I notice some people who (KINDLY) link to me from their sites, title the link Fresh Catering.
Since I'm not a caterer (thank goodness) and deeply regret (okay, maybe not deeply, but I do regret it) the choice of URLs before I realized what I was doing, I feel compelled to set this straight. I mean, I want people to know my blog as Fresh Approach Cooking, not the other title...
That said, is it rude to point that out to people who have linked to me incorrectly to please change it? Can I say something or should I just be happy anyone links to me in the first place.
Has this happened to anyone else? (Sam? Your URL is Becks Posh Nosh, right? Do people title links as such?)
This Post was written by Rachael from Fresh Approach
9 comments:
I think I'd be inclined not to worry about the wrong name on links (woo-hoo! links! who cares what they're called!) and perhaps take another kind of remedial action. Why don't you see if you can acquire freshapproachcooking.com (or .net or whatever's available), keep the old URL (freshcatering.com), and have the latter automatically redirect to the new URL?
I don't think it's that big of a deal. They're linking to you in a positive way.
I've been grappling with it for about two years now (my forwarding domain is CandyBlog.net but my hosted domain is typetive.com). Sometimes people call me CandyBlog.net and sometimes they link with the typetive.com ... sometimes they call me by my name in the link, sometimes they think I'm a guy, sometimes they link to just a category ... it's just one of those things you have to let go of.
(Yes, if I knew then what I know now.)
I don't think there is anything wrong with sending a polite e-mail to ask people to change the anchor text for your link. If they don't change it, then well at least it is still a link!
what you have is a branding problem, not a link problem...you want to be known by Fresh Approach Cooking and so you want that name to appear in the link lists, etc...lots of people have urls that differ from their site names but as long as the urls link to your site, as others have pointed out, it's all good in terms of links -- but in terms of staking out a unique identity it's mud in the water..I have had a similar problem: the words "What's for Dinner" are prominant on my banner, but the site name is Stephencooks, which I've stubbornly refused to correct even though some people link to me as "What's for Dinner" -- what I've found is that as time goes by and your identity becomes known to other bloggers they figure it out (I'm happy to have the link so have never asked for correction)...but you should take some brand-building steps to help them along: always include the name of your blog in your signature line on emails, feature the name prominantly everywhere it's reasonable on your site, etc. Like Coke and Pepsi, you can never repeat your name often enough to be sure people know you're there...(the one advantage of having a site name that matches the url name is that a few people will try to find you by entering a name they thing they remember in a search box, but since "Fresh Approach Cooking" gets you at the top of page 1 on google and "fresh catering" gets #3 on page 1 it's not really something to worry about) [by the way, the url you listed in your post here seems to actually belong to a caterer in San Francisco, not you...step one, I guess, is to make sure you type your url correctly when you give it out! ;-)]
have fun! best, Stephen
I fixed the link...LOL. Thanks for pointing that out...
And yes, this is a branding issue. While I am always happy for links, I am also all about branding correctly, and I think I will email the people who call me Fresh Catering and gently (I hope) ask for a correction. Its not that bad. (I hope, again.)
Janet, I actually do have that blog name too, but have never known how to change things over. Just not that tech savvy. Good idea though, for sure.
Cybele - Wow, its as if people dont even look at the name! Craziness.
Stephen - I had no idea I came up first on google. Excellent info! Thanks!
Hi Rachael - yes they do - but I can live with it. Links are full of love after all.
Unfortunaltey, like you I chose my url before I knew what I was getting myself in to!
Rachael, your webhost should be able to help you set up the redirect. I think. =:)
I don't think there is anything off with sending an amenable message to require from individuals to change the grapple content your connection. Provided that they don't change it, then well regardless it is still a connection.
I am not a caterer either, but thank goodness for your blog this very helpful.
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