Link Building: ARELIS 3

ARELIS, created and marketed by Axandra, is a sophisticated program that will help you manage every facet of a link building campaign for your own site or those of your clients, from finding appropriate sites to managing your link directory. Here's a brief overview of what you can do with ARELIS.

Gather sites that are similar or complimentary to your site.

Review these sites for inclusion in your link directory.

Catalog accepted sites into categories and subcategories.

Create a link directory that can be integrated into your current site design.

Send e-mail to site owners and webmasters asking for reciprocal links.

Manage your link campaign.

First Impressions
First impressions are usually everything, except when you're committed to reviewing a product. I must admit my first impression of ARELIS was not a good one. First, there's a splash screen that asks you to sign up for Axandra's weekly search engine ranking facts newsletter. You can skip the splash screen without signing up, but the splash screen reappears every time you start the program, even if you do sign up for the newsletter. Granted, you can turn it off, but the checkbox to turn it off is not on the splash screen itself. You have to find it in the options.

Second, I like to look over the program, check the menus and features and look at some of the help files before I start using it. With ARELIS, the first time you use it, you must enter site information before you can check out the program. Then you can look at everything the program offers.

Finally, ARELIS defaults to querying the search engines. As we all know, this can be in violation of the search engines' terms of use or service (especially Google!). In my eyes, this is a big problem. You can designate alternative starting sites, but it's not readily apparent when you are adding a new site profile.

Moving On
Once I got past the initial stages of setting up a new site profile, the splash screen and the horror of realizing that ARELIS was querying the search engines in its attempt to find suitable sites for my link directory, I found a very robust and easy to use program.

It uses a single main window, which is split into two panes. The upper pane displays all of the sites it has found while traversing the Internet. It shows you the following information about each site:

The site's relevance in relation to the keyword(s) you entered when setting up your site's profile.

The site's URL.

The site's link text (title).

A dropdown list for assigning a site's status.

A checkbox to designate that a site links back to yours.

A checkbox to designate the site for inclusion in your link directory.

Dropdown lists for adding the site to specific categories and subcategories.

You can also manually add new sites, remove sites, and search for sites from this upper pane.

The lower pane displays a variety of options, depending upon the tab you've selected. The things you can use this pane for are:

Previewing sites in the internal browser.

Editing site information.

Editing a site's category, subcategory, link text, description, URL and banner.

Sending e-mail to site owners and webmasters.

Editing the links to your site so ARELIS can check those links periodically.

Create your link pages and directory.

Check reciprocal links.

Modify program settings and options.

Review help documentation.

Program Features
One of my favorite features is the ability to flag sites as competitor's sites. The program will follow links from competing sites and add those linked sites to your database. However, ARELIS will flag competitor's sites and exclude them from your link pages automatically.

ARELIS comes with seven (7) link page/directory examples, which you can modify however you wish. You can also develop your own templates and add them to the template list. This allows you to completely integrate your link pages/directory with your site design.

The program also comes with 14 e-mail templates that are ready to use to send link requests to site owners and webmasters. As with the page templates above, you can modify these and add your own. For example, there is no e-mail template that you can use to thank site owners and webmasters for linking to your site. This is something that I like to do, so I developed my own template and added it to the e-mail templates list.

Finally, in the upper pane, I mentioned that there is a dropdown list to designate a site's status. You can use this list to keep track of each site's status: undecided, waiting on response to a link request, site has linked back, and more. This is extremely helpful in managing a link campaign, especially if you have hundreds or thousands of sites in your database.

The Good…
I really like the single window interface with the split panes. This interface makes it very easy to accomplish all tasks in creating a link directory as well as managing the campaign. The panes are clean and easy to use.

I also like the fact that, for the most part, the program is easy to use and self-explanatory. The learning curve is not steep at all. Additionally, as mentioned above, I really like the ability to designate a site as a competitor and the program automatically excludes it from my link pages.

The free search engine rankings facts newsletter has some interesting information and is worth signing up to receive. It contains some search engine news, other informative information regarding search engine marketing, and tips for using ARELIS. Although you can get some of the information in other newsletters, it is worth signing up to get the other information, some of which you might not find anywhere else (especially the tips on using ARELIS).

