Reciprocal linking is an effective, free way to get more visitors to your website.
Exchanging links with other webmasters can help you in two ways.
Firstly, by getting your link displayed on other websites you are increasing the number of paths leading back to your your own site. This in turn will increase the number of visitors.
Secondly, exchanging links will increase the chances of getting your web page ranked more highly in the results returned by search engines.
The reason for this is that for most search engines, the number of links pointing to a site plays a huge part in determining where that site ranks. Why? Well, wouldn't you be more likely to visit a place that had been recommended to you by a friend? The same reasoning applies to search engine positioning.
A link from site A to site B is like a vote for site B. The more votes that site B gets, the higher it is regarded by search engines.
However, quantity is not everything! A link carries more weight if it is from a high quality site - in the same way that a recommendation from a trusted friend would be taken more seriously than a recommendation from a casual acquaintance.
If you have been reading up on the subject of search engine positioning, you may be familiar with the term "PR", or "Page Rank". Page Rank is Google's way of measuring the "importance" of a web page. In simple terms PR is a number between 1 and 10 and can be viewed by downloading the Google toolbar.
It is easy to become hung up on or obsessed by page rank, but my advice is to try to take your focus away from that PageRank icon on the Google toolbar and focus your efforts instead on building up a good set of reciprocal links. If you do this well, the PR and search engine rankings will come.
So, how do you start reciprocal linking?
The first step is to find other sites that you want to link to. Use search engines and links from other websites to find sites that complement your own and try to request links from sites that you think would interest your visitors.
You may have been recommended to avoid linking with your direct competitors. Whether you do this or not is entirely up to you - the main disadvantage of doing this is the chance of losing business, whereas the advantage is the extra traffic that you will gain by doing so.
Personally I feel that the additional traffic gained from linking to competitors outweighs the potential chance of losing business to them.
Before you start your linking campaign here are a few tips to help you:
(1)Ensure that there is a visible link to the "Links" directory on the index page of the site you are requesting the link from and that the links directory is organised. It's unlikely that your link will be found by visitors if it is one of the 100 links on an unorganised links page.
(2) Follow the above rules for your own website - it's only fair.
(3) Once you have found a page it is good manners to add a link to your own site before requesting a link from another. This way the webmaster of that site will know that you are serious and will be more likely to link back to your site.
(4) Being highly organised whilst requesting links is also important. Using link management software to keep track of all your link requests and automatically add them to your web page literally halves the time taken to request and manage links.
(5) Keep track of all the links you have requested, either through link management software or in a spreadsheet. Add the URL, date requested and contact information for all the links you have requested and update this everytime a link is approved or declined. This will help you to keep track of your reciprocal linking campaign and prevent you from looking stupid by requesting a link from the same site multiple times.
(6) Use tools to help you decide which sites to link to and to help monitor your own progress. Tools
Finally, set yourself a goal to request a specific number of links per week or per month. Keep going until you meet this target. It may be boring, but once you get into the way of doing this, it will seem like second nature and you will start to reap the benefits in the form of increased traffic to your website!
Suzanne Morrison is the webmaster and owner of http://www.homebiz-direct.com To learn more about how to promote your website visit her Beginner's Guide to Internet Marketing
You have to search a lot to find what is... Read More
Have you spent a lot of money on advertising with... Read More
Winning the traffic exchange game can be done. I was... Read More
There are multiple ways to drive traffic to your website.... Read More
Having a website is great but, if the site doesn't... Read More
It's no secret, the lifeblood of any website is the... Read More
The future of online business rest in one word: traffic.... Read More
By doing one thing solve other people's problems.That's it this... Read More
One Way Links from High Page Rank Pages are Your... Read More
>When many of my clients first come to me for... Read More
Once again I used my wacky test marketing strategy to... Read More
Even the best websites with the best marketing plans can... Read More
Webmasters often worry about traffic, they think that if they... Read More
You can create more traffic for you and your business... Read More
One problem with websites is that they often go neglected... Read More
Let me ask you a question. What is the most... Read More
How to increase your website traffic with zero cost'. It's... Read More
It's about time someone let the cat out of the... Read More
For the sake of this article let's forget about search... Read More
I just had to get into the fray! I'm new... Read More
Who else wants traffic that buys? I for sure do,... Read More
All too often I find site owners are confused (or... Read More
Much has already been said about having a content rich... Read More
There is so incredibly MUCH you can do to successfully... Read More
Are you spending hundreds of dollars on advertising campaigns, only... Read More
For many months after I put up my new website,... Read More
1: Original and Fresh Content Present your visitors content they... Read More
Webmasters understand that quality and relevant inbound links can increase... Read More
Starting a new website and developing a traffic base if... Read More
Every webmaster who has personally tried promoting his or her... Read More
Sub-domains are websites that are located within a directory of... Read More
How many ways can you get free web site traffic?... Read More
Creating a simple links page to exchange links for the... Read More
There is so incredibly MUCH you can do to successfully... Read More
Linking - what a mess if you don't know what's... Read More
The debate rages on forums all over the internet-should one... Read More
If you don't know by now one the best ways... Read More
To improve our website ranking and internet presence we need... Read More
? What are traffic exchanges?Traffic exchanges are used by 100,000... Read More
Everything being equal, more traffic to your website translates into... Read More
It is an open internet promotion secret that the more... Read More
Large companies tend to spend huge amount of money on... Read More
Are you attempting to become a Google junior by adding... Read More
1: Original and Fresh Content Present your visitors content they... Read More
Sometimes you need a kick start to get of the... Read More
The first part has dealt with introductory elements which could... Read More
If you agree that traffic is the true currency of... Read More
What is cross promotion?Cross promoting is when two or more... Read More
Webmasters understand that quality and relevant inbound links can increase... Read More
IntroductionBanner exchanges allow you - as a website owner -... Read More
There are many different approaches and techniques required when optimising... Read More
A funny thing happened to me three months ago. I... Read More
Online marketing is an area where you can find a... Read More
Do not pay anyone or any service to submit your... Read More
Link Exchanges are a very time consuming project. The time... Read More
If you've been on the internet very long at all,... Read More
Web site traffic promotion is crucial in today's Internet world.... Read More
The number one question among webmasters is "How can I... Read More
Want to Make Free Money on the Internet?One of the... Read More
Establishing inbound links through reciprocal link exchanges is a very... Read More
What you are about to read is the strategy for... Read More
Some of the best advertising available online would be getting... Read More
Do you know what kind of sites are suitable link... Read More
A prospective client asked me to view his web site... Read More
Finding quality traffic though effective website promotions is the number... Read More
Creating a simple links page to exchange links for the... Read More
Traffic Building |