Yesterday in a thread at Poker Affiliate Listings, I was told that even if a new poker webmaster launched a terrific website with terrific content, it can still be “nearly impossible” to get links without buying them. I replied in that thread, pointing out that a lot of webmasters just don’t take advantage of the linking opportunities that are available. For example, I run this site, and no one ever asks me to link to their websites. And I’m probably the most generous linker in the industry. (If you know someone who is more willing to link to other sites, please correct me, and I’ll link to your site and theirs.)
Here are some linking opportunities that people don’t take advantage of:
- In December 2008, I offered to give one way links to anyone who wrote a linkbaity type post on their blog.
- I also offered anyone the opportunity to make a guest post in the poker affiliate blog.
- I also offered to link to anyone who launched a local poker site.
- And I also offered to link to any content that anyone felt like was particularly good on their site.
You can see the post here. I had a handful of people (less than 6) who took advantage of these linking opportunities.
The reality isn’t that it’s “nearly impossible” to get links if you have quality content. The reality is that most people don’t create quality content to begin with. They buy $5 or $10 poker reviews that are almost word-for-word copies of poker reviews that 100 other poker webmasters have launched on their site, and they don’t want to ask people with a discerning eye to link to it because they figure they’ll probably get turned down.
I contend that real content and real links will always be a more profitable strategy in the long run than rehashed content and paid links.
I did get one request for some feedback on a website yesterday after making that post. All the other webmasters who find it “nearly impossible” to get quality links must not have read my post at PAL.
So here’s the site, and it isn’t fully launched yet: 3D Poker Game.
I’m going to conduct the review by pointing out what I liked about the site and how it’s being run, and I’m also going to point out what I didn’t like, or what I would change about the site.
What I like:
- The owner is asking for links AND for feedback on his content and SEO already. Most webmasters wait too long to ask for either. Go ahead and ask for the links to you content. Go ahead and get feedback on your site. It doesn’t hurt; I promise.
- It’s a cool niche. “3D poker games” is a small enough niche phrase that ranking for it ought to be pretty easy, especially since he has the exact match domain name. It’s also narrow enough that conversions should be really good.
- It isn’t designed using the same or similar Wordpress theme that everyone else’s site is using. I don’t think this is the most attractive site I’ve ever seen, but I’d rather see an ugly site that’s different from other sites than another site that looks just like everyone else’s.
What I didn’t like:
- The sales pitches start on the homepage almost immediately. As a user, reading “Without a doubt, PKR poker is the leading online poker room offering true 3D games. ” turns me off immediately. It’s salesy in the extreme, and the site loses a lot of credibility right away.
- I wouldn’t link to PokerListings from my homepage. I probably wouldn’t link to them at all. They send (or at least they used to, I haven’t looked lately) all of their external links through a redirect script so as to avoid passing PageRank. I don’t like to link to people who are stingy with their PageRank.
- The copy on the homepage isn’t very compelling. If this were my site, I’d come up with a really authoritative page about the entire concept of “3D poker games”. I’d probably write something titled “100 Things You Should Know About 3D Poker Games”. That would probably be the longest page on the Internet on the subject, and would have a certain amount of authority just because of that.
- I would make more of my internal pages related to the theme of the site (3D poker games). The page about poker for beginners, for example, is fine. But it wouldn’t take much work to turn it into something unique and thematic. “3D Poker For Beginners – 10 Things You Should Know Before Making Your First Deposit” would be a lot more compelling article title, and it would reinforce the author’s passion for the theme of the site.
- I’m not a big fan of the “dark” color scheme. I particularly dislike reading dark text on a dark background. I almost always go with a lighter color scheme because I think it’s easier to read. Content that’s easier to read is easier to link to.
I appreciate Steve letting me take a look at and provide some feedback for his new site before it’s really even launched. He’s off to a good start, and he’s got cajones just for asking for feedback on it before it’s even finished. Especially feedback from a tough critic like me.
I think that is awesome that you take time to look at a new site. I am still new but when I first joined PAL I was afraid to ask some of the bigger affiliates for help since I figured why would they even talk to me. Now I realize that everyone is a normal person whether you are just starting out or are a “super affiliate” like Randy Ray. I have almost completed my first mini site and will be sending you a message for a site review and also linking back to your blog. Hopefully in the future I will have more cajones to ask for feedback and link exchanges from other affiliates and also encourage new affiliates to do the same. Thanks again Randy.
Awesome! I’ll be happy to be one of the first people to take a look at your site for you. Being fearless is an excellent business strategy in SO many ways.
Great post Randy – sometimes it is tough to ask for a link from other webmasters, especially when you first start out. But there really isn’t any down side to asking other affiliates, as the worst case scenario is you just won’t get the link that you wouldn’t have gotten anyways without asking.
