02.28.06
I have no choice but to eat my words…
I was talking about automated link exchanges in my last posting and I was pretty dubious about them. Particularly the ones that serve the links from their website through some php script you embed in your page.
Well, last night I thought I would give another system a chance. LinkMachine proved a pig to install but on closer investigation that had something to do with our server. I nearly gave up until I read through the support FAQ and discovered that two particular setting on my web server had to be altered. One was the maximum PHP memory which had to go to 16 Mb from 8; the other was the server’s Safe Mode which had to be turned off. You would imagine that requesting these ’small’ changes from a busy, anonymous hosting company would result in either a flat ‘no’ or a fat fee or days on end waiting.
Not so with my host of eight years, FatURL (formerly Vener Net). Michael from their support team responded to my email within 5 minutes, and fixed the problems (MY problems) in another couple.
LinkMachine from IronZog can be found here and I must tell you - it’s an amazing program! I got to choose from thousands of first class links, several at PR3, 4, 5, 6 and they appear like normal, hard-coded links on totally customizable links pages.
I first went for the free version (highly recommended) but by the end of the evening I had PayPal’ed them the full payment for their top option, the SEO version. It works and works well! What’s more, you can download the Windows version if you wish. The ‘middle’ paid-for option is the LinkMachine Premium:
LinkMachine Premium Features
Exchange links with other sites that use LinkMachine, without the need to send e-mails.
Search by keywords to quickly find many potential link exchange partners.
Full automation sends out all of your link exchange invitations with one click, mails reminders to sites that haven’t responded, keeps track of reciprocal links automatically and takes action when a link is found missing.
Find the sites that link to your competitors’ sites (or any other sites) and invite them to exchange links.
Reciprocal link checker can spider a site to find a link that’s been moved to a different page.
Import your current link pages, from the web, from HTML files, or from .CSV files.
Automatically search for a contact e-mail address on sites you’d like to contact.
A powerful search engine built in to your link directory helps your visitors find what they’re looking for.
Generates link pages free of the “Powered by LinkMachine” tag.
Built in Site Manager tool makes it easy to manage LinkMachine installations on multiple web sites.
Include a CAPTCHA graphic on your link submission form to prevent automated submission of spam links by computer ‘bots’.
Plus, all of the standard LinkMachine features listed here!
Visit my links page to get a taste for it.
Ah, if you too would like a hosting company who are proud to offer a top-notch service without breaking the bank, have a look at FastURL.