…so: how many of you receive inquiries from other artists asking to exchange website links? how do you respond?
I get these fairly regularly, and I dutifully go check out the requestor’s site. Mostly, the requestor’s artwork is unimpressive or worse (in fact, I’m pretty sure I could qualify this as “always”, not “mostly”). While incoming links help a site rank higher in Google’s search algorithm, I’m reluctant to give an imprimatur of approval by trading links with artists whose work I don’t care for.
Or am I just old-fashioned? You know - grab marketing wherever you can, regardless of the source…?
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June 17th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
My inbox used to be pretty lonely - but lately, I get solicitations to donate art, apply to shows, etc. I have not yet received a link exchange request, but when I do, I will follow your lead and check out the artist’s work first. Since granting a link request is (at least to me) considered as an endorsement of that artist’s work, I’d only do so if the requesting artist’s work is of a professional level and work that I admire. Marketing simply for the sake of marketing can be costly.
June 17th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
I haven’t gotten any of those in awhile. Tough choice, in a way, but I think I’d pass if the work made me cringe.
June 18th, 2009 at 6:18 am
This is almost always a tough call for me. I’ve struggled so much with it in the past, that when I overhauled my website last year… I eliminated the links page altogether. Probably not the best solution, but less stress for sure!
June 18th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Jim - hmm, maybe yours is the best solution! Heck, this blog is a great place for cross-linking…maybe the website can stay ‘clean’.
Marti - yeah, those show/donation/book/other art solicitations (always with an entry fee, of course) have become more frequent…see my post a few weeks ago on this topic.
June 18th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
My guess is that in most cases, people are trying to boost their google search ranking.
That can be accomplished in several different ways.
1) By registering with a site like Painter’s keys that lists your art site for free and allows you to link to it.
Because a lot of artists link to painter’s keys, it is what Google terms a “high value” site, which means a link to your own site from painter’s keys is weighted more heavily by google than a link from some nobody artist (like Julie
)
2) registering with Open directory project will also your google search rank because google also uses that.
So, perhaps rather than just telling inquirers that their “work sucks and you would not be caught dead linking to it”, you might suggest these other possibilities.
June 18th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Larry, I’ve done a lot of SEO on my website, registered it with DMOZ and other directories, etc. When requestors ask for a link, I’ve - so far - simply not responded to their emails (because, for some weird reason, I’m squeamish about telling a perfect stranger “I don’t like your work”).
I’m sure it’s all about boosting Google rankings for most of these requestors…
June 18th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
I’ve received a fair number of requests for link exchanges lately, too, and like you I checked out the websites listed. At least half of them have been from what appear to be wholesale painting sites from east Asia.
I deleted the e-mails without replying to them.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
I think a lot of people don’t understand how the google rankings work. it’s really not that hard to get a high ranking. The painters keys site that i mentioned above) actually made a big difference for the ranking of my website.
I went from not even appearing to ranking in the number one position after they put a link to my site on theirs (and i never even registered with open directory)
One funny thing is painters keys has me listed as a “professional artist”.
Don’t you have to actually sell some paintings to be a member of that group?
Perhaps listing a price under one’s paintings makes one a professional (even if one does not sell them)
Maybe I should boost my prices. got nothing to lose, right?
June 19th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
I don’t worry as much about whether or not I like the art at the other end of the link as much as I do the ethics at the other end of the link. Having recently removed links to a “shall remain unnamed” art show and art magazine I have rethought my reasons for and against linking to any pages. If the person using the link doesn’t like the art there maybe they will come back to mine but if they get shafted by that link I could be considered guilty by association. The links I have now are either people I know or the art shows I’m in.
The gal who designed my site had it ranked #1 without any of the links I added later. She said it had to do with meta-tags or some such computer something or the other. She said she has great success getting high ratings and doesn’t charge extra for it like other site designers do.
June 19th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
My husband, who set up my website as per my design, must have done something right, because I consistently come up around no.3 on Google. Eight out of first ten if I google “Susan Fox Nature Artist”. Everything from my website to my current eBay listing to two sites I had no idea I was on.
I also get regular traffic from here and can see that I’ve sent some this way. I suspect that the more connections, through blogrolls, commenting, and having a general presence on the web, the better these days.
I think that there are so many more ways to be on the web now that links per se between websites may not be that important anymore as far as ranking.
June 20th, 2009 at 12:18 am
If you google your own name, of course you will come up first - and google will report your page rank as #1 - using THAT search term. BUT - put in “wildlife artist” and see where you are in the scheme of things. A keyword meta tag is one of the things search engines look at when indexing and ranking pages. Larry Zach’s website is one of the first (besides AFC) to appear in the first five results on the first page when doing a “wildife artist” search in Google. He has a gazillion keywords in his keyword meta tag. The other “trick” is how many times does the “keyword” - lets say “wildlife artist” - appear on your page - once, twice? The more times a keyword appears on your page the higher the ranking when that search term is used. The three most important meta tags are Title, Description and Keywords. Any good web designer will make sure all three are used.
June 20th, 2009 at 8:04 am
I see what you are saying. Time to do some work on that.
July 18th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Agree Julie - probably 99% o fthe sites are trying to boost their google rankings, the problem is not just a moral one though. If you start adding lots links to low ranking websites then your site will start to be punished by Google too. So like you I don’t respond either. It’s different if you just have a hobby site, but when it’s business then the head must rule the heart ha…
July 20th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Oooh, I don’t think I knew about Google ‘punishing’ sites that way! I learn something new every day - thanks for sharing that one, Jason!