Why I Don't Participate in Link Exchanges
I was going to type up a large post on why the notion of “link exchanges” really bother me, but James Huggins’ succinct blog post on said subject pretty much obviates the need for me to do so. The topic came about based on a recent e-mail exchange I had with a reader.
Please note, it is not my intent to hurt anyone’s feelings by rejecting link exchanges. I just feel that if I really wanted to link to a page, I would have already done so. I’m open to checking out links sent in by readers, but I am not obligated to link to them. If, however, I find the link to be interesting to my readers, then I will post it in my blog. Besides, a blog post is more likely to generate click-throughs than a mere link exchange.
By that same token, I am not expecting people who are listed on my Friends page to link back to my site. If they wish to do so, then that is of their own volition. The “Friends” listing I have set up on my site is primarily for my benefit. It’s my daily (or weekly) web “trawl”, if you will.
The recent e-mail exchange I had has cast a sour impression on the very notion of even having a “Links” page. I’m beginning to understand why some of the more popular webcomics have done away with having Links pages altogether.
Next topic: Guest-Comics Etiquette
-Krishna
These beautiful and intelligent people wrote
Tell me what you think!
Antoine Gagnon
May 11, 2009 at 6:39 amI’m on the same page with you on this, Krishna.
For me, to be linked on another webcomic means that I “earned” it because a fellow artist actually likes my comic. Hey your comic has been linked on my own for a long while now and never I would have thought to ask you to link back to my site in exchange. I love your comic but I can’t expect you to like it back.
Ok, yes I have a bunch of links on my site other than the strips I like, but that’s different, they are all the comics of the Collective which I’m part of.
And you are right by saying these links are not the big bandwith generator but a blog would.
You’re not alone, it’s actually a bummer that you had to “explain” yourself on this one
Cheers!
Barry Buchanan
May 11, 2009 at 10:02 amYou make some good points and I agree 100%. No link to me and I’ll link to you. :) OOOPs I already link to you, nevermind.
hari
May 11, 2009 at 10:52 pmHi, Krishna. Here’s my take on why I feel that mutual backlinks are not only desirable but also become necessary in this age of aggressive commercial interests and obsessiveness with link popularity.
I’ve been online for nearly 8 years and have been running my website for nearly 5. I’ve found that it’s all very well to say that people who like your site will link to you, but the reality is very different. In all the years I’ve seen, very few websites (I can count with the fingers of one hand) have given my website “free” links even when I linked to them.
I know that a few popular websites get free links from a lot of people, but I cannot afford to give away links and not receive any in return. Already I have very few active websites linking to mine but I always make it a point to prominently link to friendly bloggers on my home page. But I also have to take my own interests into account.
I feel that this whole “link” thing has been overly analyzed and people are so stuck up about linking to other sites that it’s become ridiculous. What used to be a courtesy thing has now become so complicated needlessly by so many considerations. Links have become synonymous with advertising and payments and precious few bloggers / webmasters give away any for free.
Again, I would just love to give away free links to others, but then I’m not receiving any in return from others and I don’t get any thanks. Naturally, I don’t want to be taken for granted by people who enjoy the benefits of being linked from me, but never so much as post a single comment on my blog or link in return…
My thought is, even if I like somebody’s website, why should I continue to promote that website without any benefit to myself? It’s been years of disillusionment and bitterness that has got me to this point. Sadly it’s on account of individuals who think purely in commercial terms that has led to this situation.
I am forced to ask people to link back as a result of this kind of thing.
Nothing personal, of course in all this.
Theala Sildorian
May 12, 2009 at 7:39 amHow ironic. I had exactly the opposite experience back in the mid 90’s.
I created a Hero Games website (still up though I haven’t updated it in years) with the express purpose of linking to every website that had any Hero Games content on it at that time. I was successful.
One of the pages I linked to, was run by a guy who took exception to what I was doing because it was not Lynx friendly (I didn’t know what Lynx was at the time). Instead of educating me and asking me if I would consider removing the frames for the benefit of Lynx users, he threw an incredible barrage of invective at me and told me I had to remove my link to his page.
I’m stubborn, folks–when people make unreasonable demands I tend to dig in my heels (yeah, I know. It’s childish). When I refused, this guy wrote a script to block users linking to his site through my IP address (I got around it, which just made him more mad).
It was a silly argument over a game related website.
I’m with Krishna on this. He shouldn’t feel obligated to link to anyone just because they link to him, especially if they subsequently are rude to him.
hari, I can see this is really personal to you. It’s obviously not to others. But when you let it get personal, you end up taking the fun out of what you are doing.
If it really bothers you that much, remove links of those who don’t link back to you. But you can’t expect others to take linking with the seriousness you obviously do. They don’t have to, and people like this reader to irritated Krishna just create bad feelings.
Not worth it.
hari
May 12, 2009 at 10:57 amIt is obvious that the readers of Krishna will agree with Krishna on this. :) I usually don’t agree with a lot of people on a lot of things…
Besides, I didn’t bring this topic up in public… Krishna did. And by doing so, he has forced me to comment on an issue I wanted to keep private and between us. We have settled this issue amicably by e-mail.
But if other readers continue to berate me in the manner that Theala Sildorian has, I am not sure that the “sourness” is going to diminish.
Barry Buchanan
May 12, 2009 at 11:50 amWow, I didn’t expect that this would be such a touchy subject. It sounds like everyone is happy now so I won’t add to the fire now. My take on the links is if I like a site I’ll add it. If a person links to me that is great, while I’m not going to automatically link back there is certainly a better chance I will. There is a case of a site that linked to me and I intially linked to them. However the content that that site generated after a while was not in line with what I represent and I killed the link. That site still links to me, as far as I know, and he did not seem to resent it at all. My perspective comes from a smaller site so my opinions may be different if I were earning decent income from it. I would love for bigger sites like Krishna’s and others to link to me but I don’t think my site is at that caliber and won’t be anytime soon. Krishna has lrefrenced my site within a post before and my numbers were never better that day.
Anyways, I’m glad everything is now resolved. We should all support each other and we can do that without mutual links. That all said who wants to trade links with me? :) Sorry couldn’t resist.
hari
May 12, 2009 at 11:49 pmBarry, I’m more than happy to help promote webcomics that I like. I’m planning to add a new page on my website with links to webcomics I like.