The Decline of Free For All (FFA) Link Pages in Internet Marketing

Understanding FFA Link Pages

FFA link pages emerged as a simple way for website owners to advertise their sites by adding links to a shared page. The process was straightforward: you could manually enter your site's information on an FFA page or use an automated program to submit to thousands of pages simultaneously.

The Ineffectiveness of FFA Pages

However, the effectiveness of FFA pages has significantly diminished over time. Due to the high volume of automated submissions, individual links are quickly replaced by newer ones, often within minutes. This rapid turnover renders manual submissions futile and even automated submissions yield minimal results. In fact, a study conducted by the author revealed that after submitting to various FFA lists and tracking the traffic through specialized welcome pages, the outcome was negligible, with almost no hits received.

The Pitfalls of FFA Submissions

Submitting to FFA lists also comes with the risk of overwhelming your inbox with confirmation emails and advertisements. It's crucial to use a secondary email address to avoid cluttering your primary account. Despite reviewing over a thousand such emails, the author found no valuable content, suggesting that these messages are largely irrelevant to marketers.

Creating Your Own FFA List: Is It Worth It?

The idea of creating your own FFA list might seem appealing, as it allows you to send autoresponder messages to those who post on your list. However, caution is advised when crafting these messages to avoid being mistaken for spam. Moreover, the author's experience with creating custom FFA lists resulted in minimal traffic, questioning the value of this approach.

The Hidden Costs of FFA Lists

Hosting an FFA list on your server can lead to unexpected costs. Lists that permit automated postings can cause bandwidth expenses to surge without any significant return on investment. Therefore, it's advised to avoid such features when setting up your own FFA list.

A Better Use for FFA Lists: Enhancing Site Stickiness

While posting to or creating FFA lists for direct marketing purposes is largely ineffective, they can indirectly benefit your website by increasing its "stickiness." By integrating an FFA list that disallows automated, off-site postings, you provide visitors with an additional activity, potentially encouraging them to explore your site further.

Attracting Traffic with FFA Pages

FFA pages submitted to search engines can attract visitors through the keywords in the submitted links. Occasionally, this can lead to new visitors discovering your site while searching for something else, thus increasing overall traffic.

Conclusion: Embracing More Effective Marketing Strategies

In conclusion, the time and effort spent on FFA lists are better invested in higher-return marketing strategies, such as ezine ads or search engine optimization. Including an FFA script on your site may improve visitor engagement, but as a promotional tool, FFA lists are a relic of the past. For those interested in adding interactive features to their websites, services like Bravenet.com offer user-friendly options.

In the realm of internet marketing, it's essential to stay informed and adapt to new trends. While FFA lists have declined in value, exploring current and emerging marketing techniques will ensure your promotional efforts are not in vain.