Link / Directory Page

[ROBK30]

Hello,
Can anyone help me please? I want to create a link/directory page(s) to enable me to swap a large number of reciprocal links with sites/directories etc.
Doe's anyone know a good way of doing this? I know there are lots of free directory scripts like the PHP Link directory etc but I'm not sure how well they would combine with actinic? Or would it be best to run a directory script like this in a sub domain as not to interfere with actinic? (with a separate database to be safe).
I have a little experience of the PHP Link directory as I used it to create a little directory (http://www.the-free-directory.co.uk) as a project to learn some PHP,HTML and MYSQL.

Anyone have any ideas? I'm surprised actinic has nothing in built for this.

(p.s feel free to submit your sites to mentioned directory, its unfinished but it's free)

[jont]

Be careful if integrating into your e-commerce site as search engines may treat your site as a link farm and you could get heavily penalised - may be best to keep the 2 apart.

[ROBK30]

Link Page

Hello Jont,
When you say keep the two apart, I'm unsure as to what you mean?
I would not combine the two sites (www.iluvm.co.uk & www.the-free-directory.co.uk), they are separate things and not connected. I was just thinking of using same script that I used for directory in sub domain for iluvm site, e.g., www.iluvm.co.uk/directory
It would be for reciprocal links only and not a free for all like www.the-free-directory.co.uk.
Is it a bad idea to do this as far as search engines are concerned? As my site's taken a hammering in Yahoo in last update, gone from No.1 to No.67 for one of my keyphrase's and the advice I've had is I do not have enough links to my site

[jont]

Hi Rob,

it was you using the phrase "swap a large number of reciprocal links" which made me concerned. Inbound links are great but should ideally be topic specific and organic in nature. A lot of sites have been hammered recently so be wary of a knee-jerk reaction.

Looking at you site I would recommend getting some sticky content on there. Create some brochure pages about jewellery care, how to clean your necklace, what is the difference between different grades of silver and gold.

I would look at putting a fragment at the top of each page and loading this with organic keywords specific to that page. May be worth creating a new section specifically for Christmas gift ideas and duplicating a range of items in their - this makes life very easy for browsers wanting a quick and easy life to buy for Christmas without trawling the sections. Try and meet the various price points. Add the gift boxes into the products in the Christmas section as an optional items to help up-selling

What do the varoius size codes mean? As a man I have no idea what a P, N or L size is and I could not find a chart on the site.

[ROBK30]

Links Page

Thanks for the info,
We do have a lot of content to put on the site but I'm just waiting for my partner to finish writing it. I think the fragment at the top of every page is a very good idea and also ring size chart as we have had quite a few questions about ring sizes. A Xmas section we have talked about but have just not got round too doing it, but we are primarily a wholesale site, and most of our customers are retailers, party planners and gift shops etc.
I did say large number of links which is misleading, what I meant was I want to trade some links with some directories and other jewellery related sites. But there about 200 directories I want to submit to. (have submitted dmoz & yahoo months ago but no luck).
So what do you think the best option is for a links page?

[jont]

Trading back to other jewellery sites may lose you custom so obviously select carefully... similarly the site will not be too enamoured about linking through to you for the same reason. If you really do want to build up the incoming links probably best to link to suppliers sites, blogs etc and others that are not in direct competition but offer genuine worth to yours and their visitors.

There is the arguement that someone on a Golf site may see your link and think Ooo, its the wifes birthday and I will buy her a necklace. The flip side is if someone wants a necklace they will do a web search rather than navigate into the Golf page's links page on the off chance there is a link to a jewellery site.

If you are going to submit to a wide range of directories often a good idea to setup a seperate email address eg search@site.com as some less scrupilous sites will sell your details to spammers... if you have a seperate email account you can filter accordingly from your main sales emails.

[wjcampbe]

For search engine purposes, you need to concentrate on incoming links, not create a page of outward links.

Ask yourself, what content can I provide that relevant sites - which do not directly compete, would find useful as a link. Then contact those sites and point them at the page(s) and ask if they think their customers would find a link to you helpful.

As an example, a site that covers the mining, preparation and mounting of garnet might be interested in providing a link to you that reads, see commercial application of these techniques and buy garnet bracelets from iluvm. (You might even find that link worth a commercial consideration - aka money).

From reading at their Forum DMOZ is a suggest and forget, especially for a jewellery shop, as it may take several years for a listing to appear in the business category. BUT you can submit a second time to the regional location (i.e. look in the DMOZ Regional branch for the town your business is based in, submit there - just once, - and you should have a listing fairly quickly - as long as your connection with the locality is well defined on your website.)

On the content - don't wait for it to be finished. Add content to one page every day, that way the site can be seen by the search engines to be live and changing. Pop up out of nowhere with 100 pages and you are making it harder for them and for yourself. Then your site will sit static for how long? Frequent small changes are a good reason for the bots to come looking for food - why not give them what they want.

[RuralWeb]

The solution I use for several of my sites is Axandra http://www.axandra.com/go.to/ruralwebdesign . It can manage thousands of links and has other features to many to mention. Check it out there is a free download so you can see all it has to offer.

If you want a list of shopping directories to submit your site too I have a list of 250 available on my website.

[ROBK30]

Advice

Thank you all for the advice,
I have just about exhausted all the free directories (500 to 700) that I could find that did not require a reciprocal link that's why I wanted a links page so I could start on ones that require a reciprocal.
Good advice once again from the regular contributors, thank you.