LinkingPress Update June 2009

June 21, 2009

And it is a good one.

Actually, it is an important one - one that I have been wrestling with trying to figure out a way to solve a “problem” without making you have to do anything else.

The Problem

I would like to thing everything is going to work they way it should right out the chute.

Experience suggests that rarely happens.

In hindsight, I should could have spent a lot more time developing and debugging Linkingpress before making it publicly available.

For better or worse, that’s not what I did.

As a result, some issues have shown up with the way people have used Linkingpress.  Like,

  • not displaying the links page
  • shutting down their blog

Regarding not displaying the links page, I doubt that most people are doing this maliciously, the result is that people are getting a number of inbound links while not showing outgoing links (or showing a limited number of outgoing links).

Tsk, tsk.

Regarding shutting down their blog, I did a little surfing around today and found a few people’s sites that have their hosting account suspended for whatever reason.  Why should those sites continue to receive links to their sites?

They shouldn’t.

The Solution

The solution I came up with for people not displaying their links page was to require them to verify on setup that their links page was linked from their blog - somewhere.

Then I thought about how I would not want to have to verify my links page.  Yuk!  So I thought, and I thought, and I thought.

Then I figured it out.

Side note:  I did NOT figure it out in front of the computer.  Here’s a dirty little secret.  I never figure out or come up with great ideas in front of the computer, never.  By best thinking is done when I am taking a shower, a bath, or when I am running or bike riding.  Maybe that’s a little more information then you cared for …

Simple, give a few free links away, but stop when those blogs fail to return the favor to other sites using the Linkingpress plugin.  The idea being that if people’s blogs are not showing any links (or not many relative to the amount of backlinks received) to other Wordpress blogs, then cut ‘em off.  Stop distributing links to those blogs.

On the flip side, blogs that have significantly more outgoing links then incoming links will stop distributing links until their ratio of outgoing to ingoing links is more in balance.

You like that?

I’ll hold back how “significantly more” and “relative to the amount”  is quantified and how I implemented this, but over time, you should notice that the number of outgoing links from your blog and incoming links to your blog are closer to parity.

There’s More

Some more “housecleaning” type changes coming up in the near future and also the implementation of deep links and premium placements.

So there you go, the latest and greatest … and it doesn’t even require you to download the plugin again!

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Linkingpress Release 0.3

May 5, 2009

The next release of Linkingpress is available for download.

This release includes the addition of the Linkingpress widget that allows you to add a link to your link’s page on the side bar. This is useful for those who have other plugins that control which pages get displayed.

Additionally, there is a bug fix for actually allowing you to delete sites that link to you or sites that you link to. Previously this option did not operate as advertised.

Let me know what you would like to see in the next release - use the comments.

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Everything You Wanted To Know About Linkingpress

April 10, 2009

But didn’t think about asking. Or something like that.

Now that Linkingpress has been live for a short time and distributing backlinks to participating Wordpress blogs, I figure it is time to tell you what is going on and some observations to date.

First, a little history

Linkingpress was inspired by Linktator2 - a 3 way linking service that provides backlinks to other sites in the system using keywords you want your site to rank high in the search engines and ultimately drive visitors / customers to. You add in your domain, three keywords you are targeting, a description and optionally deep links to pages other than your home page on your site with corresponding keywords and descriptions.

Linktator2 would distribute your link(s) throughout a cluster of other sites in the system using some randomization to spread out the use of different keywords. For instance, your main keyword was shown about 70% of the time, your second keyword about 20% of the time, and your third keyword about 10% of the time. Deep links were shown about 10% of the time.

Additionally, you needed to create a corresponding partner’s page where your site displayed links to other sites. The beauty of the system is that once you have your site setup and in the system, it was hands off. Over time, links were distributed to your site and from your site.

And Now Linkingpress

The concept behind Linktator2 was applied to the Wordpress backlink plugin Linkingpress. The biggest difference is that Linkingpress does not require you to actually create the partner page using HTML code from your site. Instead, for Linkingpress, you simply provide a name for your links page. The plugin takes over and creates a page - and Wordpress does all the heavy lifting of providing the template that is your partner’s link page. If you ever change your theme, no big deal, the links page takes on that theme.

The plugin asks for you to provide three keywords you want to target. You also provide a description up to a certain length that includes your keywords <<< IMPORTANT.

If you description does not include your keywords, then no backlinks.

