a measure of how visible your site is in the eyes of search engines. This is quantified by the number of sites (or pages within sites) that points to your blog address. To increase your link popularity, exchanging links is a good way. Another is leaving comments in other sites (but not too much or else you’ll be labeled as a spammer).
Two-way links are good but one-way links are even better, technically. This is perhaps the reason why more experienced bloggers can afford to make one on other bloggers – good ol’ benefits of a one-way link, particularly from a high-PR site. For economic reasons, one-way links are unquestionably favorable. How can you create quality one-way links is not an easy task. I only know three possible ways: 1) write good articles so that your article/s or your blog itself will be cited by others in their site with a link pointing to you (the Hard way); 2) request for a link exchange with other bloggers then screw them up by deleting their links after some time (the Easy way); and 3) buy links (the Easier way, if you have the means).
For my personal take on this matter, I always opted-in for the Hard way. Some bloggers have cited this blog in theirs because of articles I have written in the past without asking for a link back to them. The Easy and Easier ways are really not my thing. I’m sorry but they are some things I can’t stomach doing. Call it passive blogging or anything you want but I consider these practices unethical. I simply call them linking malpractices. Unfortunately, I have experienced things like these with my countrymen.
Perhaps this is the downside of Filipinos which can be traced back since the time of Lima Hong or Ferdinand Magellan – the infamous “talangka” mentality. For foreign nationals reading this post, this is a Filipino trait associated to too much greed and/or jealousy wherein one of the members in a group of Filipinos “pulls down” someone who is perceived to be succeeding, much like “talangkas” (crabs) in a basket trying to pull down each other just to get to the top.
I always tell students and friends here in my beautiful province (Ilocos Norte) that there are two possible ways to get to the top. Either you work hard to gain future rewards in terms of ranks, wealth, popularity, etc., or pull other people down. In school, this can be likened to two students. One burns the midnight oil studying his lessons just to get a high score in his exams and the other enjoys good times with friends then when the examination date comes, he cheats and gets the same score as the other student who crawled and scratched his way to a high score. Someday, both of them might even graduate as Cum Laudes.
This is the scenario I have observed in blogging. One works hard while another cheats. Again, just like in the analogy, both of them might even have the same Page Ranks or link popularity ratings. Worse, the one who cheats might even end up with a higher Page Rank or higher link popularity rating. For what reason should a blogger do this? For money? Where then is the spirit of fairness? Life is not fair alright. I know that. But that doesn’t warrant bloggers to be unfair just to get ahead of the pack so you can earn more money than the rest. You can always make money by being fair, if I’m not mistaken.
Technorati Ranking & Other Sites Metrics. This is another standard requirement for paid reviews. Your Technorati ranking shows the number of sites that link to yours. But doctrines of links state that not all link are created equal. If you’re linked to an important site like Yahoo! or NBC.com, then the weight of the link is much heavier than your link to less important sites. In Technorati, however, it seems that the number of sites linking to you (authority) relies solely on quantity of links and not quality of links.
Also, while it’s true blogging is competitive, the competition can be friendly in my view. We may compete (if we want to) in terms of PR’s, link popularity rating, Alexa ranking, and Technorati ranking without tricking anyone by deleting their links in your blogrolls for no ethical reason. This is something I despise. This is something any blogger should be watchful and cautious about – their blogrolls. You’ll really never know who you can trust there. Besides, these site metrics are temporary and volatile. A PR can vanish without notice, link popularity and Alexa rankings can go down, and your site can be banned from networks. But when people have begun liking you, have gotten somewhat attached to you and have put trust in what you write because of your writing style, high frequency of updates or your friendliness, they will keep coming back to your site. That’s a guarantee, a tried and tested formula. Further, if you write often, the search engines can also be your ally to drive more traffic to your site.
