Link Exchanges & Why They Don’t Work

Too often other website owners ask me to exchange links with them.   They hope that multiple reciprocal exchanges with many website owners will improve their natural search engine rankings.  Despite their best intentions, this strategy does not work.

Obtaining relevant links to your website is the single best way to improve your natural search engine ranks.  The boost from an inbound link is called “link juice”.  However, when you place a link on your website (i.e., outbound link), you actually are giving away link juice.

So who wins?  The website with the lower Google ranking wins.  That is, if your website has a 3 Google ranking and the other website has a 5 Google ranking, then you gain link juice from the exchange.  Of course, the owner of the 5-ranked site should know this information and, as a result, should not enter into an exchange arrangement.  If the websites have equal ranking, then there is a zero-sum gain from the exchange.

Further, a website owner can include a link but add in its code NF for “no follow”.  If this code is added, then the inbound link is rendered worthless for search engine optimization.

There is a criminal attorney directory called Criminal Defense Lawyers Nationwide.   It is a pretty nice site and it has allowed me to add Weiss & Associates, PC, my law firm, to their directory for a small price.  The cost?  That’s right, you guessed it, a link back to their site.  Criminal Defense Lawyers Nationwide has a Google rank of 1 while my WordPress blog has a ranking of 4.   So they did get better in the transaction.  Can you guess why I don’t mind?

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Blacklisted: The 5 Stages Of Death By Google

Before I share my harrowing tale, I need to tell you that I love Google.  I love that it “pushes” me qualified prospects who are looking to buy.  I love that it rewards those that provide helpful and valuable content.  And I love that the time and effort I spend mastering Google Adwords and search engine optimization gives me a competitive advantage.

My love affair with Google is so strong that I worked for months on getting a tour of its Meat-Packing District offices for me and my Entrepreneurs’ Organization colleagues, just so I could peak behind its curtain (and of course ride a Google scooter).

With that background, you can imagine my reaction when, last Tuesday, I got a snide email from an online marketing company that’s been courting my business saying:  “Hey Matt, you’ve been doing too much SEO.  Look’s like Google has blacklisted you.”

Needless to say, this was not the way I wanted to start my morning.

Denial

Initially, I thought “No way, this can’t be true”.  I immediately ran various searches of phrases that I “owned” the 1st or 2nd organic position, and saw that my website was no where to be found!  I had almost no pages even indexed with Google (just a few obscure pages).

Anger

My initial reaction of denial changed to anger.  “How could they do this to ME?”.  I don’t infringe on other’s content and don’t engage in online trickery such as duplicating content, hiding text, buying links, or stuffing keywords. I had been stabbed in the back by my best friend and it wasn’t even the Ides of March.

Bargaining

My anger turned to a resolve to work this out.  I’ll contact Google and make a deal.  I submitted an email to help@google.com and relatively quickly got the following response:  “Due to a high volume of email, we currently respond only to messages submitted through specific forms in these Help Centers.” Of course, Google doesn’t have a specific form for blacklisting or disappearing websites so this response was un-helpful.

Depression

With no one with which to bargain, I became depressed.  How can my business survive without Google?  I’m screwed!  I  might as well just close up shop.  I had sent out various pleas for help but had lost all faith that their responses would help.

Acceptance

I started coming out of my depression when I realized that being blacklisted by Google apparently doesn’t affect your pay-per-click campaign.  That is, while you can be removed from Google’s organic search results for violating its terms of service, Google apparently will still take your money to promote the same website via pay per click.

I’d just have to accept the idea that my Google presence would be limited to Adwords, the online version of crack (i.e., Adwords gets you high but you need to continually feed your habit to stay there).  C’est la vie.

Salvation

But wait … the winds of change blew again.  Like a passing storm, the sun came out and I no longer had to accept my fate.  A search on Saturday morning revealed that I was back in Google’s good graces.  Apparently, it was just a glitch in Google’s crawling system and when its spiders re-crawled my website, my prior organic positions were restored.  My grieving was over.

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder.  Well, after just 4 days without it, my love for Google couldn’t be any stronger.  I ♥ Google.

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Speeding Motorist Hijacks Police Department’s Website

As a result of Tennessee resident Brian McCrary being issued a $90 speeding ticket from a speed camera, he ended up acquiring the Bluff City Police Department’s website.

In researching speed enforcement cameras, McCrary noticed that the police department’s URL was about to expire.  Apparently, the employee responsible for renewing it was out sick and let it expire (despite various warning emails sent by Go Daddy.com).

McCrary then scooped in and purchased bluffcitypd.com and has become an anti-speed camera activist by using this web domain to post speeding ticket information to help speeding motorists.  The image to the left showing a smiling police badge with a wad of money is the website’s mascot.

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Turning Traffic Control Devices Into Jewelry

Collegiate entrepreneur and artisan Nicholas Kingsbury had a unique idea.  He was out with his friends one night and glanced over at a traffic cone.  It dawned on him that he could make jewelry and accessories out of it.  He felt jewelry from a pylon was unique and a conversation starter.  He cut a swatch off the pylon, and made a primitive wrist band.  He wore it out the following night and all of his friends loved it.  He made more and quickly sold them all.   A few months later Nicholas had a patent and launched an eCommerce web site called Hazardline.com.

Hazardline now sells various wrist bands, belts, key chains, pendants and other accessories, all created from traffic cones.  A traffic control device customarily used to restrict movement transformed into a fashion statement.  I had an opportunity to meet Nicholas recently and he explained his unique business as follows:

“I started Hazard Line to offer a brand of fashion accessories that really brings out the wearer’s identity.  The products are very loud and noticeable, yet attractive.  The wearer of my jewelry is saying ‘I am not afraid to be noticed.  I refuse to blend into the crowd.’  The material of the jewelry is the most important aspect.  Traditionally, the traffic cone is a symbol of restriction.  Any time you see one, it means you are prevented from turning, proceeding further or engage in some other driving maneuver.  Transforming a traffic cone into an accessory and wearing it symbolizes triumph over that symbol of restriction.”

Hazardline is a green conscious business. When traffic cones get destroyed or too worn down over the years, they are not recycled.  Old traffic cones get thrown in a dump.  Not very eco-friendly.  Hazard Line is dedicated to avoid such waste.  A large construction company called Inter-County Paving Association donates old, ready-to-be-discarded traffic cones to Hazardline.

Nick has big plans for his unique line.  Coming soon will be Hazardline jewelry cut from metal traffic signs.   The new line carries the same message as the traffic cone jewelry: we won’t be held back.  And, from what I can tell, Nicholas won’t be held back either.

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