One Wrong Way to Get Links

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We all know that getting inbound links, links from other web sites linking in to yours, is an important part of marketing your blog and raising your authority and rankings in the search engines. There are all kinds of ways to encourage other bloggers to link to you, but ultimately the best way to get inbound links is to earn them.

When you produce high quality valuable content people will see its value and link to it. Combine that with consistent active networking and the number of inbound links you get will grow over time.

No Good Shortcuts

It is a consistent part of human nature that people tend to be lazy. Most folks want the reward without the work.

Unfortunately at best shortcuts tend to run smack into the Law of Unintended Consequences. At their worst, shortcuts can be manipulative, destructive and downright counter productive. Especially when it comes to influencing others to take an action that benefits you.

This is especially true when it comes to building an audience for your blog.

There is no substitute for consistent effort over time. Sure there are some things you can do to help compound your efforts. But there are no shortcuts. Without work there is no miracle.

Don’t Try This Guy’s Approach

I get lots of requests for links. I’ve been blogging here at SuccessCREEations for a while, have decent page rank and people want to tap into that. It’s flattering.

Most of the requests are bumbling and get ignored. Occasionally I’ll respond with a, “no thank you” if the request is especially polite.

But the other day I found this comment in my moderation folder and was floored. I have never posted a comment like this, but this guy was arrogantly rude. On top of that he put this in my comment box (twice, by the way) instead of emailing me through the contact page so he fully expected it to be public.

Please don’t ever approach a blogger like this:

I am sure you will be disgusted to know:

Hi, I’m sorry I can’t find the comments I’m paying you for. They should be with MY Name and MY URL – the ones that I gave you. I believe I mentioned that particularly in my message.
ROCKFUSE : Helping Blogger Stand-out
11/26/08 01:50
read

Thanks. Sorry that it wasn’t clear there. I’m willing to pay you 100EC each for 6 comments left in these 6 pages.

1. http://successcreeations.com/wordpress-issues-security-uptate-in-versi..
2. http://successcreeations.com/improved-security-when-upgrading-wordpres..
3. http://andybeard.eu/2007/02/ultimate-list-of-dofollow-plugins-banish-n..
4. http://andybeard.eu/2008/06/how-to-build-profitable-minisites.htm..
5. http://successcreeations.com/definition-of-social-media/438
6. http://andybeard.eu/2006/11/google-are-killing-the-future-of-rss.htm..

The following are the specifics. Name: Excessive Jake E-mail: jake@rockfuse.com URL: http://www.excessive-sweating-cure.info/

Thanks. Hit me a message when you’re done k?

Response

Jake, you wanted me to hit you with a message. Here it is.

You’re right. I am disgusted.

First of all there is not now, nor has there ever been an agreement between us for anything, especially payment for links. Nor will there ever be, I assure you. Perhaps that’s why you can’t find the links you are looking for.

Since this is the first communication I have received from you, I am a little offended that you presume I am obliged to link to your site. Had you chosen a different communication channel than my comment box and/or a less arrogant tone I would have certainly kept this private.

It is true that we do have some advertising here on SuccessCREEations, sometimes promote affiliate products and services, and offer products appropriate to our readers. However, as a matter of policy we do not place links in our copy in exchange for payment.

To do so, especially for a link to a topic that is completely irrelevant to our readers would be counter productive for us and an insult to our readership.

Also, half of the pages that you (almost) referred to (several of the URL’s are incomplete) are for a completely different site. Why in the world would you pay me to get links on Andy Beard’s site? What would possibly make you think I have the ability to put links on someone else’s site?

Prior to attempting to post this arrogant and rude comment you posted 3 or 4 comments on various posts here at SuccessCREEations. They were borderline spammy in my mind. I tend to err on the generous side when it comes to comments so I decided to leave your comments, but just barely.

However since I see your intent was just to get links back to your site without engaging in conversation I have since removed your comments and marked them as spam. If you have any questions in this regard, I would like to refer you to our Comment Policy for clarification.

Our Comment Policy is clearly linked right below the comment Submit button. If you had taken the time to read through it, you might have thought twice about submitting your comments.

Sincerely,

–Chris

P.S. If you choose to continue on with your existing approach to link building (i.e. spamming blogs) you might think about not using a link to your personal blog. While I chose to discretely leave your personal URL out of this blog post, I couldn’t help but notice your real name, that you have a PHD in Electronics and work for IBM. You might want to read through the IBM Social Computing Guidelines before you get too far into your blogging methodology. It might save you some heartache down the road.