what else on blog domains?

[Preacher]

First of all, I agree with Walrus' idea on the cat specific linking. So if the free-site is Asian based, link to an Asian post without calling it a blog. That's a great idea!

Originally Posted by ponygirl

...but the 'rules' for blogs are so different than what I'm used to. I definitely think I need more hardlink trades, and to submit to more places, but I was also worried about how many hardlinks to add...

Two questions here actually. One is what are the rules on hardlink trades as far as limits go. Ever seen Boogie's blog? If you have you'll know that there are no set guidelines for outbound links in 'links/blogroll' sections and I've never seen a trade declined because of it.

The more important question is what will I gain from these hardlink -- read non-organic links-- trades.... that's the tough one. It is my theory that based on current se algorithms and reported reciprical trade penalties, I don't think 'hardlink trades' can be looked at as search engine boosters any longer. I would look at the traffic of the place you plan on linking to and treat it as a traffic trade. The unfortunate thing about this is that it makes submitting to more high trafficed blog listing sites more valuable then merely a link trade with a partner blog. I say that is unfortunate, because I would much rather link to a fellow blogger then to blog hub/index/link dump etc...

Mind you that's not going to stop me from linking to my fellow bloggers, and this of course is just a theory.

[walrus]

Originally Posted by Preacher

The more important question is what will I gain from these hardlink -- read non-organic links-- trades.... that's the tough one. It is my theory that based on current se algorithms and reported reciprical trade penalties, I don't think 'hardlink trades' can be looked at as search engine boosters any longer. I would look at the traffic of the place you plan on linking to and treat it as a traffic trade. The unfortunate thing about this is that it makes submitting to more high trafficed blog listing sites more valuable then merely a link trade with a partner blog. I say that is unfortunate, because I would much rather link to a fellow blogger then to blog hub/index/link dump etc...

Mind you that's not going to stop me from linking to my fellow bloggers, and this of course is just a theory.

I pretty much agree with your theory which is why I think the pingback topic is a good and timely one. Trackbacks / pingbacks and comments are organic links and thus much more valuable than link exchanges and although grandmascrotum may be having some type of problem with her little group, I think doing something like that is becoming more important, long run.

I personally think the problem she is having is that it is scheduled and not random. In other words, Google is able to see a pattern to it and if nothing else begins to wonder about it.

But then again, thats just my opinion and we all know how much opinions are worth!!!

[ponygirl]

Originally Posted by Preacher

Two questions here actually. One is what are the rules on hardlink trades as far as limits go. Ever seen Boogie's blog? If you have you'll know that there are no set guidelines for outbound links in 'links/blogroll' sections and I've never seen a trade declined because of it.

yes, I've seen that and that's cool.

Since I'm so 'SE challenged' lol, I generally look at link trades as traffic trades anyway. I didn't want a whole bunch of directory listings, I'd rather have the blog links too. I always check out the other blogs when I'm surfing a blog just to see if there's anything interesting, and I rarely surf blog directories, so in my mind, blog links are more valuable.

Walrus - I've been following that pingback thread and I must admit, it's pretty confusing to me I think I have to find out more about it so I know what I'm doing

[walrus]

Originally Posted by ponygirl

yes, I've seen that and that's cool.

Since I'm so 'SE challenged' lol, I generally look at link trades as traffic trades anyway. I didn't want a whole bunch of directory listings, I'd rather have the blog links too. I always check out the other blogs when I'm surfing a blog just to see if there's anything interesting, and I rarely surf blog directories, so in my mind, blog links are more valuable.

Since I have two blog directories...that really hurt

Originally Posted by ponygirl

Walrus - I've been following that pingback thread and I must admit, it's pretty confusing to me I think I have to find out more about it so I know what I'm doing

I'll spend some time thinking about a good explaination of them today. Seems there is enough confusion I could add it to my tools site.

[ponygirl]

Originally Posted by walrus

Since I have two blog directories...that really hurt

but I have yours listed...you're special
actually, my point was for the tons of them that have seemed to spring out of nowhere...everyone's jumping on the bandwagon I guess.

Originally Posted by walrus

I'll spend some time thinking about a good explaination of them today. Seems there is enough confusion I could add it to my tools site.

that would be fabulous - I really relied on those tools when I started up & still refer to them. They're a great resource, thanks for taking the time to do them.

[walrus]

Originally Posted by ponygirl

but I have yours listed...you're special

Hmmm they told me that when I went to school too! Put me in special classes....gave me a special education...so I do feel honored.

Originally Posted by ponygirl

that would be fabulous - I really relied on those tools when I started up & still refer to them. They're a great resource, thanks for taking the time to do them.

I've been roped into doing a feedburner thing too so I'll post both of them on the tools site in the next couple days.

[Halfdeck]

From looking at how Google parses pages for snippets, I've noticed it does its best to ignore HREFs (i.e. blog rolls, nav links) that aren't embedded in unlinked text on the first pass. This behavior is probably completely unrelated to indexing pages, but its my way of saying that like Walrus pointed out, I believe blog posts that link to you are way more powerful than reciprocals links sitting lifelessly on blogrolls.

Aaron Wall recently laid out a few criterias for reciprocal links: relevance, traffic, and audience demographic, saying (I'm paraphrasing here) "link as if search engines didn't exist. Link for your surfers." Something like that. Don't get me wrong. I'm not endorsing what he wrote, but if you want some food for thought, check out 101 ways to build link popularity in 2006. I know adult sites are a different cup of tea than mainstream sites, but there might be a few good reminders on the list for bloggers.