The Bad...
Unfortunately, ARELIS is not without its annoyances. As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, I didn't care for the splash screen popping up every time I started the program. The checkbox to turn it off is rather hidden. I would rather see that checkbox on the splash screen itself, or for the program to automatically disable the splash screen if you sign up for the weekly search engine rankings facts newsletter.

Creating link page templates can be a daunting and confusing task, mainly because you have to use special template variables. Additionally, the help documentation isn't totally clear on how to create new link page templates from a page on your site. It is possible that much of my difficulty and confusion come from my prolific use of stylesheets and dynamic HTML. Expect to spend some time developing and testing your link pages.

The Ugly...
As I mentioned at the very beginning of this review, the default setting for finding sites is to use search engines. This may violate some search engines' terms of use agreements, and, in fact, does violate Google's. If you do not designate an alternative starting point, such as your own site or a competitor's, you run the risk of having your IP address blocked by search engines.

Axandra states that it queries the search engines with an invisible browser and asks for 100 search results up front so that it does not interfere much with the search engines' operations. Despite this claim, I strongly suggest that you designate an alternative starting site. I do not feel that it is necessary to use the search engines to locate sites for your database. Simply locate a hub that's on your topic and start there.

And to Axandra, I strongly suggest that they make it mandatory for the user to designate an alternative starting point. By using the search engines as the default setting, not only do its users run the risk of having IP addresses blocked, but Axandra leaves itself open for civil litigation, should the search engines pursue it.

Pricing
ARELIS has a four-tiered pricing structure:

Demo - free download, which is limited in function, and from site information, it appears that all links on your links pages send people to the Axandra web site. You also cannot use the built-in e-mail function to send link requests.

Standard Edition - US$99.95, but you are limited to using the program for a maximum of two sites.

Professional Edition - US$199.95, but you are limited to developing link pages for a maximum of 10 sites.

Business Edition - US399.95 with no limitations.

Recommendation
If ARELIS sounds a lot like Zeus, you're right. ARELIS does everything that Zeus does. In some cases, such as the interface, it does it better, where as in other cases, such as the default starting point for finding suitable sites, it doesn't do as good of a job. Let me point out here that if you already own Zeus, you don't need ARELIS. In my opinion, neither program is better or worse than the other.

Overall, I really liked the program. As long as you remember to designate a starting site, there are no really glaring problems. However, I cannot completely recommend the program based on the price. If all you need the program for is one to 10 sites, then by all means get the Standard or Professional Editions. It's no more expensive than Zeus, and, in the case of the Standard Edition, it's cheaper. However, if you are looking at this program to use in a search engine marketing firm, you're better of with Zeus, as ARELIS without any limitations is double the price of Zeus.

Click here for more information or to buy ARELIS.

Final Notes
First, I would like to thank Johannes Selbach for giving me a copy of the software and the opportunity to review a fantastic search engine marketing tool.

[Editor's Note: Remember that using software to send automated queries to Google may violate its terms of service. While it is entirely up to you how to use this software, we strongly suggest that you refrain from using this software to automatically query Google's database. Using this software to query Google could result in Google blocking your IP address or even banning your site. Additionally, using this software may violate other search engines' terms of service, and they may take actions to prevent the use of sofware that performs automated queries as well.]

**Prices subject to change by the manufacturer, supplier, or distributor without prior notice. SEOJobs.com is not responsible or liable for pricing changes that may occur after publication of these reviews.

***About Bill Gentry: Bill Gentry has been a professional Web designer since 1999 and a Search Engine Optimization and Online Marketing specialist with Look Sharp Designs since February 2000. Earning a Bachelor's of Science in Geology and a Master's of Business Administration in addition to his employment as an Aircraft Armament Systems Specialist for 10 years contributed to his attention to detail.

Review may not be reprinted without permission of Look Sharp Designs. To request permission for reprinting rights, please contact Look Sharp Designs.

