Old School Link Exchange

Believe it or not, back in 2003 the concept of exchanging links was considered a positive internet marketing tool. Below is a live example of one of my link exchange requests. For some reason, instead of the email going to the webmaster to be sorted out and deposited in the appropriate link category, my email was published in its entirety where it still resides, at The Museum of Menstruation and Women’s Health (affectionately known as MUM). Here it is, in its naked vulnerability, exactly how it looks on the MUM website:

News, 24 February 2003, at MUM - Museum of Menstruation

Dear MUM,

I was wondering if you would take a moment of your time to review the paintings displayed on my site. The focus of my work is to celebrate, inspire, heal and empower women. Through my works, I attempt to redefine Western femininity by reinterpreting and revitalizing aspects of female embodiment to give them new positive meaning. My philosophical outlook is Humanist/Womanist. I emphasize the personal worth of the individual through her beauty, intellect, strength, emotional, instinctual and intuitive qualities, as the central importance of human values, as opposed to specific religious or cultural beliefs. Through my images I create a new dialogue about female sexuality, reproduction and self worth. The figures are iconographic, representing an all inclusive, universal woman. My work contains a wealth of information about feminism, women's issues, health, psychology, history, legend, myth and spiritual beliefs, all of which have been interpreted by and created from the perspective of a female artist in the 21st century. However, this said, I feel the impact and intention of my art is reduced by being spoken -- what my art expresses cannot be translated into mere words. I hope you will stop by for a visit to see for yourself and hopefully consider adding my site to your Links section. I plan to add a link to your site as soon as my web tech gets in gear. My site is still a work in progress - I am adding a lot more written information that I think could be very inspirational and useful to your viewers. One example of this is the information I plan to include about Endometriosis in the Hysterikos Gallery which is a series of paintings based on the Uterus. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Amy E. Fraser

E-Mail: [email protected]

Website: http://www.aefraser.com

Website Description: Amy E. Fraser's provocative, colorful images evoke intense emotion. These powerful paintings boldly express intimate and often painful views of the female experience. Ancient iconography is re-envisioned to depict modern womanhood from a fresh feminist perspective. The focus of the work is to celebrate, inspire and empower women.

Link Exchange, the activity of exchanging links with other websites, became popular in the mid 90s, but is now considered by most to be an outdated online marketing tactic. When Google first started to explode, the earliest search engine optimizers learned that exchanging links was a great way to “game” the search results. Today there are many reasons why you shouldn’t do a link exchange, most importantly because a bad link exchange can really hurt your website.

However, it is my understanding that there are still some rare cases in which you really should consider it. For instance, only exchange links when it makes sense, and it is an exchange that’s logical and rational. In 2003 I felt the Museum of Menstruation was an ideal partner for my target audience. I also believed that I had something of relevance to offer in return. MUM is a quality website with rave reviews from The New York Times and has been serving the public with helpful women’s health information for 23 years. I am honored to have my words featured on their pages since 2003.

Here are some Link Exchange guidelines to consider:

Only exchange links with quality, relevant websites.

Trade links with a website when you share an audience.

Trade links with a website that is educational or helpful to your users.

Trade links with a website that can give you a lot of traffic.

Trade links with a website that has a good archive of information that is related to your website topic/niche.

Trade links with a website that is not in competition with your website.

Trade links with a website that is a high quality website.

Trade links with a website that appears in search results with similar keywords.

I do not claim to be an expert on Search Engine Optimization, but from my research, with a mere “layperson’s” understanding, it sounds like old school link exchanges can still help, but the one-way links are the best. Apparently exchanged links carry less weight compared to the one-way links. Overall it is recommended that one should focus more on improving site content and user-friendliness in order to attract others to give you the one-way links, rather than you investing your time working for old school link exchanges.

According to what I’ve read, the most effective way to obtain one-way links is by writing smart engaging articles and submitting them to popular blogs for publication or putting in the effort to write and publish amazing original content on your own website and blog. While this process will be horribly painful and time consuming, you will be more likely to attain higher quality links and long term traffic results. Or at least this is what I have garnered from my research and what I am working to accomplish with the Amy E. Fraser Art Blog.

So, that’s what I know so far. I will continue to share information as I relearn the ins and outs of internet art marketing. You are welcome to watch as I crash and burn, or, hopefully, wildly succeed! Humble Brag: my former Exalted Beauty blog had amazing stats in its prime, you know, before I abandoned it and then accidentally deleted all 1,500 posts. However, I must clarify that at the time I was writing the Exalted Beauty blog, I was doing it more as a personal update for friends and family and was not interested in the business of online sales. I was more focused on working with my real world Art Galleries, High End Retail stores and the private in person jewelry exhibitions.

Keep in mind that if you are just beginning, the statistics on blog visibility are all about the long game. If you are starting fresh, like I am, be fair warned that what you write today may not receive traffic for many months to come. Some say it will be 12-18 months before your blog becomes visible. I recommend doing some serious planning and research before you invest too much of your time on blog designs or the “look”. Content is Queen as they say. Creating a successful blog is about commitment, consistency and time investment. It will not be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is. Don’t worry; I plan to compile a basic list of blog tips to help simplify things for us soon. In the meantime, I wish you the best of luck in all of your art marketing endeavors!

For more Amy E. Fraser art and information go to Aefraser.com.