I have some sites that want to trade links. Their initial link page is ranked high, but it only shows the categories on this page. Once you click on the category, that particular link page is not ranked. I assume that it is pointless to be on this page. Im surprised though that the page before is so high and the category page is so low. Do you think there category specific page will ever increase. I have noticed this on many sites....they have high PR in their home page and throughout their site, not their link page. Is it worth it?

An ex. of this is inventoryspas (com) - their resource page is at the bottom of their homepage. You can see what I mean.

Thanks!!

Google has done its best to strip Toolbar PageRank from any page that appears to be a link exchange. However, the question I ask is: is the page indexed (check whether it's cached) and how close to the top can I get my link? I also try to get webmasters to allow me a contextual link. In other words, rather than

Title: Description yadayada

I want:

Description yada yada yada my site name or keyword yada yada as my link.

That creates a more natural looking link and it also creates what looks more like content.

Most resources pages that do not have Toolbar PR now are not going to get it later ... but if the site is growing, it might. And for all we know Google still assigns PR but doesn't show it in the toolbar. I am not convinced that toolbar PR is merely outdated information; I am not sure it is related to actual PR at all. But that's just conspiracy theory speculation.

If most of the other pages in the site have PR and this one doesn't ... it probably won't get it ... but a link from a cached page still has some value, SEO wise, and MOST importantly, if they site is highly relevant, it may well produce traffic for you even if it's not indexed.

That's in general; this particular type of directory in the sites you mention is very unlikely to get PR ever ... that style is on G's hit list, as best I can tell.

And I just noticed, this one is a little odd. The pages are cached, but the links were different on the cached page than on the current page ... I would wonder how long my link would be there ...

This is a good point @mjtaylor! A lot of people will exchange links with pages that are not even indexed. Although you could submitt those pages to social bookmarking sites to get indexed yourself.

I stay away from link exchanges that are from someone's resource page. Search for content links where you can give them an article that links to your site. It will not look like a link farm and should be surrounded by other keywords similar to your link and website.

Hope that helps

"Is the page lilely to send useful traffic to your site"?


Is the question you should be asking, not looking at a completely useless green bar.

To christhirst....probably not but I truly dont believe those kinds of site really produce traffic for the site exchanging with them. I figure the only positive advantage would be that Google sees your link and may help increase your PR. I rarely go to a resource page and go through their links....I guess that is me.....probably some people do.

Everyone else thanks for your input. Another question, is it still important for Google (in your opinion) that the sites are related. For example sports site with another sports site. Is it pointless (or less valuable) to trade with something totally different. I think it used to be important for Google...dont know if it still is.

Actually they have done SEO For that page so they have got better Ranking.. No body do the optimization of categories.. It will automatically get PR depending on how many times that category is getting accessed..

Originally Posted by jtmoney77

To christhirst....probably not but I truly dont believe those kinds of site really produce traffic for the site exchanging with them. .

I would say it has to do with how closely related to your niche ... among other factors. This sort of directory probably doesn't get much traffic, but I have been surprised in some cases. A dive site we linked with had that sort of directory and still sent a lot of traffic to a Keys dive site I worked with.

You won't know unless you track referring sites. I work for a lot of Key West & Florida Keys tourism related sites. Most are cross linked, and many have traded links over they years with other attractions or local sites. A few years ago when Google started to denigrate link exchanges, I thought about removing some of those links, but before I decided I went over web analytics. To my surprise I found significant traffic. Does it amount to 10%? In some cases, no, but that traffic is probably more qualified than a lot of other traffic.

My fishing captains were getting a lot of traffic from vacation rental sites, for example. Probably a higher chance of conversion than some.

Another factor that comes into whether you may get traffic *and* the SEO value, is the placement of the link, as well as the source page. I always ask for a link at the top of the page ... or I ask it to be grouped with the most related sites. I am also a lot more interested in a link on a page that's linked with something like "Things to Do In Key West," rather than "Links." I want to see that the linking page might actually get some traffic, and I want my site to be prominent on it.

When I can I try to get a contextual link, too.

Another question, is it still important for Google that the sites are related. For example sports site with another sports site. Is it pointless (or less valuable) to trade with something totally different. I think it used to be important for Google...dont know if it still is.

Another question, is it still important for Google that the sites are related.

Ofcourse. It must be related to each other for your are recommending other sites for them to look. Infact some categorize it to make it more organized.

How come lately I noticed I have been trading with PR2 or PR3's and I check a month later and they are not ranked? This has happened to me many times. Do you think Google is catching on to them? Is there some way to fool other sites for a short time to appear to have a higher rank than you actually do?

Specifically for the exchange of links like this to do a page, the weight will be low, and this page to exchange links, no good,

Why would a site go from a PR3 to "not ranked" in less than a few weeks?

Links from relevant sites have more weightage than others definitely.

Each web page has its own worth in the eyes of search engines..If a website having PR2 has inner-page with PR0 then your link on PR0 page will get credit of being at PR0...
Just make sure before link exchanging that page is indexed by google or not yet.If indexed then placing link will be beneficial otherwise no guarantee how much time it will take to be indexed.

You should follow moz rank not page rank, page rank has not been updated since April. If it were still a major factor in serp's it would have been updated by now. Ask yourself this, why can't you display page rank in the chrome browser?

I dont think im going crazy but it happened again. I traded with a PR4 site and about a month later it was a PR0 site. What is going on? It seems as though these SEO companies are either temporarily displaying a high PR somehow or their site actually dropped that quickly. Does anyone know what is going on?

It is common issue not a big one. If they have focused more on home page rather than directory page then this happens and it is absolutely fine...

Originally Posted by jtmoney77

I dont think im going crazy but it happened again. I traded with a PR4 site and about a month later it was a PR0 site. What is going on? It seems as though these SEO companies are either temporarily displaying a high PR somehow or their site actually dropped that quickly. Does anyone know what is going on?

Firstly, there is no such thing as a "PRx site" only PAGES have PR assigned to their URI.

Does anyone know what is going on

Yep, you thought the SGB "value" was "usefull" and accurate.