By WorkZ Staff

The most common way for a visitor to arrive at your site is by following a link from another site. There are various methods for getting other sites to link to you, thereby increasing traffice to your site. Following are three of the most popular link programs:

• Associate/affiliate programs
• Web rings
• Ad exchange networks

Associate/Affiliate Programs

Made famous by the success of Amazon.com's Associates Program , associate (sometimes called "affiliate" or "commission-based advertising") programs are designed to drive targeted traffic. They typically pay a commission based on purchases made by traffic sent from the referring site. Most programs pay a percentage of sales; several pay a fixed amount per sale or per lead.

These programs can get fairly large. Amazon.com has reportedly developed over 60,000 associate sites, each of which is sending traffic back to its Web site.  For an example of how the Amazon Associates Program works, see the starchefs.com site.

Web Rings

A Web ring groups sites of similar interest together in a "ring." Links on each page in the ring allow you to move from one site to the next. Options for moving among sites usually include "next," "next 5," "previous," and "random." Rings may have just a few sites or grow to hundreds, even thousands, of sites.

Unlike associate programs or ad exchange networks, web rings typically do not involve cash payments or any formalized accounting.

See a Web ring in action by visiting Demand Systems . They are part of an Internet marketing Web ring with more than 60 members. You'll see their Web ring banner at the bottom of their page.

Ad Exchange Networks

Ad exchange networks will display your banner ad on other sites within the network, based on the number of network ads you display on your site.  A typical ratio of 2:1 indicates that for every two network ads you show on your site, you earn the right to display one of your ads on the network. The networks make money by selling the balance of the ratio on the open market.

The largest and best known ad exchange network is LinkExchange, with over 200,000 sites in the network. Visit Webshed to see a typical LinkExchange banner ad.

WorkZ.com Bottom Line

Link programs can work just as well for your small-business site as they do for billion-dollar companies like Amazon.com. When properly implemented, these programs are a cost-effective way to boost traffic to your site.  The keys to success include good planning, persistence, and hard work. Unfortunately, there are many link program scams out there, so do thorough research and pick your partners with care.

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About the Author:
The WorkZ staff is made up of gurus in many areas of expertise including Sales, Marketing, all aspects of the Internet, Technology, even starting and running businesses.

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