Do any of you share links with other sites in order to increase traffic or improve your search engine ranking? If so, what types of sites have you linked with?

My web designer suggested I do this with my website, but I am not quite sure what types of sites I should approach.

Derek

I think you mean link exchange and it's best to do it with sites that are exactly the same as yours.

If I had a virtual assistant website, I would never ever exchange links with a web design or template site. I would ask other virtual assistants to link to me and I would link to them.

There are a few things about getting links:

1 - If you start linking to people in your blog posts etc. soon they realize and they might give you links as well. Chances are high for this to happen.

2 - You can get 1,000 free links in a few days submitting to directories

3 - Don't expect much traffic from these links.

4 - Don't expect much search engine rankings from these links.

If you want real search engine rankings and a ton of back-links, start a blog on your website and write about the things you know and you are good at.
Then place a link to your blog in your signature here and read this post:
SEO: A simple way of getting your website indexed by search engines

I know your question was about link exchange but I know your concern and this was my solution.

I hope this helps

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"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
Albert Einstein

Hamid's right - while link trades can help get your site a bigger 'network' it really doesn't do as much for traffic as things like commenting on blogs (and filling in the URL field when you do so), building directory links back to your site, and actively participating in other online networking options.

If SEO is the main goal, then linkbuilding (submitting to directories) would be a good first step. The thing about trading links is the sheer amount of time it can take to locate and then get in touch with ideal link partners and negotiate web space can be counter-productive.

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Thanks for the advice. I was thinking about starting a blog, but I wasn't sure if I had enough to write about on a regular basis. I think I may give it a try though.

Depending on what sector your website operates in, you should obtain links from relevant websites within your industry.

Back links count for about 50% of the SEO process, in some cases (like full flash websites) around 80%.

By gathering links with the correct anchor/title text with your keyword(s) in can certainly increase your SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages). Also in some cases it can help you reach that number one position for you desired keyword(s). Especially if you obtain back links from trusted sites.

KP

KP, the industry is Virtual Assistance - that pretty much sums it up...and aside from a multitude, a literal SEA, of generally poorly ranked VA business sites (with the sometimes exceptional site with great PR and SERP weight) there isn't a ton to choose from in the way of 'relevant sites'...hence our other suggestions...

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Hmm, just took a quick look on Google.com and found....

Searches related to: Virtual Assistant....

virtual assistant jobs - real estate virtual assistant - virtual assistant india - virtual assistant services - virtual personal assistant - hire a virtual assistant - virtual receptionist - virtual assistant training

But looking at it again, I must say I'm surprised. I would have thought there would have been a larger market for that kind of thing.

There are quite a few keywords for that sector according to Google so there is plenty of scope for relevant back links.

This is not an industry I have had experience with so I may be way of the mark!!

KP

Yes, you're right there are a TON of keywords with lots of potential - but the industry is not populated with VAs who have a lot of experience with SEO (hence our little section here )

I'm not saying that trading links is useless - on the contrary. Just that the amount of work that would go into finding and conversing with other site owners for viable, worthwhile links might be better spent forging on down the list of free dirs at Directory Critic or better yet - focusing on on-site content.

To example just how easy it is - I recently redesigned a VAs website and did on-site SEO for her, no offsite campaigns at all. Within days she was P1 slot 3 for her keywords (which of course I won't share here LOL ) after residing in the nether regions of Google since her site's launch.

The industry is fairly new, certainly new to the concept of SEO.

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Originally Posted by Tess

The industry is fairly new, certainly new to the concept of SEO.

That will explain why I just looked at the results and actual competition and thought "Wow, how easy is this to crack?"

Congrats on getting P1 too!!

KP

Thanks ever so much!

We do try to provide the best basic info we can here to help members move up in the search results but many are struggling just to get through the startup phase - there's a lot that goes in to developing and maintaining a successful VA practice so SEO falls by the wayside until the business plan is in place, the website is up, the clients are contracted, etc. etc.

I always personally advise at least one hour of marketing per day (minimum) with a regular focus on SEO. The problem is the ROI for investing all that time isn't always immediately evident as say, handing our business cards at a networking event - even though in the long run SEO saves you the hassle of having to market as much. The irony!

It's a flourishing market - promising for both VAs themselves and those who might provide services to them (SEO or otherwise...)

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