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Link Building: ARELIS 3 ARELIS, created and marketed by Axandra, is a sophisticated program that will help you manage every facet of a link building campaign for your own site or those of your clients, from finding appropriate sites to managing your link directory. Here's a brief overview of what you can do with ARELIS. Gather sites that are similar or complimentary to your site. Review these sites for inclusion in your link directory. Catalog accepted sites into categories and subcategories. Create a link directory that can be integrated into your current site design. Send e-mail to site owners and webmasters asking for reciprocal links. Manage your link campaign. First Impressions First impressions are usually everything, except when you're committed to reviewing a product. I must admit my first impression of ARELIS was not a good one. First, there's a splash screen that asks you to sign up for Axandra's weekly search engine ranking facts newsletter. You can skip the splash screen without signing up, but the splash screen reappears every time you start the program, even if you do sign up for the newsletter. Granted, you can turn it off, but the checkbox to turn it off is not on the splash screen itself. You have to find it in the options. Second, I like to look over the program, check the menus and features and look at some of the help files before I start using it. With ARELIS, the first time you use it, you must enter site information before you can check out the program. Then you can look at everything the program offers. Finally, ARELIS defaults to querying the search engines. As we all know, this can be in violation of the search engines' terms of use or service (especially Google!). In my eyes, this is a big problem. You can designate alternative starting sites, but it's not readily apparent when you are adding a new site profile. Moving On Once I got past the initial stages of setting up a new site profile, the splash screen and the horror of realizing that ARELIS was querying the search engines in its attempt to find suitable sites for my link directory, I found a very robust and easy to use program. It uses a single main window, which is split into two panes. The upper pane displays all of the sites it has found while traversing the Internet. It shows you the following information about each site: The site's relevance in relation to the keyword(s) you entered when setting up your site's profile. The site's URL. The site's link text (title). A dropdown list for assigning a site's status. A checkbox to designate that a site links back to yours. A checkbox to designate the site for inclusion in your link directory. Dropdown lists for adding the site to specific categories and subcategories. You can also manually add new sites, remove sites, and search for sites from this upper pane. The lower pane displays a variety of options, depending upon the tab you've selected. The things you can use this pane for are: Previewing sites in the internal browser. Editing site information. Editing a site's category, subcategory, link text, description, URL and banner. Sending e-mail to site owners and webmasters. Editing the links to your site so ARELIS can check those links periodically. Create your link pages and directory. Check reciprocal links. Modify program settings and options. Review help documentation. Program Features One of my favorite features is the ability to flag sites as competitor's sites. The program will follow links from competing sites and add those linked sites to your database. However, ARELIS will flag competitor's sites and exclude them from your link pages automatically. ARELIS comes with seven (7) link page/directory examples, which you can modify however you wish. You can also develop your own templates and add them to the template list. This allows you to completely integrate your link pages/directory with your site design. The program also comes with 14 e-mail templates that are ready to use to send link requests to site owners and webmasters. As with the page templates above, you can modify these and add your own. For example, there is no e-mail template that you can use to thank site owners and webmasters for linking to your site. This is something that I like to do, so I developed my own template and added it to the e-mail templates list. Finally, in the upper pane, I mentioned that there is a dropdown list to designate a site's status. You can use this list to keep track of each site's status: undecided, waiting on response to a link request, site has linked back, and more. This is extremely helpful in managing a link campaign, especially if you have hundreds or thousands of sites in your database. The Good… I really like the single window interface with the split panes. This interface makes it very easy to accomplish all tasks in creating a link directory as well as managing the campaign. The panes are clean and easy to use. I also like the fact that, for the most part, the program is easy to use and self-explanatory. The learning curve is not steep at all. Additionally, as mentioned above, I really like the ability to designate a site as a competitor and the program automatically excludes it from my link pages. The free search engine rankings facts newsletter has some interesting information and is worth signing up to receive. It contains some search engine news, other informative information regarding search engine marketing, and tips for using