Need advice on maximizing a piece of Linkbait

[naveedlee]

Hi everyone. I am looking to develop a top 50 list of ecommerce sites in a particular country. The list will also contain grading on interface usability, overall value of products, reputation and traffic.

On top of hoping that this piece of content will attract natural links, I also plan to approach each the 50 sites listed for a backlink. My concern is whether google will see this as a link exchange program?

If so, should I "no follow" the links on my content? or should I simply not include the links to the sites on the content? (not very user friendly) Or, should I include the links as per normal as there shouldn't be any concern for such an issue? Or, is there any other way to get maximum benefit from the content?

Thanks!

[tlavelle1183]

I also plan to approach each the 50 sites listed for a backlink. My concern is whether google will see this as a link exchange program?

If so, should I "no follow" the links on my content?... Or, should I include the links as per normal as there shouldn't be any concern for such an issue? Or, is there any other way to get maximum benefit from the content?

Google will not think of this as a link exchange and penalize you. Link to the sites normally, as that provides value to visitors looking through your list for the products or services that they offer.

Definitely reach out to the companies and invite them to take a look at the list. You don't necessarily have to request a link from them (sometimes that can be quite off-putting), but at least bring their attention to your site and the actual list itself. Many of them will be quite happy to see it, and depending on your site's authority, some might even send out a Press Release referring to it (or at least write a Blog post, or post a testimonial, or whatever), linking to you.

This is a great way to gain some natural links! Consider using social media/social bookmarking to further distribute your post. Look for niche sites that cater to your vertical, don't just spam Digg/Reddit/etc.

[KernelPanic]

Please clarify how this is not a reciprocal link.

[tlavelle1183]

Please clarify how this is not a reciprocal link.

I've seen your replies elsewhere and don't want to waste my time playing verbal gymnastics with you all day, so sure, these would technically be "reciprocal links".

But they won't be penalized by Google.

[KernelPanic]

I was asking because I thought you had some insight that I didn't have, honestly had no intention other than that.

Truth is, I am not the brightest bulb in the pack when it comes to what is an exchange and what isn't, and I thought the OP had a pretty cool idea.... was hoping I could learn something.

[lewisdb]

Hi everyone. I am looking to develop a top 50 list of ecommerce sites in a particular country. The list will also contain grading on interface usability, overall value of products, reputation and traffic.

On top of hoping that this piece of content will attract natural links, I also plan to approach each the 50 sites listed for a backlink. My concern is whether google will see this as a link exchange program?

If so, should I "no follow" the links on my content? or should I simply not include the links to the sites on the content? (not very user friendly) Or, should I include the links as per normal as there shouldn't be any concern for such an issue? Or, is there any other way to get maximum benefit from the content?

Thanks!

You might get links from the top 5-10 sites but how many of the others are going to want to show a link to their users that gives them a list of other sites in the niche that you score or grade higher?

[tlavelle1183]

I thought the OP had a pretty cool idea.... was hoping I could learn something.

It is a cool idea, and it will work too (if executed properly).

Like Lewis said above, not everyone will link to it, but some will.

[seomonkeymanocp]

It is a cool idea, and it will work too (if executed properly).

Like Lewis said above, not everyone will link to it, but some will.

Agreed. A good way would be to go to other websites who have information about the products that these companies sell. They may be willing to link to it as a resource. For instance;

If you have 50 websites selling audio equipment, a blogger who blogs about audio and his gadgets etc might be willing to write a post about it to give his/her visitors a good place to go to find out where to buy them.

[jsteele823]

As Lewis mentioned, you'll have trouble getting a large number of them to link back to it if you mention a lot of sites in the same niche.

But, if it's diversified across a number of industries, then you'll fare better with it.

I would suggest making a neat little badge or something (and maybe 3-4 variations of it) that they can display on their sites as "rated one of the top 50 sites in all of {country}" that links back to the report.

