| Let
Others Know You Exist !! |
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| Reciprocal Links |
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| It seems a good idea that people help
each other in diverting traffic
over web to each other's Web site. One reason why one
is advertising your link is that you are working for their
traffic. This is called ‘Reciprocal’.
A reciprocal
link is represented by two web sites similar
in nature, who hyperlink to each other. The best possible
reciprocal links could be from sites that share
contents or fields of interests. Exchanging links with
other similar web sites has been proven a successful strategy
to increase traffic. It has become a popular marketing
and promotion tool since a few of the popular search engines
started to rank web sites on link
popularity. |
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| This strategy is very important for
the webmasters, who are constantly working for their website
ranking. Reciprocal
links are traded links - web site X links
to site Y, and site Y in exchange links to site X. Sometimes
this strategy is called "linking partner" instead
of reciprocal link. In the past, reciprocal links
have played an important role in how a site is ranked
in search engine results. When search engines look at
how highly to rank a site on their search engine results
pages they follow an in house algorithm, which determines
where your site gets placed in the results page. On page
factors such as page titles, headings, Meta
tags etc all have a bearing on how your page gets
ranked but also important is the “popularity”
of your website. |
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| Once the web marketers became aware
of this, various software was developed that would help
automate the process. As webmasters started freely swapping
links with every other website, this diluted the value
of having reciprocal links in place |
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| There are two factors that should be kept in mind while before moving forwards to search for the links that can be exchanged. Why do you want the links, and which sites you want to trade links with. |
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| You see, the link is on other sites that also receive traffic, and it's passable that you'll get some of that. There's no cost. If you want to do it fast then use some software to automate the linking process, so it probably doesn't trouble anything as long as you don't overdo it. |
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| Another strategy to exchange link would
be that, rather than trading links with anyone and everyone
who will do so, one must only consider reciprocal linking
to sites that are on-topic, or related, to one’s
website theme. For example, if you run an entertainment
site, it's reasonable enough to trade links with other
entertainment sites. It probably wouldn't make sense to
link to a literature site. The best advice is to keep
your reciprocal links on-topic, exercise some restraint,
and make sure they provide value to most of your visitors. |
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| By linking to sites with similar themes
to your own you can develop a hub of traffic that will
always remain constant. There’s an old saying that
“a link lasts for all time” and it’s
essentially true. Once links have been placed they generally
remain for years to come, feeding your site with a steady
stream of reliable traffic. In fact it often happens that
some domains, which have been given up by their previous
owners, have thousands of links still pointing to them
after many, many years. It may be a slog in the beginning
to set up a linking exchange program but you will be rewarded
with quality traffic, which lasts well into the future.
Once links have been placed they generally remain for
years to come, feeding your site with a steady stream
of reliable traffic. In fact it often happens that some
domains, which have been given up by their previous owners,
have thousands of links still pointing to them after many,
many years. It may be a slog in the beginning to set up
a linking exchange program but you will be rewarded with
quality traffic, which lasts well into the future. |
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| How to Exchange links with other Sites |
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| As a result of search engine changes, linking with other sites is becoming an increasingly important way to generate traffic to your website. Links done properly will repay the effort and not be subject to the whims of the search engines. |
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| Always promote your link exchange strategy
on your web site by having a separate page saying Link
Exchange. A links page should
give your visitors a choice of quality information and
resources, not just a web page to improve your search
engine rankings. Quality information on a links page is
the best long-term strategy to improve search engine ranking. |
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| One way to look for the partners is to go to the search engines and look for sites that are compatible with your own. Send the Webmaster an email requesting a link or phone him or her personally. An easier way is to register with the free link exchange program, which will give you quality links and save you a lot of time. |
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| Always check the traffic ranking for the website that you intend to exchange links. There are websites that give this information. This will give you a good idea of its popularity. Another way is to check its page rank with Google. If a web site has a page rank of 3, it is more popular than one with a page rank of 30. Prefer to exchange links with sites that have more traffic but you must be realistic also. |
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| You need to cultivate and establish
your partnerships with other sites to enable growth. It’s
essential that you seek out like-minded businesses and
work with them to satisfy your customer. If you have only
a few links, the best way is to have a list with the title
of the web site and a short description of its content.
Large numbers of links are not recommended, as it looks
a bit tacky. You can put your links anywhere on your web
site, provided you do not have a large page with links
to all kinds of sites |
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| Exchange links can be worth the time and effort if done properly. The golden rule is only exchange links with other web sites that have content related to yours. |
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smart traffic
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