Why is that?

Well, before Linkingpress serves up backlinks, it first reads your keywords, url and your description. Then the plugin looks for your keywords in the description. If it finds the keyword is replaces it with a hyperlinked version of the keyword that links to your domain.

When I say keywords, I mean your exact keywords.

For instance, if you are targeting “Wordpress plugin”, “backlinks”, and “Linkingpress” and your description reads like this:

Linkingpress is a wordpress plugin that provides a backlink to your Wordpress blog

you are in luck for two out of three of your keywords (Wordpress plugin and Linkingpress) but not for “backlinks” - you used “backlink” in your description instead of the plural version, “backlinks”.

The opposite won’t work well either.

Linkingpress is a wordpress plugin that provides backlinks to your Wordpress blog

The plugin looks for an exact match. This description uses the plural version, backlinks, but your description provides the singluar version, backlink. Sorry.

Instant gratification - forget it

Once you setup your plugin, it can take up to 24 hours for your first backlink to show up. Links are distributed and cached every 24 hours and depend on your potential link partners link pages being visited. Linkingpress fires off a request to update the links page if 24 hours have passed since the last update. And even then, there is a 17% chance that no new link will be distributed (1 out of 6).

This 24 hour period applies to any changes you make to your settings. If you change your keywords or description, don’t expect your partner’s pages to reflect those changes until their pages are updated.

What is this minus minutes until the next update stuff?

If you have noticed in your options page for Linkingpress in Wordpress, there might be a message that says “next update in: -xxx minutes”. This means that you (or a visitor) needs to visit your Linkingpress links page to update what shows up both on that page and in your Wordpress dashboard.

The plugin could have just not said anything about needing to be updated. So why mention that the page needs to be updated? This gets you (if your links page is not visited frequently) to get out there and update your links page so you can show a little link love to your fellow Linkingpress users. And if everyone would do the same, then you all get your links a little faster!

This is your plugin

So get out there and spread the good word. Use a little social bookmarking or tweeting or write a review on your blog about using Linkingpress to get relevant backlinks over time to your Wordpress blog.

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LinkingPress Description

April 2, 2009

When you add your description in the LinkingPress plugin, be sure to include your keywords!!!!

For example, if your keywords are “links”, “backlinks”, and “wordpress plugin”, your description need to include those words for you to receive links back to your site. For example:

LinkingPress wordpress plugin provides links to your wordpress blog. Links that will help your visitors find related sites.

If you don’t use your keywords in your description, then no backlinks!

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LinkingPress Goes Live

March 31, 2009

April 1st, 2009 (no joke).

Beta version (0.1) will be available for download then.

Initial release includes the ability to:

  1. Give and receive non-reciprocal links from related (or non-related, your choice) self hosted Wordpress blogs.
  2. Specify anchor text for up to three keywords.  Anchor text is contextual and inline.  You provide the inline content in addition to the keywords.
  3. Ability to reject incoming or outgoing links.

Next release will include the ability to:

  1. Have deep links to your inner Wordpress blog pages/posts.  Instead of just receiving links to your Wordpress blog’s home page, you can have links to three other pages/posts on your blog using the anchor text of your choice (premium users).
  2. Have your links show up higher on your partner’s links page (premium partners).
  3. Modify the category of your blog.  For those sites that only accept related blogs, this will be locked down until the next version.

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Linkingpress Support

March 31, 2009

Use the comment section of this post for Linkingpress support.

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LinkingPress Wordpress Plugin

March 13, 2009

Introducing the LinkingPress Wordpress Plugin.

DOWNLOAD

This plugin provides your Wordpress blog with relevant, contextual, non-reciprocating links from other Wordpress blogs.

  • relevant - you decide what blogs provide links to your blog and what blogs you link to.
  • contextual - links are inline with content provided by you.
  • non-reciprocating - each link to your blog is from a blog that your blog does not link to.

Setup is easy.

Start by providing a name for your blog’s link page.

Add details about your site.  Important, make sure your description includes the keywords you are targetting.

Optionally, provide details for deep links to your site (premium version).

Use the Linkingpress widget to display your links page (optional, but important if your blog does NOT display pages by default).


You control which Wordpress blogs link to your blog and which Wordpress blogs your blog links to.

Other Wordpress blog’s links page using the LinkingPress plugin look like this.

Download the LinkingPress Wordpress Plugin.

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