Good old fashioned link trades?
 

How many of you still do good old fashioned link exchanges when you go out and find a site that might compliment your own and email the webmaster trade links? It seems like most are automated systems now that push traffic around but I have found this sort of traffic to valuable in the micro-niches that I do. Of course there are LL's like Greenguy but I am talking in addition to those obvious traffic sources.

It is strange but for some reason I actually enjoy this bit of my routine. It is nice to see what other sites are out there in my niches.

I'm trying to get links going on my site but not having a lot of luck, if nothing else it will help with spiders.

http://www.paulmarkhamteens.com/links.php

Many webmasters still trade hard links. All the time. Index pages, catagory pages, submit, ect.

ronnie

I think that the old tradition of emailing the webmaster has been replaced by posting & replying on boards.

Very true. Reach more webmasters quicker. Plus it's amazing how many sites dont list an e-mail address or the e-mail addy does'nt work.

ronnie

Yup, that's why I stopped emailing and started posting on boards...response rate to emails was too low to bother. I'm always up for trades though...and I've got a lot of niche pages :)

Personally I think the 'board route' is better as you have more of an idea who you're dealing with. I realise that there are of course webmasters/mistresses who are perfectly honest etc. but it sure helps when you trade with a webmaster with X amount of posts on a board you frequent then with one who sends an email out of the blue. All part of the benefits of posting and networking IMHO :)

I agree on that one. Get some idea who your dealing with.

ronnie

Yup I agree, Im always chasing new bdsm links on my hub, and yes niche boards, or GI webmaster boards are always faster than email.

-N

Sarah - thats something Ive done since I started long ago - and found that it is extremely rewarding :)
In addition to the normal LL trades, I have initiated many link requests to people's sites that I think are not only on-topic, but compliment what I do with a site, as well as putting up many links to others that have asked for reasons ranging from great niche traffic to "damn thats a real nice site" :)