Personal Thoughts. For small blogs like this one, a link to another site is considered precious. It is a symbol of trust, an invisible bond between me and the other blogger. It’s nothing “personal” really, and I can always reciprocate by deleting their links here. But you see, this is such a waste of time. In fact, managing a very long blogroll by way of visiting each link is time-consuming. Have you even asked yourself if you are able to visit all sites in your blogroll during the same day? How many bloggers in your blogroll are your friends? How many of those bloggers visit your site at least once a week?
Blogging and blogrolling are in essence community building. You build communities and group of friends hoping that at least you as a person matter more than a series of zeros and ones in the virtual world. If this isn’t the case, then I’d rather delete everyone in my present blogroll, start fresh and begin to ask “Link exchange, anyone?”
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Tags: Friends' Blogs, Link Exchange, Two-way link
Kuya, I added your other blog already. Pls. check back if you’d want the anchor text changed to your preference.
Jennie’s last blog post..Recreational Places Review: Avilon Zoo
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once again, another good entry from Sir Jessie
thanks for sharing this info.
Tessa’s last blog post..Some College
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Ditto,Jess! Nice post:)
Yen’s last blog post..Slow..
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I like this post, tama lahat ng na-site mo.
liza’s last blog post..Healthy Snacks for the Brain
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another great post jessie. as always.
keep them coming.
joy’s last blog post..First Bite
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Hon, nagtataray ka na naman…tsk tsk tsk tsk!
manilenya’s last blog post..Para sa Aso
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Me JP! haha. Let’s exchange links. This post is indeed right. I agree. When i started blogging 7 months ago (novice pa), link exchange ang focus ko. Di ko pinipili kahit sino. Pero ngayon, di lang pala basta link ng link. You have to choose too.
Bro, i’ve added you in my list. Exchange list. Thanks in advance.
Btw, i’m i’ll be in Ilocos Norte (pagudpud) Feb 15. Meron akong project na gagawin.
ambo’s last blog post..By: Beng
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yahoo!!! at least adda representative ko. di bale ikaw na lang magtaray para sa akin. i certainly feel the same way, kaya when i was a newbie, well newbie pa rin naman ako sa blogging, i used to spend long hours visiting each site on my blog roll. only to realize, dagita adda ta blog roll ko di ko ida nakitan. like recently, adda napadpad dumawdawat ti link, saying kasi ni-link nak kano. di na pay malagip or di man lang nagbasa diay blog na naka-link pay laeng. paano naminduwa sa lang nga nakitak isuna, first idi dumawat ti link, then second nung chineck no in-add ko.
sapay ta adda kuryente idtan. TC!
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Hallo! Nice post & yes so very true! Actually I never ask for any link from my readers as I keep all my readers in mybloglog! BTW tq very much for dropping on my site! Have a very good day!
Good Boy’s last blog post..Money Saved Is Money Gained!!!
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Nice post, Jessie. Iba ka talaga!
Parang guilty ata ako dito - But how can you attract people to go to your site if you have very little good articles to offer? In addition, how can you expect them to come back if you don’t update your blog by writing new articles or offering something new to see? Bihira kasi akong magpost eh!
Anyway, I can not visit all sites in my blogroll during the same day, pero I make it a point to visit, at least once a week, yun ay kung makakapag online ako, hehehe.
Amor’s last blog post..Awards from Friends
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Great post. Keep it coming
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you finally posted it!!!and yes so very true talaga!!i just wish bloggers won\’t forget the real essence of blogging! i may be guilty of not making a lot of posts..hehehe..
but anyway, i still believe that sometimes some bloggers forget what the blogroll is for..
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Hi Jessie. This is a good post. A nice reminder for bloggers to do fair linking. I don\’t link persons who just leave a message on my chat box asking for ex-links when I know for a fact that they haven\’t bothered to read one of my entries.
Anyway, since you mentioned Technorati, here\’s a <a href=\
Rach (Heart of Rachel)’s last blog post..Tagged :: World Bang Meme
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Hmmm … the link didn’t post correctly but since you have the “last blog post” widget, you can just click on it. Thanks.