ARELIS. Although you can get some of the information in other newsletters, it is worth signing up to get the other information, some of which you might not find anywhere else (especially the tips on using ARELIS). The Bad... Unfortunately, ARELIS is not without its annoyances. As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, I didn't care for the splash screen popping up every time I started the program. The checkbox to turn it off is rather hidden. I would rather see that checkbox on the splash screen itself, or for the program to automatically disable the splash screen if you sign up for the weekly search engine rankings facts newsletter. Creating link page templates can be a daunting and confusing task, mainly because you have to use special template variables. Additionally, the help documentation isn't totally clear on how to create new link page templates from a page on your site. It is possible that much of my difficulty and confusion come from my prolific use of stylesheets and dynamic HTML. Expect to spend some time developing and testing your link pages. The Ugly... As I mentioned at the very beginning of this review, the default setting for finding sites is to use search engines. This may violate some search engines' terms of use agreements, and, in fact, does violate Google's. If you do not designate an alternative starting point, such as your own site or a competitor's, you run the risk of having your IP address blocked by search engines. Axandra states that it queries the search engines with an invisible browser and asks for 100 search results up front so that it does not interfere much with the search engines' operations. Despite this claim, I strongly suggest that you designate an alternative starting site. I do not feel that it is necessary to use the search engines to locate sites for your database. Simply locate a hub that's on your topic and start there. And to Axandra, I strongly suggest that they make it mandatory for the user to designate an alternative starting point. By using the search engines as the default setting, not only do its users run the risk of having IP addresses blocked, but Axandra leaves itself open for civil litigation, should the search engines pursue it. Pricing ARELIS has a four-tiered pricing structure: Demo - free download, which is limited in function, and from site information, it appears that all links on your links pages send people to the Axandra web site. You also cannot use the built-in e-mail function to send link requests. Standard Edition - US$99.95, but you are limited to using the program for a maximum of two sites. Professional Edition - US$199.95, but you are limited to developing link pages for a maximum of 10 sites. Business Edition - US399.95 with no limitations. Recommendation If ARELIS sounds a lot like Zeus, you're right. ARELIS does everything that Zeus does. In some cases, such as the interface, it does it better, where as in other cases, such as the default starting point for finding suitable sites, it doesn't do as good of a job. Let me point out here that if you already own Zeus, you don't need ARELIS. In my opinion, neither program is better or worse than the other. Overall, I really liked the program. As long as you remember to designate a starting site, there are no really glaring problems. However, I cannot completely recommend the program based on the price. If all you need the program for is one to 10 sites, then by all means get the Standard or Professional Editions. It's no more expensive than Zeus, and, in the case of the Standard Edition, it's cheaper. However, if you are looking at this program to use in a search engine marketing firm, you're better of with Zeus, as ARELIS without any limitations is double the price of Zeus. Click here for more information or to buy ARELIS. Final Notes First, I would like to thank Johannes Selbach for giving me a copy of the software and the opportunity to review a fantastic search engine marketing tool. [Editor's Note: Remember that using software to send automated queries to Google may violate its terms of service. While it is entirely up to you how to use this software, we strongly suggest that you refrain from using this software to automatically query Google's database. Using this software to query Google could result in Google blocking your IP address or even banning your site. Additionally, using this software may violate other search engines' terms of service, and they may take actions to prevent the use of sofware that performs automated queries as well.] Prices subject to change by the manufacturer, supplier, or distributor without prior notice. SEOJobs.com is not responsible or liable for pricing changes that may occur after publication of these reviews. *About Bill Gentry: Bill Gentry has been a professional Web designer since 1999 and a Search Engine Optimization and Online Marketing specialist with Look Sharp Designs since February 2000. Earning a Bachelor's of Science in Geology and a Master's of Business Administration in addition to his employment as an Aircraft Armament Systems Specialist for 10 years contributed to his attention to detail. Review may not be reprinted without permission of Look Sharp Designs. To request permission for reprinting rights, please contact Look Sharp Designs.	Guarantees Privacy Policy Terms of Use Get targeted global traffic with SEO Copyright © 2002 Look Sharp Designs. All rights reserved.

Link Building: ARELIS 3

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