The value or worth of a link will vary from person to person, but the main objective of any link is to bring traffic back to your website. Of course, it must be real traffic rather than bots or programmed scripts that may visit your website but offer no opportunity for sales or advertising revenue. There are a variety of ways to receive links but it can be difficult to determine how much each link is worth because of the numerous factors that reflect a link’s value. So let’s take a look at some of the factors that make up a link’s worth.

1. Traffic - the ultimate goal of any link is to generate traffic. Obviously, the more traffic a link can generate the better the link is.

2. Type of traffic - If you can receive targeted or relevant traffic it is much more valuable than non-targeted traffic.

3. Link Location - It is important that the link is easily accessed. If the link is located on a page that can only be accessed by clicking through 5 other pages the link isn’t worth much. Also, if the link is coming from a “bad neighborhood” on the internet that will decrease the link’s value.

4. Link Type - Is the link a one-way link or reciprocal link. A one-way link is much more valuable than a reciprocal link especially to search engines.

There are many other contributing factors to a link’s value but these are the key points to consider. Just like anything of value, a link is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. While a link may not be actually purchased for cash, something of value is always exchanged. It be your time, information, a link on your site, or anything else of value.

To better understand the value of a link I have created a new project that will allow links to be traded in an open market environment such as the stock market. Through this project I hope to get a better understanding of what a link is worth.

To learn more about the project visit the link investment board at http://www.1stock1.com/1stock1_039.htm The free investment information website, 1stock1, was created by Alan Reisch. He has worked as a licensed securities broker for two large investment firms after earning a degree in finance. To learn more about investing and the stock market visit his site at http://www.1stock1.com