Talk about how that badge conveys trust to shoppers, and things along those lines. Provide them the code to place each button on their site. Make sure you use different sizes of the badge, too, to fit different layout schemes.

<add>Another thing to consider would be whether or not you want to number the sites. Site owners might be offended if you rank them #50.</add>

[naveedlee]

Thanks guys for your valuable inputs!

I guess kernelpanic is really asking a sincere question without wanting to sound critical or rude. I think sometimes due to the constraints of our current form of communication (and lack of non-verbal cues), it often leads to a misunderstanding of intent.

You might get links from the top 5-10 sites but how many of the others are going to want to show a link to their users that gives them a list of other sites in the niche that you score or grade higher?

great point! I actually plan to have about 100-150 words of content (site reviews, uniqueness and some feature highlight) for each of the 50 sites. Hopefully this would attract more sites to link back.... I would also categories the sites by the type of products they sell.

[naveedlee]

Agreed. A good way would be to go to other websites who have information about the products that these companies sell. They may be willing to link to it as a resource. For instance;

If you have 50 websites selling audio equipment, a blogger who blogs about audio and his gadgets etc might be willing to write a post about it to give his/her visitors a good place to go to find out where to buy them.

Great idea! now I have another source of target sites to approach. thanks

[KernelPanic]

As Lewis mentioned, you'll have trouble getting a large number of them to link back to it if you mention a lot of sites in the same niche.

But, if it's diversified across a number of industries, then you'll fare better with it.

I would suggest making a neat little badge or something (and maybe 3-4 variations of it) that they can display on their sites as "rated one of the top 50 sites in all of {country}" that links back to the report.

Talk about how that badge conveys trust to shoppers, and things along those lines. Provide them the code to place each button on their site. Make sure you use different sizes of the badge, too, to fit different layout schemes.

That also is a great idea (smart people here yo), but my question is still, why is it not a reciprocal link? You are linking to them through your list, they link to you with the badge. Will that be considered an exchange and thus carry less weight? What am I missing please?

[Glenn Kilpatric]

Why not run it as a poll and get your site users to vote for the best sites. That way all websites will link to you as they will be trying to get their readers to convince the poll that their own particular site is the best.

Good idea by the way and nice to think of people looking at linkbaits.

[naveedlee]

As Lewis mentioned, you'll have trouble getting a large number of them to link back to it if you mention a lot of sites in the same niche.

But, if it's diversified across a number of industries, then you'll fare better with it.

I would suggest making a neat little badge or something (and maybe 3-4 variations of it) that they can display on their sites as "rated one of the top 50 sites in all of {country}" that links back to the report.

Talk about how that badge conveys trust to shoppers, and things along those lines. Provide them the code to place each button on their site. Make sure you use different sizes of the badge, too, to fit different layout schemes.

<add>Another thing to consider would be whether or not you want to number the sites. Site owners might be offended if you rank them #50.</add>

Thanks for the thoughtful post. I will be classifying these 50 sites into different industries and categories.

As for the Badge Idea, its a great idea and will work best if my site is a well known authority site. And another problem is, I will be placing the finished work on a blog which is attached to .... yet another ecommerce site. But, the ecommerce site is not in competition with the top 50 sites as it serves a niche. So I guess its quite a queer situation to have a ecommerce site receiving an award from another ecommerce site. (although not in competition)

As, for the site owners who rank 50 or near there, I will have my equation and data there, I will be able to tell them exactly why they are ranking there. So I will actually be kind of happy if they want to argue their position, as I would be ready. Anyway, I believe that ranking top 50 is quite a success already as there are more than a thousand ecommerce sites in this country.

[jsteele823]

That also is a great idea (smart people here yo), but my question is still, why is it not a reciprocal link? You are linking to them through your list, they link to you with the badge. Will that be considered an exchange and thus carry less weight? What am I missing please?

Reciprocal links, by definition, are not against Google's guidelines. Reciprocal links for the sheer purpose of manipulating ranks, however, is.