Reciprocal Linking:
Pitfalls and Benefits
- Dyanna S. Culp
Search engine rankings are influenced by how many, and what type of, web
sites link to yours.
Some search engines, such as Lycos and now Hotbot, will drop a submitted
web site that has no other domains linking to it. The other large engines
are beginning to follow in their footsteps. The more sites linking to
yours the higher you go BUT there are serious penalties for being in spam
link programs & fewer points for links from sites not of a similar subject
matter. With millions of submitted sites to wade through the engines have
begun placing emphasis on link popularity. In addition to the categories
you submit under, your Meta- tags and page content lay claim to which
subject matter your site specializes in. Search engines now evaluate those
claims by identifying whether or not known subject relevant sites are
linking to you.
When you link to a Website and it also posts a link to you, you’re
practicing Reciprocal Linking.
This is a tremendous tool for increasing web traffic when used properly.
You’re getting visitors referred from other web sites and it increases
your ranking in the search engines. It helps if the linking site is
similar in subject matter. For instance if your site is on Gardening Tools
and all of the sites linking to you are about Designer Shoes, the engines
will not consider the links to be of much relevance. Any type of Gardener
site would be a more relevant fit for reciprocal linking.
How do you get other
sites to link to you?
It’s really very simple; you ask them. First make sure you have a place on
your Website, such as a Links or Resources page, to list sites you’re
recommending. Then compile a list of all categories similar to yours that
are non- competitors. Do some searches for those categories on the
engines. Pick those that are showing up in the top 50 and select the ones
that have links to other recommended sites. Place links to these sites,
with brief descriptions, on your links page.
Now, write a nice
“short and to the point” email about why you like their site and chose to
post a recommendation link to them. Ask them to return the favor through a
reciprocal link. Be sure to include a short “suggested” description of
your site along with your URL. Ask if they have a specific description
they would like used for their link on your site. This benefits both of
you, so if your site is of high quality in both design and content expect
to receive many positive replies. Please do not send mass generic
requests- this is spam and will only irritate other webmasters.
Don’t neglect online
yellow page and directory databases.
They are a rich source of business traffic and some search engines will
count them as a Website link. A few charge a small listing fee, but many
are free of charge.
Some of the most popular directories
are:
Avoid
those nasty Link Programs!
Top search engines, such as Goggle and Alta Vista, are now aware
that
some Websites use link programs to artificially inflate a site's
popularity. Some of the biggest Link Programs are Zeus, #1 for Marketing
Links, Links to You, and Link Trader. Link programs have each member load
a page of member links to their individual Website. Search engine spiders
are able to determine if you’re listed in a Link Program. Prepare to be
removed from some Search Engine databases if you don’t get busy removing
your site from those link lists.
Reciprocal linking is almost as old as the web itself. By
exchanging links, with sites of similar content, you both benefit through
pooled traffic and by improving your search engine rankings.
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