How Reciprocal Linking Works

 In the very early days of the Internet, people approached all incoming links through “asking and permission.” But, as the Internet expanded and became more sophisticated, it is becoming more difficult to get links to your site just by asking. What has changed? Reciprocal exchanges now put something on the table for the benefit of all parties. You must have something good to offer now to get something in return. Welcome to “reciprocal link exchanges.” If you run a poor website, you can hardly get reciprocal links from a good site. The real reason, you must ensure at all times that your website is up to scratch otherwise you can’t hope to take good advantage of this highly technical Internet engagement.

Technically, the more links you have pointing to your website, the better the site is in the “eyes” of Search Engines. The higher these engines rate your sight, the more traffic they send to it. Every good marketer always wants traffic, traffic and more traffic. Good linking as exemplified by reciprocal links manages to get this traffic. Even though very large Search Engines like Google are very finicky about links, what is true is that they never notice your site if it does not have good “backlinks.” One clear fact is, any site with no links to it will never rank high in many search engines. As every good Internet marketer very well knows, bad/poor links are as good as no links at all. If you want links, it is best to go for good and positive links as seen in the “eyes” of Search Engines.

Since not all links are quality links, what every marketer really needs are quality links from quality sites that are on-subject with the subject matter of your own site. This is why marketing experts advise marketers to always explore credible ways to offer articles, photos, awards, testimonials, or other similar content to quality sites in exchange for a link back. That is reciprocal linking and it works only by deliberate efforts since no smart person will offer any of these activities on sites he/she judges as bad sites. If you judge a site as good and you get backlinks from it, fine. That is great for your efforts at reciprocal linking. Through deliberate efforts too, you can establish an authoritative presence on discussion boards and blogs dealing with the subject matter of your own website. Good reciprocal linking also comes your way as a result of such positive efforts.

How to Get Links to Your Website

 This appears to be the turf of Internet experts and online business gurus. It is highly technical too. One must therefore be very careful taking on this subject because it is still subject of intense debates among many marketers. My own opinion is based solely on what I have learned over time from the limited information I have managed to come across on the subject. To get links to your website, first you must have a website properly so called. That is a given! The site must be interesting, easily accessible/navigable and enjoyable. It must be worthy of links enabling people to find it easily. Links to your site act exactly like Internet pathways directing and leading Internet users through the Internet’s “electronic jungle” to your site. Knowing what the Internet is, that can not by any approach be an easy task. But, it is doable and is being done by many marketers who know their ways around the Internet.


 
To get links to your site, you must be on the Internet and must be found easily in it. You must depend more on Internet Search Engines to bring you out for others to find. Therefore, you must explore and exploit ways to get these Search Engines to “like” your website. The best place to have links to your site is on the most popular search engines particularly Google. These Search Engines are very smart, finicky and efficient and are very good in what they do. To get them to like and be friendly to your site, you must routinely do what they like and tolerate in the management of your own website. That is your very first hurdle. They do not hesitate to penalize any site that goes against their rules of engagement. That is one warning signal you can’t afford to ignore.

Why do you really need links? Great question! Traditionally, the more links you have to your website, the better the site is in the “eyes” of Search Engines. For that reason, the Engines tend to direct more traffic to such sites. Every smart marketer always wants traffic, traffic and more traffic. The more of it you get, the better for your business! Years past, it used to be more fashionable to simply ask other sites for links. But, when Search Engines started dishing out penalties for what later became popularly known as “poor links,” most marketers went back to the drawing board. Now, reciprocal link exchanges are the in thing. Nobody now forces any links on anyone. It remains your decision which links to accept or decline so as to play safe with Search Engines. 

In the very early days of the Internet, people approached all incoming links through “asking and permission.” But, as the Internet expanded and became more sophisticated, it is becoming more difficult to get links to your site just by asking. You must have something good to offer now to get something in return. Welcome to “reciprocal link exchanges.” If you run a poor website, you can hardly get reciprocal links from a good site. The real reason, you must ensure at all times that your website is up to scratch otherwise you can’t hope to take good advantage of this very complicated Internet engagement.