Rach (Heart of Rachel)’s last blog post..Tagged :: World Bang Meme
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Ohh, this was something you’ve already mentioned to me Kuya. Haven’t finished reading but i sure gonna come back!
Bye bye sa ngaun! Mother is nagging again, hehehe!
Scotty’s Princess’s last blog post..…And Their Journey To Forever Begins (Part I)
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wow this is great post! very true all what u\’ve written here! Amen!
.
im new sa x-links kasi hehehe
Rickavieves’s last blog post..Grapevine
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Nakss, when I started blogging, I would just say, “I’ll link you up to my blog ha, if it’s ok with you”, kasi naman wala pa sa vocabulary ko yang link-exchange or x-links. How my blogroll increase to the max, i presume you know.
“But when people have begun liking you, have gotten somewhat attached to you and have put trust in what you write because of your writing style, high frequency of updates or your friendliness, they will keep coming back to your site. That’s a guarantee, a tried and tested formula. Further, if you write often, the search engines can also be your ally to drive more traffic to your site.”
Some bloggers are just friendly I can never let down by not visiting their blogs. Believe in your writing style is one good point. And not to mention some advertisers to find your site and hire you (ha!ha) because of those points you mentioned above.
Smart and clever, Jessie!
Marlene’s last blog post..A Dream House In Sight
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@ All,
Thanks for your comments… I’m sorry I wasn’t able to respond to all of your comments. But i have a few noticeable points to answer here.
@ Manilenya,
I love you so much!
Bebe, hindi naman ako nagtataray. Realistic lang ako. Medyo tumatama nga lang tlga ang mga binibitawan ko. Well, it could only mean I’m not lying. Nasa mukha naman di ba? Hehe!
@ Ambo,
Indeed one of the many concerns of a newbie blogger is to increase his links. However, when you gain maturity and wisdom in blogging, it’s really not about the quantity of links that matter anymore but the quality of links. My post about Page Rank and how the quality of links explains this. If one links with a spammer or someone penalized by Google, this in turn will affect your PR. I’m saying this Ambo, not to you but to enlighten other readers why bloggers who have more experience in blogging do not link with just about anyone. Simply put, a lot of bloggers out there just want to link to you not for friendship or any personal connection but for the “link juice” that you could share care of your high PR. Personally, I think that’s just ain’t right.
@ Juliana,
Husto ka dita kabsat. Link lat kayat da ngem di da met pulos pumasyar wennu agbasa ti entries mo. Loko-loko da met unay ngamin sinno komat mangayat kadakwadan kasta. Di ngamin?
@ Rj & Rach,
You’re right, dear friends. Like I said, blogging is not just about Page Ranks and page hits. If you’re a part of a community, be a sport and try to give back what the community has given back to you. Try to reciprocate in any way you can to show that you just don’t want good things for yourself alone. If links are just what matters, then blogging would become a senseless field of endeavor. How can you expect other people to visit your site if you don’t pay them a visit? how can you even expect to be read if you don’t read others? Even top bloggers take time to read other small bloggers’ entries and leave a comment. The size of your blog in terms of ranks and ratings are not reflective of the actual value of your site. If other bloggers learn how to value the human side of blogging, then there is a high likelihood of success for their own blogs. This is true because basically, other people will make your blog successful, not just you and your efforts in coming up with the blog itself.
@ Amor,
Even if you don’t update frequently, if you find time to visit your friends once in a while then that would be a great contribution. It’s not a requirement to visit a site everyday but if you show people the conscious effort to pay attention to their site by saying a simple “Hello” or leaving a relevant comment, then still, you will be valued as a friend.
@ Marlene,
Thanks amiga. For me, my first concern is to establish a smooth interpersonal relationship (to the best of my abilities) with other people (bloggers and non-bloggers, offline and online). If you have observed, I seldom do paid ads here because of the clutter that they might cause in this blog (although I think I need to earn more by doing more paid ads, hahaha!). Friendliness is my best offer to others even if they don’t like me or are rude to me. I try to be as civil as possible because I don’t want to look like a jerk. Everybody’s welcome here in my house and this blogger will always welcome anyone with a big smile.
