Question : Link building technique by offering free hosting to companies in the same industry!

Hello All,

From my research so far, I have understood that the two most power factors in SEO are incoming links and content (both on my site and the sites linking to me).

Say my website specifically offers services to people who have criminal records and are looking to get a pardon from the state government, and I have good content on my website.

Now in order to get some back links from relevant sites, I get a reseller account at say $30/month and offer free hosting to lawyers and law firms in north america. I keep only one condition, I will give you free hosting for your website, I will even give you a 2-3 page website with CMS so you can update your site as you please, BUT at the bottom of your every page, there will be a link to my website.

I know that the lawyers who specifically do pardons, wont be interested in this program, but lawyers who do criminal cases, driving cases, immigration law, corporate law etc etc, shouldnt have a problem having a link to me since they are getting free hosting.

So how do you experts see this as a link building technique? I personally think that even tho the content on their sites wont be ECATLY relevant to mine, but it will be somwhat relevant. A lot of the keywords in their content will be keywords that apply to my site as well. However, the link appearing on the bottom of their pages will have anchor text linking to me.

Also one more question: What is the impact of links that open in a new browser window? What happens if I make all of those links to my website on their pages open in a new window. And generally again....... if there is a site out there that links to my website and opens my website in a new window, is that good or bad for me?

Sincerely,

AJ

Answer : Link building technique by offering free hosting to companies in the same industry!

Incoming links always a good thing. As already mentioned though, the value of them are going to vary based upon value of the site linking to you. Meaning also as mentioned, new sites are going to have no value as they are probably not even indexed yet themselves.

I really can't speak with authority about linking on the same server, but if you do a whois search the registrant of record / site owner does not change because of what server the site is hosted at. However, it has been my experience that this can do wonders, again if the linking site has good value.

No effect opening links in new windows.

One point I might bring up is this. I would really think over the business plan here. Offering free hosting to numbers of sites means also opening the doors to a lot of customer service issues. Be ready for frequent contacts on "whats my password", "my outlook doesn't work", "I can't get my ftp to connect", "your server is down", and if the hosting permits dynamic activity aka data driven content, you're in for a lot of fun with customer service as well.

I myself wouldn't even consider giving away hosting to the number of accounts that would be required to make a difference for the simple fee of a backlink. You will find the price in time servicing these accounts put you in an entire other business.

Hope That Helps

GF -