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View Full Version : A Link is a Link is a Link--Right?

SweetCharity
08-07-2006, 11:08 PM
Wrong. I know it's been brought up before, but methinks it's worth mentioning again: all links are not created equal.

Think about it this way; how many times have you gone to a site, found a link to a similar site, followed it, and enjoyed the new site so much you stuck around? Or, you followed a link to a completely irrelevant site, hated it, and never went back. If you're exchanging links, you want--need!--to be the first one, not the second.
geline
08-20-2006, 02:44 PM
Good point, Sweet Charity! :)
Thumperfive
08-21-2006, 03:55 PM
I've hopped around, but I've always wondered what the logic is behind having a site linked to your own that's got NOTHING to do with what you're promoting or selling...

d'oh!
QuietLunatic
09-08-2006, 06:47 PM
I would also suggest when you add a link to your site, put target=_blank so it opens in a new page, leaving YOUR site open as well. Once someone navigates away...well they might not come back. :)
Thumperfive
09-09-2006, 10:07 PM
good point - too many times I've got elsewhere and kept on going... and forgotten how I got there in the first place!

d'oh!
QuietLunatic
09-13-2006, 02:06 PM
Yup, and then I've had to hit my back button five hundred times to find the page I was on, and which I was interested in, but sometimes, it's just gone.
Thumperfive
09-13-2006, 03:53 PM
true - I don't know how long your computer will track back, but at times the pages just disappear... and there's a potential client gone!
Nicole2112
09-13-2006, 07:01 PM
Some people get annoyed at [target="_blank"] - they think it's rude for a webmaster to decide for them that they need a new window. After all, if they wanted a new window, they'd just right-click and choose "Open new window", right?

I disagree... but it's important to respect that opinion. Your visitors might not come back if they think you're being rude.

What I do is use [target="_blank"] if it's reasonable to expect that the visitor would want to stay on my page--for instance, on a blog or a forum post or a list of links each of which they might want to visit in succession. When I'm reading a blog, I don't want to lose the blog when I follow links elsewhere.