New Online Tool Measures a Hyperlink's Worth

WebKnowHow
Wednesday, May 24, 2006; 03:59 AM

The recently launched Text Links Ad Calculator is a web application that estimates the market value (in dollars) of a text link on any given site.  The Calculator is designed to provide an overview of the monthly cost of a text link on a website, or it can be used by prospective link buyers to see if they’re being taken for a ride.

The Calculator is a lot of fun: the estimated pricetag for a a link on a high-profile site like cnn.com .

The tool's creators say that it is by no means exact, but is meant only to give a “ballpark figure” for link prices. There is wide variation in link pricing, and some of the automated factors in the pricing equation (such as Alexa) will always be imprecise.

The Text LinksAd Calculator allows users to measure the worth of a link depending on its position on the page, the number of other links, etc.

The calculator factors in:

• Traffic of your website – the lower the Alexa ranking, the higher the price.
• Link popularity of your website – the more links (and more quality links), the higher the price.
• Theme of your website - there is more demand for some themes than others.
• Number of links to be sold – the fewer the number of links on a page, the higher the price.
• Sitewide or single page placement – “sitewide” vs. on a single page of your website (slightly more value given to links that appear sitewide).
• Location on the page - more value when the links are placed in an area where they have the best chance of being clicked.

Text Link Ad Calculator.