e-Commerce Internet Success | Relusi and Other Resource Directories Full of Broken Links?

It is reputed that Google will penalize you if you have too many broken links on your sites.  As with all things Google, who outside of Google really knows?  But, it can't hurt to play it safe and clean up your sites, including resource directories.

I have found that a huge source of dead links on my sites is the Brausch Relusi Resource Directories (a link exchange program).  This post is directed mainly at those using Relusi, but but everyone can benefit from finding and deleting all kinds of dead links.

Because of too many problems with Relusi, some time ago I disabled new linking.  See why and how at my blog post Brausch Relusi Resource Directory New Link Request Disabling.

However, I have kept existing links in the Relusi subdirectories, FWIW.  Since they are static, over time many links have gone obsolete, cluttering up the directories.

So I decided that it was finally time to clean up the broken links.

There are many link validators out there.  If you search on Google, you will find 1,830,000 results for "link validation" (without the quotes).  I figured I may as well use an authority, the W3 Consortium W3C Link Checker version 4.3 (c) 1999-2006 W3C, to find them.

A SIMPLE PHP CODE EDIT REQUIRED

First, though, you will have to fix up the PHP code for your link (resource) directories.

If you have disabled Relusi, as I have (see above), you will have to copy back onto your server the file "submit.php" for this exercise.  You should delete it again after you are done.

Next, you will have to modify a PHP file.  This is to make it more expeditious to locate in your Relusi files the link entries that the W3C Link Checker is going to find for you.  That file is "moderate.php", and you will have to add three lines (two note lines and one code line).

Here are the original lines 12-16:

  echo getSiteName($currentLinkNum);
  echo "</a>";
  echo " &nbsp; " . getReviewStatusLong($currentLinkNum);
  echo "<br>";
  echo getSiteDesc($currentLinkNum);
  

  echo getSiteName($currentLinkNum);
  echo "</a>";
  // insert here the URL to make it easier to use
  //  http://validator.w3.org/checklist/ to validate links
  echo " &nbsp; " . getSiteURL($currentLinkNum);
  echo " &nbsp; " . getReviewStatusLong($currentLinkNum);
  echo "<br>";
  echo getSiteDesc($currentLinkNum);
  

FINDING THE BROKEN LINKS

On the W3C Link Checker page, you enter the URL of one of your link directories, e.g.,
    http://www.yoursite.com/lnk/
or whatever.

You want to check the box for
    "Check linked documents recursively, recursion depth:"
I entered "2" for the number of levels.

It will take some time (frequently a VERY long time), but eventually you will get a lot of color-coded stuff throughout the results page.  As far as I am concerned, I want to delete all the Relusi links color-coded by the Link Checker, except the grey-coded ones.  But, if any of my own links are color-coded as problems, naturally I will fix, not delete them.

THE RELUSI MODERATION SCREEN

Keep the Link Checker screen in one window (or in Firefox, in one tab).  In another tab, go into the Relusi moderate screen.  That is the one with ALL the listings -- accepted, rejected, not reviewed -- shown.  Typically, one might look like this:

  Buy Low Sell High   http://www.buylow-and-sellhigh.com/   accepted.
  Buy Low Sell High stocks and ETFs - Proven Method - No crystal ball
  required. Let the market tell you what to do, rather than trying to
  figure it out.
  

BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE LINK CHECKER AND RELUSI

In the W3C window, find a bad link (highlighted red, purple, yellow).  Run your cursor over it, right click (Firefox) and click "Copy Link Location".

Then switch to the Relusi moderation list window.  In Firefox, hit "Ctrl+F" to open a "Find" window at the bottom of the browser.  Paste the link you just copied into the clipboard into the "Find" window.  (Important: Delete the final "/" if present.)  Your cursor on the page should now be at the dead link entry.  Click on the text link to the left of the URL to get to the detail page.  Click "Delete" at the bottom of the page.  Now you will be back at the moderation list window.  The entry should now say "rejected" at the end of the first line.

Rinse and repeat for each bad link found.

Now, you will have a whole bunch of newly "rejected" entries, in addition to any previously rejected.

WANT TO REALLY CLEAN UP THE RELUSI FILES?

The dead links you have rejected will now not show to Google, but they are still cluttering your Relusi files.  If you want to clean out all those rejected links PERMANENTLY, "Discover How I Intercept, Reject and Dump Junk and Unconfirmed Links Simply and Permanently from this Resource Directory."
Relusi Resource Directory Data File Packing PHP Script.

Reminder: If you previously disabled Relusi, make sure to re-delete "submit.php".  You can leave "moderate.php" as it now is, to show the URLs in the links moderation list window.

Go to this related blog post to make or see comments.

LINK EXCHANGE SOFTWARE

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