Reciprocal linking
Have you ever wondered if what you know about linking is accurate? Consider the following article on exchanging links, and compare what you know to the latest info on Website Traffic .
A linking accomplishes to things: First, it attract visitors from the linking partner to your site and, secondly, improves your page rank with search engines. Higher page rankings mean more relevance when inquiries for a given keyword. This sends you free, targeted traffic to your website. Reciprocal links is the way to go.
Important Considerations
1. Exchange site urls with sites that are related to your site (topic)-- it is a great way to start building relationships with website owners.
2. Link popularity. Sites that have many other sites linked to them are viewed upon favorably by the search engines, more importantly, Google. So, the more sites that link to your site, the higher your site might rank. But you have to be sure that the sites linking to your are subject relevant, or you will be penalized.
3. Don't exchange links with sites with a massive link directory. If you're buried in later pages, most will never see your link. Sure, a link will be generated to your site for the search engines, but you'll recieve no traffic from the link exchange. Try to get your link on the first or second page of another site's link directory. This is a good strategy for reciprocal linking to work in your favor.
4. Don't trade links with just anybody! Exchange links only with sites that are relevant to your site or to your keywords.
5. The goal of exchanging links is to get traffic to your site. Linking can work for or against you in this matter depending on the site that you exchange links with. If you exchange links with sites that receive a lot of traffic, some of that traffic may be diverted to your site. On the other hand, if you exchange links with a low traffic site, you may divert some of your traffic to the other site without seeing a similar return. The solution is to exchange reciprocal links with a site with a page rank no lower than one level below yours and to try to exchange links with many sites with a higher page rank. Ideally, you would seek to exchange links with sites that have at least a Page Rank of 5 (but go for 6). Your website traffic could benefit greatly over the long run.
The Link Page
Sometimes the most important aspects of a subject are not immediately obvious. Keep reading to get the complete picture. And for a complete site solution, see information about Sitesell, the complete website owner's solution to building, traffic generating and succeeding in business:
http://www.sitesell.com/you-build-they-will-come.html (The Sitesell solution was recently reviewed by "Geezer")
The best way to set up a link page is to enter all links manually. Yes, it is time consuming but when you are starting out, this is the best way to do it.
You would first need to set up a page on your website just for your reciprocal links categories. Set up this page with the major categories and subcategories that are relevant to your site. Then, set up a page for each subcategory that will contain the actual links.
Prepare a 3 - 5 line ad about your site and with the URL to your website. This should be in HTML code for easy uploading.
Once this is done, let the other website know on which of your pages they can find their link. If the other website owner approves the link exchange, they should add your link to their link page and inform you on exactly what page you can find it.
Look at Exchanging Links as an art
If you are interested in getting additional website traffic, join only well established link exchanges that allow you to approve or disapprove the link. Don't join link farms or the like that exchange your link with their entire database regardless of the relevancy to your website. This will only hurt you in the long run!
This article's coverage on reciprocal linking is as complete as it can be today. But you should always leave open the possibility that future research could uncover new facts concerning reciprocal links.
Eddie Palmon has written several articles on website optimization and is currently writing a book on the subject. He also currently writes articles under the psuedonym "Geezer".
Some of his latest articles appear on: http://starting-an-online-business.exactpages.com