Gzcater guide

I'm asked often enough, both by clients and by friends, whether they should exchange a link with the total stranger that just e-mailed them, asking them to do so, and pointing out the benefits of doing so.

The short answer is no.

The long answer is this:

A few years ago, a link counted as a vote in the 'eyes' of a search engine. The formula for top rankings was easy back then: the more links you had (websites linking back to your website) the more 'votes' and (generally) the better you ranked the higher your website appeared in the search engine results).

Pretty soon website owners and anybody with anything more than a passing interest in Internet marketing saw the opportunity to outrank competing websites simply by getting links. And one of the ways to get links is to ask another website owner to place a link on their site pointing at your site.

In exchange for... a link on your site back to their site.

This is called reciprocal linking, and back in the day it worked really well.

This is why you shouldn't exchange links

The ONLY thing you need to remember when it comes to Internet marketing is this: play fair. Not because it's nice, but because search engines are not in this to make you money; they're in this to make themselves money. They have terms of service and a whole range of technology that helps them prevent website owners from manipulating the search engine results.

Getting links in order to increase your website's ranking (appear higher in the search engine results) is an attempt to manipulate the search engine results.

And this is a no no.

The whole idea of the Internet is that everybody has a voice, and people can freely point links at you if they like, support or admire what you have to say.

In other words, they have to place links on their website pointing at your website, to help them tell THEIR audience about YOU.

And they have to do so because they want to, not because you bribed them.

And exchanging links... is not the same as a free vote.

Exchanging links can harm your website's reputation

Today search engines are a lot cleverer than they once were, and they're certainly clever than the website owner who believes he or she can still trick them.

Search engines now place values in links. What those values are, nobody knows. Websites also place value on websites. What those values are is easier to guess in this instance.

In the Internet marketing industry, this value is called reputation, and sometimes it's referred to as 'trust'.

And it's important. In fact, it's KEY.

Your website's authority is affected by your website's reputation. If a website with poor reputation links to your website... then you're putting your website - and your business - on the line.

Get enough links from websites with poor reputations and your website will have poor reputation by proxy.

When somebody asks you to exchange a link with them, unless you know that their website is 'clean' and in good standing with the search engines, then there is every reason on Earth not to exchange that link.

Knowing or even guessing the status of the website in terms of reputation and authority takes knowledge, so unless you have access to a professional with the right knowledge, the prospect of finding out is not even worth considering.

Of course, it goes without say, that you should never ask the owner of the website if their website is 'clean' and in good standing with google and co.

Naturally they'll say yes (because they want a link from you).

So why are people asking you to exchange links?

The main reason a total stranger e-mails you asking you to exchange links is because they want to benefit from it. When it comes to Internet marketing, there is a ton of misinformation and out-of-date 'strategies' that lead to countless people using poor or plain bad practices.

Link building software usually has a bunch of template-ready e-mails that contain the whole message, structured like this:

Greeting ask for link exchange point out the benefits of exchanging links (usually a raft of benefits including better search engine rankings)

A lot of it is not accurate, and some of it is not true.

The bottom line is that most of these people are sending you a template e-mail to convince you to give them a link back.

How or why they found your website is a case of how visible your own website is.

If your website is popular and you actively market it, expect plenty of requests to exchange links. Take it as a compliment and move on, unless you know what you're doing.

Are all s bad?

The answer is no. Link exchanges can be very beneficial, when done correctly. However, the effort involved in checking that their website is 'clean' is seldom worth it.

Moreover, you have no control of their website and who or what they link to - or who links to THEM - now or in the future. A website you agree to exchange links with could have anything from porn websites, gambling websites and spammer websites linking to THEM, and passing some of that reputation to YOUR website.

On the whole, the Internet is full of website owners firing template e-mails to everybody asking for link exchanges with websites that have poor reputation

Keep one thing in mind: if the people asking you to exchange links had strong, authoritative websites, those websites would rank well naturally in the search engines.... and they wouldn't be contacting you (a total stranger) to ask for a link in the first place.

Therefore, assume that their websites are not altogether 'clean'. If they've asked you for a link, they've asked a thousand people (remember, they're using automated software that sends out a template e-mail to hundreds and thousands of addresses at the click of a button).

The verdict: exchange links or not

Unless you can verify the website wanting to link to you is reputable in every sense, don't do it.

Special note: This page was about Image Gallery of Baan Sansuk ycnow.com samui-villas.

