Linkbuilding, we all know its one of the, maybe even the, biggest factors in SEO. Get enough quality links to your website and you will automatically start ranking. Well, almost. There are a lot more factors to consider off course. But fact is that links matter. A lot. And thats why the art of linkbuilding exists. And its truly an art I would say. Especially if you look at those who can’t do it.
Getting links can be done in many ways. The best way (writing good content) takes up a lot of time. Therefore people tent to aim for the less time consuming efforts. And the best way to do that? Just ask! But come on people, if you ask for links, please think before you pop the question.
As a site owner we will probably all be getting link (exchange) requests. As an owner of sites like State of Search and in the past Searchcowboys I might be getting even a few more. And to be honest, most of them are worthless crap requests. I thought I would share some with you. In this post you will see how you know you will NOT be getting that link. Tomorrow I will tell you what will get you the links…
If you want to get a link from me you should do your research. Which means you have to know who you are talking to. I get many request for links from people addressing me with “Dear webmaster”, “Hi”, “Dear owner of #website#” or even “To whom it may concern”. These annoy me hugely. If you want to get my attention, first of all try to find out who I am. If you are impersonal, sorry, straight to the bin.
Do you know what my website is about? Its about search marketing and social media. Thats the first thing you should know when you are trying to get me to put up a link for you. I write about search, not about for example cars. Still there are many ‘linkbuilders’ out there who believe a link from my site to a traffic reporting site would be interesting for my readers. Uh no…
Before you ask for the link you have to know what kind of topics I write about. Believe it or not, I actually have gotten e-mails from linkbuilders saying “I see that you are writing about the topic “Internet”….
Recognize this: “We’ve already placed a link to your website along with a description at our site on the page…. Please note that if you don’t place a reciprocal link to us somewhere on your site, the link to your site will automatically be removed from our directory”? What?? You’re trying to force me to put up a link or you will pull down yours? Well, sorry, I’d rather have no link than being forced into linking back…
“Search engines (such as Google, Yahoo) prefer sites that are linked from other related sites”, is a way many linkbuilders start their e-mails. They must think I’m stupid. In the first part of the mail they all try to explain how important links are to SEO, some even try to explain the importance of SEO. Oh come on! I write about that stuff, don’t you think I KNOW that? How stupid do you think I am?
Sorry, I don’t sell links (not for money 
) on State of Search. But still there are those out there who will keep on trying to wave money in my face. And even if I would be interested in that they get it all wrong. The worst one I ever had was one who actually gave me two options: for a review written by them, 2 links on a reviewpage and a link on the homepage they were willing to pay 25 euros. If I were to write the review they were willing to spent some more money: 32 euros… Oh and maybe I should tell you, those were one time-fees….
There are many linkbuilders out there who just don’t know when to stop. Its ok to send a repeat-request (as long as you don’t do all the stuff above that is) but stop spamming me. If I do not respond after two e-mails chances are you won’t get the link. Why send five or six e-mails with the sentences “haven’t heard back” and “let me know asap” several times written in them?
Granted, this one usually happens with the “Indian” linkbuilders, but there are many out there who just don’t know how to write. E-mails full of spelling errors, website names spelled wrong, I’ve even seen “Google” spelt spelled incorrectly…
Finally, one of the biggest annoyances when it comes to linkbuilding requests: do not be such an ass! Why is it that so many linkbuilders think they ‘own’ the world of linkbuilding and that if you do not respond or link back they can become rude? Or even before you responded? You are not the king, you are asking for something, act like that and don’t be the ‘popular’ guy out there who in the end turns out to be just another ass.
So, these are 8 “no no’s” when it comes to link requests. Tomorrow I will write about the things I am sensitive for when it comes to link requests. But in the mean time I’m very curious about some of the requests you have had. What’s the worst link-exchange request you ever had?
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heh. >>Don’t be impersonal<<
That's easy for you to say… I know you
Try finding the name of a person that has hidden their whois data!
Dixon.
