A link is either text or picture (graphic's) that when a visitor clicks on it, they are taken somewhere else. This somewhere else is either another page of your site or to another site. These links can also be in your navigation. A link such as these are out going links. You may also have other website on the internet that have a link to your site or one of your site pages. These are called in-coming links. Inside your domain you may both as one page leads to another, and back.

The Links on the in-coming side, that is from other sites and the links out going should be somehow related to the content of the site page they are directed to or from.

You will also have temporary and long term links.

Long term links

Long term links are those you put on your site page that you determine how long they stay, or you those that you have entered at places like Alexa that may or may not be the same as those on your domain. Although you can enter up to twenty at Alexa, they will show only the first ten when someone using the Alexa toolbar goes there. I have also tried for years to change the first link that was to an old domain I had but for some reason Alexa keeps it on.

It is suggested that they are, however there is a degree of debate about this as we wonder if putting a link to MSN, Google, or some other like site will assist a domain by the presence of the link when the robot of that engine spiders your site. Do they give credit for the link back to them at the same weight as not having one?

If you are submitting articles to sites like 'Go Articles', then it should benefit you to have a link to them. They will in turn link back to you and will show up on the 'sites linking in' on your Alexa report.

Submitting to FFA type of sites will do you no good for the links themselves. These sites are a short term links are should be used as a part of your traffic considerations only, as is the volume of e-mail associated with them. For productivity purposes they are almost useless today for generation of sales anyway. This is due to the failure of proper regulation by the site owners, as many allow spamming or rotate the links to quickly to serve any purpose.

Some other types of short term links may be from other sites that you may have an agreement with to have links back to one another, called mutual links. Once you have traded links with another site, you will want to check after a period of time to see if the link is actually producing any clicks to your domain. A link without any traffic may do no good for you, so I have put these in my temporary link category. It is up to you however, but if it is only a 'one-way street' then why have it?

The content of the page where the link is will also effect the value of the link. A link on your main site page should be related to what is on your main page. If you have a site page at your domain where you send visitors for other reason ( like I have for my Free Stuff and Resources page) then the links on that page should be pertaining to the content of that page. Your domain links, that is from one page to another within your domain, along with a good 'site map' will take care of the inter-relating to and from the whole domain.

The value of links of any type given by the search engines will be determined by the engine itself.

They are constantly changing and you have to keep an eye on how they weigh the links. Some may value the amount, some the quality, some both. Even so, links are but one part of the equation used for your domain or page rank. You may have one page ranked higher than another in the same domain and that is OK too. The bottom line is that a visitor to your site ( potential client ), if interested enough, will go to your main page if on another for more information, or visa versa. How they find your site in their search will come more from your content and site theme and how that return is given to them from where ever they started their search from. Your links to the engines will give you an edge, but how much is that worth? Is it enough to justify the expense , either in money or time on your part? IF your Return On Investment ( R.O.I.) is sufficient, then YES it is worth everything to you. IF, on the other hand you find your are spending ten dollars for every sale before you make the sale and your profit margin can not sustain it, then NO.

Many times I have been to sites that just do not give me enough information to allow me to determine if their product is what I want. It is amazing also as to how many make if almost impossible to contact anyone. And these are from domains that have spent thousands of dollars for custom site creation and promotions.

It is better in the long run to have a well rounded site that is easy for the visitor to find out the information they desire and to make a purchase.

With more and more sales coming from the internet, the site owners should be aware of the importance. The days of 'deep pockets' paying their way to the top ten on the returns are quickly fading away. It will not be too long before the search engines see the trend also, and start putting the paid advertisements on the side bars of their return pages. Buying out the competition just won't work on the evolving internet as many visitors get more and more internet savvy.

Convenience will outweigh the difference in the price of the product, if the difference in the price is not a lot. Think about it. There are many more 'mini-marts' in towns than big name markets. Why is that? People don't want to wait in line for something they need quickly. They will pay a little more for this time saving. They will still go the the big name market for the weekly grocery purchases and wait at the check out, but not for the purchase of just a bottle of water.