Web Templates

Before beginning the discussion about the pros and cons of using a template to design a website, we need to know what exactly it is. Spoken in a layman's term, a website template is a pre-designed website that you can buy and then customize the same by adding your own content to launch your own website. The website templates can be customized in terms of color, images and content and leave little to imagination as regards the end product. However, it has both advantages and disadvantages.

Some of the advantages of using a web template to design a website are:

Ready to use

Using a web template to design a web site ensures that you get exactly what you see and that you do not have to worry about making a professional web designer understand your specifications. Moreover, you can make you website look quite different from the template by incorporating copyrighted content and images. Following a unique color scheme will also help.

Saves time

In today's cut-throat world where time is money, you cannot afford to spend months on designing a website. By using a website template you can jump start your website in a matter of few days, as soon as you are ready with your content and image bank. The faster turnaround time will help you get an edge over competition.

Economical

Using a website template to design a website is the best option for start-up companies that are often short on capital. While an eye-catching website template is available for as low as $35-$60, hiring a professional website designer to design a customized website is likely to send you back by $5000.

Multiple Options

The decision of using templates to design your website will also offer you the advantage of multiple choices as a number of web templates are available online. You can browse through the net to select the web template the best suits your needs. Moreover, you can also benefit from the regular updates that these templates come with so that your website is compatible with the latest software and online technologies. This brings us to yet another advantage of using - functionality.

Functionality

Apart from the fact that a majority of web templates come pre-loaded with standard pages like 'home', 'about us', 'products/services', and 'contact information', some also provide add-on HTML and Flash applications. You can also select web design templates with features such as photo gallery, online polls, live chat or credit card processing if it will serve your purpose.

However, despite the multiple advantages of using website templates, one cannot overemphasize the same.

Some of the disadvantages of using a web template to design a website are:

Exclusivity goes for a toss

As web templates are freely available for all to download at a given price, you cannot expect to project a unique image of your business unless you have expert help at hand to customize your website.

Complete customization improbable

Even though web templates can be customized to meet certain needs of the web site owners, it will be a stretch to say that it will comply with their each and every requirement. The main problem that one can face while using a web template is the pre-determined space for content and image, which when altered to suit one's needs, can mess up the layout of the page.

Specific skill requirement for customization

Once you have the website template, the onus of customization lies solely on you and unless you have the requisite software and skills to do the same, it will be of little help. Moreover, you also have to optimize your site for search engines.

However, having said that, with the right software at your disposal you can easily outweigh the disadvantages of using a web template to design a website.

When it comes to dating secrets, very few men know exactly what to do in order to ensure that their female companion will unequivocally want to continue dating them past the first date. There are many examples of bad dating advice for men out there and unfortunately majority of men consult the individuals who are just as clueless or rely on pop culture references that are generally ill advised. Although many men make successful dating out to be some sort of unattainable goal, in all reality it is quite simple if you stick to a few tried and true methods. Below are some dating advice for men that will allow the dating secrets to magically appear completely attainable.

1. Being Truthful to the Opposite Sex One of the first seemingly obvious yet rarely practiced pieces of dating advice for men I will offer today is that of being truthful to the opposite sex. Women are extremely talented at picking up body cues that allow them to decipher when a man is telling the truth or not. Because of this, the first time you lie to a woman, she will instantly begin to second guess and distrust anything that comes out of your mouth. It is hard enough to have a relationship when you are trusted by your significant other, but it is extremely hard to carry on a healthy relationship once you have lost a woman's trust. Trust is something that once earned, can become a valuable asset as it prevents unnecessary mishaps from occurring but once it is lost, it takes quite a bit of effort to regain it...if you can even regain it at all.

2. Act Natural Another great piece of dating advice for men is simply to act natural. Again, women have heightened observation skills and if you are attempting to come across as anything other than your natural self, you will do nothing more than come across as trying to hard. When you attempt to "act" different to what is normal, your brain will focus on putting on this act more than anything else which will cause you to pay less attention to your date and more attention to your own actions. Remember, you are attempting to woo this woman with who you are, not who she wants you to be. If you are not who she wants you to be then you have already wasted hers and your time.

3. Be Yourself Dating is all about being your natural self regardless of how tempting it is to keep embellishing your achievements. In order to successfully date someone or have success in dating you need to learn how to be comfortable with who you are as a person as then you can successfully represent your true self with confidence. Women are very good and noticing small behaviors that you may not even realize you are engaging in, thus it is imperative to be your natural self. If a woman does not like who you really are as a person, what was the point in attempting to date them in the first place?

Learn to implement the above dating secrets and I assure you that you will start to have more success dating women in the future.