I've had my site for about 7 years and have never actively pursued reciprical links, they've sort of just happened along the way. Now I'm seeing the benefit and really want to put a push on it cuz I don't have as many as I should! So where do I start? I've made a list of several target sites and put it all into a spreadsheet to keep track of who I've contacted (and when), who has contacted me, and who already links to me. I guess then I'll send out some emails and keep track of who puts up a link, who rejects me and who ignores me completely. Does this sound like a good system? What sorts of things do you guys do when looking for links on a large scale? Any tips? I plan to put their links up first and remove them after a week or two if they decide not to reciprocate... what do you think of this method? Thanks! Kirsty
Hi Kirsty, If you want to really boost your rankings, you should go for one-way links to your site. With Google's recent algorithm update they have penalized many sites that rely to heavily on reciprocal link exchanges but one-way links have become even more important. For large scale link building, I would post a project on getafreelancer.com, guru.com and/or elance.com and there are many link builders there that won't charge too much for backlinks if you have the budget. Also, submit to directories as you can get backlinks without any exchange. Check out link vault (http://www.link-vault.com/default.asp) and coop (http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/ad-network/?singup=1) as well. Best of luck, Brian.
http://www.sitepronews.com/archives/2005/nov/9.html http://www.webpronews.com/ebusiness/sitepromotion/wpn-3-20040323ReciprocalLinkingisDeadLongLiveLinkPopularity.html Here's a couple of sites out of the many hundreds. Plus, Matt Cutts and other SE engineers have said at conferences not have more than 10-15% of your links from reciprocal links. Do you disagree?
I do not disagree. I refuse to hold an opinion either way until I see some proof. Unfortunately, neither of those articles contained any proof. Sorry.
I don't know what your definition of proof is but when you have to act, you have to make an opinion based on the information out there whether you consider it to be absolute proof or not (if it's even possible to have absolute proof about search engine algorithms). That position is useless to any conversation where absolute proof is not possible.
Without proof, I simply would not say things like "With Google's recent algorithm update they have penalized many sites that rely to heavily on reciprocal link exchanges..." Luckily for me, I don't have very many reciprocal links.
Well, having read a lot of articles and experts and heard the same message, it seems likely. Also, in the first article they give examples of this. When you put it all together, I don't have any problem with making that statement.
I am suggesting to start with One way Link Building Campaign. Search engines put more attention for one way links