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Linking sites, link exchange programs or reciprocal links
directory. These are the names given to websites where
webmasters meet up in order to swap links with each other.
Do not confuse these sites with link farms or other poor marketing
schemes that will cause you to be penalized by Google and other
search engines. I’ve done extensive research on reciprocal
links exchange and found that the majority of the web pages listed
in these directories have a good to very high page rank! When ever
in doubt about using a linking program ask yourself this. Is the
method in which reciprocal links are being placed on my web site automated?
If the answer is yes, tread carefully. Although there may be some
legitimate ways of automatically creating reciprocal links, it’s one
chance that I’m not willing to take right now. Any other process that
speeds up or automates the exchange of reciprocal links is ok.
I suggest that you manually build all your reciprocal links pages.
When I decided to begin my reciprocal links campaign,
I started out by visiting other sites and looking for an email or
contact for the owner or webmaster. Once I found their contact
information, I would place their link on my site (in hopes that it
would encourage them to link back) and then send them an email
asking for a reciprocal links exchange. Not only was it terribly time consuming
but the results were disastrous. I had to keep a huge spread
sheet of who I was waiting to hear back from and I rarely if ever
did! Thankfully I found an easier way to selectively target whom
I wanted to trade URL's with and how fast I could do it.
Following are reviews and comments on the programs that hopefully
will be helpful to you in finding reciprocal links exchange partners and
receiving high quality reciprocal links. I also
provide some example of what may not be a good place to submit
your URL.
Some reciprocal links sites list stringent requirements for
becoming a member of their reciprocal links exchange program. For example,
they charge a one-time fee of $19.95 to have your site listed with
them. In my opinion, there are entirely to many free programs out
there to actually pay a fee. However, the sites listed do appear
to be high quality and if you are extremely choosy about whom you
swap with, this may be a good investment.
Another example of reciprocal links exchange
I’m not fond of is a site that requires their link on your home
page. Seems somewhat unfair to me. They place your URL
in a huge directory and then want extra special placement in
return. Some of these I’ve visited don’t even have good page
rank. These are not considered to be good reciprocal links.
I recommend you stay clear of sites like this. Again, there
are just to many places that will offer a fair reciprocal links
exchange with you if sought out.
The best reciprocal links programs are free to join and give
their members nice benefits like having some excellent articles
worth reading. I would encourage you to spend some time
downloading and studying some or all that you can find. There are
normally several main categories to either list your site in or
search for other reciprocal links partners. One membership I belong to has a
nifty tool that checks your link popularity with several search
engines. Another offers the opportunity to become a sponsor that will
place you at the top of your chosen category. Supposedly this
brings you ten times as many hits and more reciprocal links requests. I have
yet to try it but may do so in the future. Another site I
belong to also keeps
track of how many people have clicked on your URL from their
directory.
Formulate a set of criteria for yourself in regards to what type
of reciprocal links exchange you’re
looking for in a reciprocal links program and then begin using search engines to
find them. Here’s a good place to start:
free
reciprocal links. If
you haven’t already, be sure to visit our
reciprocal links directory and
submit your site for inclusion.
About the Author:
Patrick Carlow
Reciprocal Link
Exchange Directory
Free Internet marketing resources, traffic generators and
reciprocal link exchange directory. Permission
is given for this article to be reprinted by anyone as long as the
entire text up to and including the author information, the link
and this statement are kept intact in its entirety.
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