Link Exchange Spam Example

Lets look a recent example of a link exchange email that was sent to us:

"This is John from xxxx Snowmobile. I found your site
marketposition.com and I really enjoyed it. The info is great and the
site is very easy to navigate.

Please consider adding the following info to your web site:

xxxxSnowmobile.com - Snowmobile Parts, Accessories and Apparel

I noticed some other snowmobile related links on this page:
http://www.marketposition.com/blog/archives/2007/10/reciprocallinks.html,
but any area on your site would be great. Let me know what you think.
Thanks!

Ride Safe,

John xxxx
xxxx Snowmobile
xxxx@xxxxsnowmobile.com
http://www.xxxxsnowmobile.com
1-800-xxx-xxxx"

How Link Exchange Software Attempts To Work

As you can tell in the email above, John probably hadn't done much to edit the basic template that came with their program. And obviously their program didn't work to find sites related to "snowmobiles". Since they ended up focusing on this page: http://www.marketposition.com/blog/archives/2007/10/reciprocallinks.html, I'm guessing that they had something about "link exchange" as one of the parameters of their search. Perhaps looking for snowmobile sites that had link exchange pages?

Many link exchange programs go through a lists of keywords that you build, scan through search engine results for related sites and harvest/download a page, section of a site, or entire site. They also scan for email addresses or phones numbers from those pages then use free or private look up systems like whois, public wikis, and other sources. And that is how a link exchange spam is born.

Link Exchange Spam Doesn't Work

The problem with this is that spam doesn't work. You can argue that the 1% or so that responds and adds a link is a "success". Well sure, first hurdle over, snowmobile spammer now has a new link back to their site but search engines aren't happy about random links on "link pages" which is where most of those links will go. Link pages have been ineffective for a really long time where as content pages with links in them tend to work much better.

As for those 1% responders, they often don't understand what search engine marketing is about, nor my friends, does the snowmobile guy. Having a link on a SEO/SEM like MarketPosition isn't going to count for much since we rarely if ever talk about snowmobiles. A link that is put just "...any area on your site..." won't count for much either.

Having a link on a specific web page of a site is what is important. A page that gets lots of views, that has lots of links to it, and gains new links all the time... that is where you ideally want a link to be. Barring that, on a page that is relevant and has some links is a second runner up. Lets say you were in the "architecture, engineering, and construction" category that Adobe.com markets to. Would you rather be highlighted on the AEC page, in a newer blog article of the AEC blog, or would you want to be listed on some blogger blog that was just created 10 days ago and that will link to anything that is sent it's way? Which will get more targeted traffic? Which is likely to be used as a resource by industry pundits and others for some time to come?

What If It Was Done Differently?

So what should he have done differently, aside from using the generic form letter/software? Well, how about actually appealing to the web site / web master? What about asking questions about the site, about a point in the article, developing a bit of repertoire for what the site links to and typically talks about before popping the link question? Similar to this XKCD comic, wanting high rankings through links doesn't make it real. High rankings may actually take some real world work and a bit of search engine knowledge in addition to links.

If snowmobile John did exchange a few emails with me, developed some trust, and then broached the subject, I'd tell him that I would be happy to link to his site under a few conditions (commonly known as the "what's in it for me" caveat). If he had a relevant search marketing article that was previous unpublished, he could submit that article for publishing consideration. If I liked it, it would probably end up on MarketPosition with a byline that included his name and a link back to his site like this article by Kent Lewis of Anvil Media. If it was a good article and became popular, it would gain him some visibility and it would give him an avenue to publish insights that might not be relevant to his snowmobile visitors. But you probably wouldn't get that with just a self serving "please, can I have a link, can I have a link?" type of email.

And if he were smart, (yes I looked at his web site) he would turn his generic, carbon copy e-commerce site into something more than just product descriptions and pricing. Consider writing up a guide to getting the best snow gear for the price. Create a review of the newest snow gear that includes MP3 pockets, pouches, integrated headphones, etc. and submit the guide to techy/news/gadget sites like Geeksugar, Gadget Lab, or others who are specifically within the snow sports industry. They may not only link to your article, but also write up a blurb talking about your review, the products, similar products, or something. Good or bad, you could get both a link and a fair amount of traffic. Maybe one day he'll learn, maybe not. Good luck and holiday wishes to all!

(Thanks to Randall Munroe for allowing me to republish his comic!)

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