In the last episode, we talked about how a “Link to Us” page can provide an automated way of getting incoming links to your site.
In this episode, I want to take that technique a step further.
I'm talking about a reciprocal link exchange page.
What is reciprocal linking?
A reciprocal link is essentially a bribe. Don't worry, it's perfectly legal, morally correct, and in fact, it's how the Internet was mean to be structured.
A Reciprocal link is where two webmasters or web site owners exchange links. Web Master A puts a link from their Site to Web Master B. Web Master B puts a link from her site to Web Master A.
It's a Link “Exchange.”
Why would you want to do this if you already have a “Link to Us” page?
It's all about your close rate.
When a savvy Web Master finds your site and they see a that you are trading links with other web masters, they are very likely to contact you immediately and request an exchange.
Meaning, you are likely to see MANY more requests for a link exchange than you are to see folks linking to your site because of your “Link to Us” page. Most web masters will not even bother trying to exchange links with a site than doesn't already have a quality links page.
It's all about the numbers. You can get more links faster if you have a quality link exchange page.
Now, there are some instances where it's not appropriate for you to link off of your site. If you're an educational site, a non-profit site, a charity site – you are probably mandates NOT to exchange links with commercial entities.
But, if you can quickly acquire incoming links by trading links with other web masters –by all means do it.
Are there any downsides to Trading Links?
Not really. But, it will take time. Meaning, every time you get a Link Exchange Request, you need to actually publish the link to the Web Master's site that your trading with to your Links Page.
So, it can take a little bit of time.
The biggest Gotcha is this: You need to have a Link Exchange Page that benefits the Web Masters Exchanging links with you.
Meaning – it has to have a decent Google Page Rank.
So, when you're starting your site, make sure that your site structure includes a page for trading links.
You also want your links page to inherit some of your site's Google Page Rank, so make sure that you get that page crawled and indexed. In fact, your main links page should have a link directly from the home page. Some Webmasters try to bury their links pages inside their site.
They think they're not “giving up” valuable PageRank that way, but what they're really giving up is valuable link partners who won't trade links with them and their cheesy tactics.
Case in point, on my high ranking wedding favors site, not only is my home page a PR 7, but the main page of my links page is a PR 7 as well! Of course more people want to trade links with me as a result, and every day I get numerous requests to trade links from people who have already followed the instructions on my Link to Us page.
Finally, as with your “Link To Us” page, make sure that you are controlling how the other web masters are linking to you. You can go so far as to provide the HTML code of the link that you want them to use right on your Link Exchange Page.
Reciprocal Linking is the basis for the web. Such linking creates the structure of the Internet. Not only can it provide a powerful tool for Search Engine Optimization, it can also provide qualified traffic if the sites that link to you have a genuine interest in your site's industry.