Dixon
On the “about page” it says “This website, founded by Bas van den Beld and co-founded by Lisa Myers”. Odds are pretty good you will get one of these two right 
. And on the bloggers pages we have even named all the bloggers.
There are more ways of finding out more information about a site than just the whois
There is a saying about growing oranges in Nova Scotia. It does apply here to us. For some reason sites with zero traffic and PR want to trade links with me. Also, they want to stick my link at the bottom of their LINKS.HTML page.
[...] I talked about the things you should NOT do when addressing site owners (like me) in the hunt for links (please Sphinn that if you liked it). [...]
Excellent recap. Being nice and asking politely often helps me, when hunting links.
Unfortunately many people misses that part – I have seen several instances of the “you write about SEO – so it would be relevant for you to link to my dog site” -case too. Please do your homework before you hit the send button
very good article!! I haven´t received any weird or strange propositions for link interchange, usually it´s me who contact people for interchange, and, even though I follow your advice, some people think they r better than you just for the fact of having PR2 in the website. I update my blog everyday, I work a lot in the content, it´s an original, interesting website about travelling, with no PR yet…. but some people are just rude. Like:
“You have to study a masters for offering something worse than that”
“You are crazy if you think I am going to interchange links with your shitty PR0 website”
“obviously I am not interested in a PR0 site, I don´t see any benefit for me on this”
Maybe it´s just me, and I am too sensitive, but website owners are rude and mean. (Don´t want to generalise, I know not everybody is like that, and I found very nice PR5 nice website owners!! ) And besides, people who just think about PR have no idea of SEO, am I right??
It would be nice if someone here see my blog and give me an opinion on how bad it is, or it looks, beacause it´s in Spanish…. I am starting to doubt about the quality!
Thanks
I get some really crazy link requests come through my email. On a flip side, how about SEO companies that send other SEO companies emails soliciting their services? Seriously?
Cecilia, I like your site. I think it is good. Not only because it has articles about Croatia (well, I am from Croatia). I have several web sites, and I don’t usually ask for links. On one site I have PR3 with only several blog comments, without link building intentions. I even was penalized by Big G for pushing my main keyword, (that’s one of the reasons why I don’t do link building). But I write good content and people like it. Yes, I needed a year to reach it (even less, but on the last PR update I didn’t get a higher PR). So, don’t get discouraged by people saying bad words about your site, keep going. After a year, you will be one of those who will be getting mails for a link exchange. (I don’t get them for my personal site, but my niche is not interested for people).
So, to say a word about writing mails. Like I said, I don’t build links for my site(s), but I work at the SEO company so this is a part of my job. But I suck in requesting for links. I agree with most of the tips mentioned in the article, but some of them depend on a webmaster. Some like short mails, because they are busy and don’t want to waste time on long e-mails, some like nice words, some don’t, because they assume that when I request a link, I am not being honest if I say how great his/her site is. Their attitude is like: “Just ask for a link, will ya?!” So, this is like a gamble, some will respond to your mail some will not, even if your mail is great. Different people require different approach, so it is a little unreliable to stick to someone’s tips. BUT…
It is crucial to learn how to write, to learn some grammar, to investigate a site you want a link from, because in that way you meet a webmaster and you learn how you can approach (to write a short mail, or to write a longer one with plenty of praises?) Surely, never, ever do what’s described in the third tip, especially if you are writing to a SEO guy/girl.
I know all this but still I stink. It’s easier for me to go to a forum where I contact people for a link exchange than to write mails which is time consuming with a little benefit. But on forums I meet tons of self-called SEO experts with blogs that have a default WordPress About page, who I should avoid so I come back to sending mails. Why I have such a small “reply rate”, I don’t know. Maybe I am contacting wrong people…?
Anyway, thanks for reading my comment
Oh, I was talking about learning some grammar, but my comment above has some mistakes, like “my niche is not interested for people”! Ha, ha, nice…
Not being impersonnal is really tough, but I can imagine that it is better to know who you link to
thank you guy from croatia.. I think you are right… it´s exactly what we say in Spain (literal translation) It never rains as much as everyone would like…. meaning… it is hardly possible to please everyone
regards to everyone!!