“If you know someone who is more willing to link to other sites” – Funny that I read this post now. MJ on the PAL forums is one of the most generous affiliates when it comes to giving links and 30 minutes ago just gave me a link to my newer bingo site (linked to above) without me even asking. He also recently let me make a guest post on one of his blogs with a link in it. Randy Ray is probably the most generous guy out there, but MJ is a close second! Feel free to give him some link love
Thanks Randy I feel honored to have “The Man” take a look at my site
From this point forward I will be taking no prisoners
Another great blog! I find that from reading your blog that somehow I’m not thinking outside the box quite enough….#3 and #4 stood out in my mind the most as I am trying to bring new thoughts and ideas to the table at my site and sometimes can’t get away from the generic and cookie cutter topics. Very well done!
Hey Randy,
I was involved in the thread you mentioned on PAL. You are right about people not asking for links. I don’t think I’ve ever just asked for a link from anyone with nothing in return. If the purpose of my site wasn’t just to make money I’m sure I’d be more open about things. I feel like there is link worthy content on my site especially the bingo calls which lists all bingo balls, their names and an explanation of the nickname the ball is given. Maybe given time this will generate links but to be honest I’m not sure who will link to me. Bingo doesn’t seem to have an army of bloggers like poker does or sites built around it which aren’t affiliate sites.
Nice post Randy. I read your post and will be contacting you in the future. Right now I’m concentrating on producing new original quality content for my site as well as working on SEO for both the current site and all the new content/niches I’m targeting with it. After that I’m hoping I can swap a link or have you link to some of my articles.
Hey Randy great post…
How about making a post like this on a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly basis?
I’m sure there would be enough guys willing to let you give them constructive criticism on their sites… me being one of them!
I’ll give that some thought, Jordan – it’s a good idea. Do you have a site in particular you’d like me to look at for you?
Ian-
That sounds great. I’ll look forward to hearing from you.
Hey Doovde-
I don’t think I’ve ever launched a site with the sole purpose of making money. Maybe you should reevaluate your site’s goals?
Imagine if your site had a mission statement page that read, “To make lots of money.”
Then imagine if your site had a mission statement page that read, “To help bingo players connect with each other and find information about online bingo games that they’re looking for.”
You could still make money with that second site.
As far as where to find link targets for a bingo site…maybe try a Google search for “bingo blog”, then make a list of the top 25, top 50, or top 100 bingo blogs online. Then send everyone you listed an email explaining that you thought they might want to share that content with their readers, and mention that you were of course really pleased to include their blog in your list. Any time you can play to these bloggers’ egos, you’re more likely to get a link…
Hope that helps.
Randy
MJ is an awesome guy – I’ve been watching his threads and posts for a long time on PAP and PAL, and I’ve been lucky enough to be able to chat with him on MSN a bit too.
The great thing about generosity is that once you’ve achieved a reputation for being generous, people will WANT to help you achieve your goals.
Randy
Nice post Mr Ray very inspiring.. Linking is so important! However i find myself not linking with random people that email me asking for links to many of there sites … ie 3 way links!
Regards.
Blair.H
Thanks for the response Randy. I will certainly add that to my to do list!
Hi Randy,
. I thought I finally better post a comment on randy’s site, and that’s when I spotted that Ian had already posted here. I kwow you’re a very busy guy Randy but if you do fancy doing a critique of another ‘poker’ site like Jordan suggested, perhaps you could look at my albeit far from perfect new blog about making a poker website.
Well it’s a small world. A few days ago I was chatting to Ian McDonnell on msn, a fellow Irishman, a fellow online poker pro and a fellow webmaster. I asked Ian to have a quick look at my new site http://www.makingapokerwebsite.com when he exclaimed ‘Interesting your friend was Randy Ray’. He said he followed all of Randy’s stuff. I told him I knew Randy back from the time we both were starting up Poker information sites about 5 years ago and that Randy was also my manager when I wrote for Pokerstars. Ian found Randy via Google. Looks like your fame is spreading Randy
Best Regards.
Barry.
Hey Randy,
I notice there isn’t anywhere to comment on the pages that aren’t in the blog. I have some questions that relate to the content on those pages. I will start by asking here:
- I see that on the homepage you advise to start planning SEO before you launch a site. I remember reading this on poker-tomorrow I think when I first started out. You may be thinking why don’t people ever take my advice on this?
To me I have never been much of a planner, but it is something I am trying to work on. I remember when I read that post and was starting my first site I was like OK let me plan… I’m going to have title tags, alt tags and put meta descriptions on every page! Lol I know.
So my questions to you are; how detailed do you get with your planning? What type of things do you plan besides content creation, keywords and URL structure? Are there any problems you see people constantly running into by not planning?
Cheers mate,
Nick
Nick-
I plan what the site is going to be about, map out the major sections, and try to get an idea of how many pages I want. I’ll usually map out the keyword phrases I’m going to target and the file structure for the site too. I like to launch a site with quite a few pages already live, and I don’t like to launch a site with menu items that lead nowhere. That just creates a bad user experience.
If that doesn’t answer you question, let me know.
Randy
I was one of the 6 people who wantd the free link
So thanks again Randy and feel free to link to me again lol
I’ve been posting on pal and a few other affiliate forums for a while now and didn’t even know that this site existed. I’m getting more and more interested in seo by the day, so will be dissecting all your posts bit by bit
. Thanks for the resource Randy.