I was having a think about how I want to structure my directory in terms of reciprical link requirements.
Some wsn installatiosn will be run effectively as link swap areas for main sites.
Typically here the owner desire will be to get a reciprical link back on each entry submitted.
I on the other hand have the intention of creating a comprehensive niche directory. I want the public to say to themselves ...Mick's niche directory is the best place to go as he lists almost every site in the niche NOT just those who link back to him.
At the same time I do of course want links back to me for all the normal reasons.
Here is what I would like to do.
Webmasters should be free to submit a normal or a reciprical link.
However to encourage link backs to me there should be some strong logic for webmasters to do so.
An easy one to do is listing priority. eg reciprical appear higher up and hence will be viewed more often. I have that sussed.
Pushing voting boxes on external sites also a good idea.
What I would also like to do however is alter the linking style.
Getting a natural link that can pass page rank is a lure to link back to me.
Reciprical links however I would link to in a more SEO friendly fashion.
How to do this?
I suspect some conditional switch could be inserted in the relevant template files to do such a thing in the normal link positions.
An alternate I thought of was just making all links old style but then offering some extra variable box called key word or key phrase.
Text there would be included in link details with a natural hyperlink if the link were reciprocal.
Again I guess a template edit would be required to insert extra code if the link were indeed recipricol.
Overall the general jist of my ideas are ..give the public a comprehensive directory by including useful sites that don't want to link back to me. But at the same time give some good reasons why linking back can be a good idea for external webmasters.
Any thoughts on the above ?
Good approach or silly approach?
And technically is it relatively easy to do with simple template edits?
Comments on Efficient Directory Model
Member
Usergroup: Customer
Joined: May 05, 2004
Total Topics: 5
Total Comments: 16
I was having a think about how I want to structure my directory in terms of reciprical link requirements.
Some wsn installatiosn will be run effectively as link swap areas for main sites.
Typically here the owner desire will be to get a reciprical link back on each entry submitted.
I on the other hand have the intention of creating a comprehensive niche directory.
I want the public to say to themselves ...Mick's niche directory is the best place to go as he lists almost every site in the niche NOT just those who link back to him.
At the same time I do of course want links back to me for all the normal reasons.
Here is what I would like to do.
Webmasters should be free to submit a normal or a reciprical link.
However to encourage link backs to me there should be some strong logic
for webmasters to do so.
An easy one to do is listing priority. eg reciprical appear higher up and hence will be viewed more often.
I have that sussed.
Pushing voting boxes on external sites also a good idea.
What I would also like to do however is alter the linking style.
Getting a natural link that can pass page rank is a lure to link back to me.
As such normal links I would set to very old wsn style such as
http://www.mysite.com/link.php?id=xxx
Reciprical links however I would link to in a more SEO friendly fashion.
How to do this?
I suspect some conditional switch could be inserted in the relevant template files
to do such a thing in the normal link positions.
An alternate I thought of was just making all links old style but then offering some extra variable box called key word or key phrase.
Text there would be included in link details with a natural hyperlink if the link were reciprocal.
Again I guess a template edit would be required to insert extra code if the link were indeed recipricol.
Overall the general jist of my ideas are ..give the public a comprehensive directory
by including useful sites that don't want to link back to me.
But at the same time give some good reasons why linking back can be a good idea for external webmasters.
Any thoughts on the above ?
Good approach or silly approach?
And technically is it relatively easy to do with simple template edits?
Best wishes
Mick
Expert
Usergroup: Customer
Joined: Aug 19, 2005
Location: England
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That's easy to do. In your admin area, under settings > type manager You can have each link type display differently.
Member
Usergroup: Customer
Joined: May 05, 2004
Total Topics: 5
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thanks babrees
I will take a look
Member
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ok in type manager for regular links I have found the bit that creates the link
<a href="{TRACKLINKURL}" class="linktitle" <IF not {SWITCH_INDIRECT}>{EXTERNALLINKS}</IF>>{LINKTITLE}</a>
The {TRACKLINKURL} bit is what I would need to change I believe.
If I wanted it to actually link in the style of http://www.mysite.com/link.php?id=xxx
any ideas what to switch that too?
Nb one slight ( perhaps totally unfounded ) worry I have is me breaking the hits out count if I put in code that somehow bypasses that.
help and wisdom appreciated.
cheers
Mick
developer
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Joined: Dec 20, 2001
Location: Diamond Springs, California
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Switch <a href="{TRACKLINKURL}" to <a href="link.php?id={LINKID}"
It won't break the hits count, link.php counts hits just as well as the javascript that gets autoinserted when you use {TRACKLINKURL}.
Member
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Joined: May 05, 2004
Total Topics: 5
Total Comments: 16
great stuff Paul
thanks