I was actually tempted for a minute to hit the ‘spam’ button guy from Croatia
. But its nice to see its recognizable for many 
Amen. It’s amazing how much spell check and being considerate can do for you. Very helpful post and site – thanks Bas.
-R-
Nice one Bas! I get shitty requests all the time, from SEO folk that haven’t done their research. My website & associated traffic is tiny in the great big scheme of things, but I have become quite a snob at accepting, or mainly rejecting, link requests.
You think your bathroom website would be a good link? Think again. Your website has ‘amateur’ all over it, not least because it’s unfinished & full of ad, you mix up ‘your’ and ‘you’re’… I could go on. Needless to say, I’m way, way down on Google’s listing! But that’s okay.
Thanks Bas for a great post.
Emma.
One thing I would love to this list is for people to be ready for a conversation; and as said, that better not be in “Indian” English. I get/see way to many requests for links that expect for it to be as quick as a McDonalds drive through. Link building is about building relationships with people of similar interests who are also interested in a longer friendship with you. Not just a one night stand.
to be honest , i truly believe that the whole linking thing by google is stupid. not only you have to get links but you also have to do it in a certain way. so for example. if people link to you using your site name, it will mean nothing other than a page ranking. what are the odds that people will link to you using a keyword that you want to rank for. what if you are providing a service and you do not write content. i totally understand your frostration who keep on sending spam comments like i love your site. and they have never even took the time to visit your site. but again, most of these guys are seo companies that service their clients and will never have the time to get to know more about u before they send a request for a link. I just think google is really stupid for putting this is the main 90% criteria for ranking. this is my 2cents.
Great article, I am always impressed by some of the “seo gurus” out there and some of the drastic measures they take to try and build links. I can’t wait to read part 2 on what ways work. Please don’t judge my sites low PR, it’s just a playground for development and portfolio samples.
Just wanted to point out you blurred the url of the email sendout you received (about traffic reports) but the websites name was still on the email LOL.
And I just want to point out that if someone who is not spanish, try to interchange links with my website, writting in Spanish, I appreciate the effort, I don´t criticise it!!
I don´t know why upset you all so much people from other countries trying to write in your language, I think you should be grateful… Honestly, I can´t see the reason why it piss you off so much. i know my english is not perfect but at least I try…
Hi Chily,
I think that is a bit different from those just copy-pasting the Google translate and hardly making an effort to understand who they are targeting. Not perfect English is not bad, but you do need to see if somebody tried or not. Most to be honest don’t and just translate bulk mails…
“I’ve even seen “Google” spelt incorrectly” … spelled
Well spotted Juliette
These are very good tips, Bas (I used your name
). We’ve expanded our approach a little bit further by guest blogging. That way, you establish relationships and ensure quality content. I can’t tell you how many times people have written articles and they came back auto-generated. I mean, to the point where the words are so scrambled in the sentence that you don’t even know what they’re talking about.
Thao
Funny thing about the spelling issue is that both Chrome and Gmail have a spell check that allows you to fix them before sending them… but yes i hate the generic “im yet to hear back…” sent sometimes by 2-3 people from different email addresses but with the same template email.
@David: Even with the google spell check you can still make some mistakes, though probably less.
Anyhow, sometimes it is really hard to find a name linked to the website, and in that case there is no other alternative then to adress them by dear webmaster. In my opinion, this has to be compensated in the message to show that you actually care about the website.
kind regards,
Stijn Driessen
I agree with you there Stijn. If you can’t find it thats ok. It just has to show you did your research.
[...] rather than purely “links for rank sake”. On the other hand, if you’re more into this kind of crap, then this book isn’t for [...]
[...] 8 things linkbuilders shouldn’t do when asking for links bei stateofsearch [...]
Here are some nice tips too by the way: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/4-huge-mistakes-to-avoid-when-you-build-links/22688/
Hey Bas! Thanks for sharing that link!
If you want more of those tips, continue to follow Search Engine Journal (which is one of our online SEO publications) as well as our company’s blog: http://www.blueglass.com/blog.
Thao