 |
 |
 |
 |
||
Section:: Web Articles < Archives > |
||
...previous III. Remember the Golden Rule An especially memorable email that just warmed the cockles of my heart said something along the lines of: "Don't try to hawk any of your [you-know-what]. Just do what I'm asking you to do and get back to me." OK, so I paraphrased a bit - but that was the gist and the general tone of the correspondence. This person was "requesting" a free service I offer. Remember the Golden Rule? Do unto others... People who operate web sites are usually fairly busy. Many of the site owners I know are great people and often respond quickly and (invariably) politely to requests from visitors. I think that most of us not only don't mind email from visitors, we thrive on it! That being said, successful sites receive lots of email so you stand a much greater chance of getting what you want if you use a little common courtesy in your correspondence. Email is very impersonal. What you consider efficient may be interpreted by the recipient as curt. You needn't be excessively wordy, but make an effort to phrase your requests or comments politely and I'm sure you'll get better results. IV. Location, location, location! I believe it's best to have a separate links page. Don't showcase someone else's page on your site's prime "real estate". If possible, organize your links into categories and give a short description of each to help your visitors as they peruse them. V. Birds of a Feather... You should guard your online reputation as closely as possible. Your credibility is a major asset. Don't exchange links with sites that do business in a manner contrary to the way you do business. I think many visitors feel by displaying another site's link, you're endorsing that site or product; even though this may not be the case. If you exchange links with a "shady" site, it will reflect on your site to some extent. In the "real world", you're often judged by the company you keep. It's not so different online. *Non-Reciprocal Links* There are few pointers I can offer in this area. The main way to procure non-reciprocal links is to develop and maintain a good site. You can actively encourage people to link to your site by providing banners, buttons, or other linking graphics for people to use. A word of advice in this area: many people would like to link to your site, but don't have the faintest idea of how to do so. Provide easy to understand instructions on how to copy the graphics and provide the HTML code you would like people to use when linking. Institute a program that somehow rewards site owners who display a link to your site. One such technique that is widely used is to have a "link contest"; usually a randomly selected site wins a prize. The prize can be anything from free advertising to a free gift from your product line. Be creative! Pick something your visitors would actually want in order to encourage maximum participation. While these promotional tools may never eclipse Yahoo! in your list of referrers, you might be surprised at the extra traffic that links from other sites can generate! About the Author Jennifer Johnson owns jBanner.com. She specializes in providing high-quality banner design at a price small and home-based business owners can afford. Email: jennifer@jbanner.com All articles published on EthanCote.com are copyrighted by their respective author. They are not to be taken without the consent of the author. |
||
| Copyright © 2000-2003 EthanCote Web Design Ink. All Rights Reserved. | ||
| Home | About Me | Services | Clients' Case Studies | Reasons | Horoscopes | Free Wallpapers | Online Games | Contact Me | ||