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Yup i agree bro. I’ve wrote about that topic sometime ago. Thanks for sharing this info to your readers. I want more!
ambo’s last blog post..By: monaco
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Ay sus..I love your blog, flattered naman ako at may isang Mr. Simbulan na gusto ang blog ko. Tama ka sometimes when we have nothing to say, mas ok na yung silip silip haha..speechless. Tag kita ulit at award sa new post ko, kulit no? Try mo yung Quiz,kahit dimo na e post..kakaaliw!:D. ok tong post mo nato..salute ako.
Joy’s last blog post..Award and tag
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@ Ambo,
I really feel that as bloggers (and writers) we have obligations to our readers… i hope maging katulad mo rin ang ibang bloggers, bro. Information is valuable in blogging. If other bloggers will learn from us, di ba iba rin yung feeling kahit na simple Thank you lang ang sabihin nila? Don’t wori, i’ll try to come up with more articles where others could learn… thanks for the comment (again). Hehehe
@ Joy,
Of course joy, you’re a fren… You’re blog is a good read about so many things… I also love the design. Girl na girl. Hahaha! Take care!
jessie’s last blog post..The Goodness of God
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Haay, ngayon lang ako ulet nakabalik dito… mukhang ang dami kong habulin… ur posts are so interesting! thanks for sharing lots of info… this post in particular is very well written…
nelson’s last blog post..Thanks for all your prayers!
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Link Exchange is a great idea, and would like to participate. I will also add your blog to the We Follow database (link not accepted: wefollow.consumedconsumer.org).
Consumed Consumer’s last blog post..Spot the Serial Killer Quiz
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I promised to be back and here I am! With a vengeance, hahaha! Kuya, I just would like to share a friend’s experience. I was hoping she shared it here but she hasn’t or still hasn’t. Uunahan ko na, haha!
You were right, blogging is more than just the PRs and the hitbacks. A friend of mine visited a link that is in her list. My friend left a message in her shoutbox. Thereafter, upon checking her own shoutbox, that
Scotty’s Princess’s last blog post..I Won!
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I promised to be back and here I am! With a vengeance, hahaha! Kuya, I just would like to share a friend’s experience. I was hoping she shared it here but she hasn’t or still hasn’t. Uunahan ko na, haha!
You were right, blogging is more than just the PRs and the hitbacks. A friend of mine visited a link that is in her list. My friend left a message in her shoutbox. Thereafter, upon checking her own shoutbox, that “girl” responded to her message saying, “O, bayad ko sa pagbisita mo sa bahay ko…”. My friend was fuming with rage! Of course, we do love the hitbacks, but hey, this is not the ONLY thing that matters! I am giving that girl the benefit of the doubt. She means well. But her words conveyed a different meaning- when you hit her back, she will return the favor, ONLY IF you hit her back… As if it’s the only thing that matters to you, to have more hitbacks.
Well, that experience happened to my friend and not to me. But incidentally, that same person she was talking about was also in my fabulous blogger’s list. Ang saya! Hehehe!
Scotty’s Princess’s last blog post..I Won!
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If someone request for link exchange, I always add them to my blogroll especially for those who are just starting to blog. I had been a neophyte blogger myself and I feel really thankful for those who helped me when I was just starting on my blog-adventure. I don’t really care whether it will benefit my page rank or whatsoever.
elaine’s last blog post..My Mushy Entrecard Contest
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@ Elaine,
That’s good… Buti naman ganyan ang attitude mo.
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mahirap palang mag comment dito kung mahina ka sa math.
this was well written.
i don’t blog for money,
nor for page rankings,
and i have not a clue what an RSS thingy majiggy is
or who alexa is…
i enjoy blogging as a means of expressing myself to anyone who will
“listen.”
mabuhay and more power to you
mr.math boy.
~chesca
chesca (exskindiver)’s last blog post..Nobody’s Life is Perfect
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