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Reciprocal Linking is Dead; Long Live Link Popularity!
by Michael Pedone ©Copyright 2004

If you're struggling to get more reciprocal links for your 
website, I have some good news. Reciprocal linking as a search 
engine optimization tactic is dead. It's a huge waste of time 
and it doesn't work. 

But don't confuse reciprocal linking with link popularity. 

Link popularity continues to be one of the most important 
aspects of any successful search engine optimization campaign. 
But the way it's done is changing dramatically. 

Up until now, webmasters have been scouring the web trying to 
find sites that are willing to swap links in order to help boost 
their rankings. But as soon as they find a link swapping partner, 
what do they do? They bury their partner's link while expecting 
the partner to place their link front and center on a highly 
ranked page, thank you very much. 

It seems like a hopeless situation; both parties want to deep 
six the other's link, rendering it virtually invisible to search 
engine spiders and human traffic. I think I can safely say that 
this is NOT what Google had in mind when it included link 
popularity in its algorithm. 

But I have found a solution to this fruitless effort we call 
reciprocal linking.

My search for the solution began right at Google's doorstep. 
Let's take a quick peak at what Google says about link 
popularity and how it works:

    Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote by 
    page A for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer 
    volume of votes or links a page receives; it also analyzes 
    the page that casts the vote. 

Hmm... and all this time webmasters were focusing on high numbers 
of incoming links, period.

    (Google) analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast 
    by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily 
    and help to make other pages "important."

So, how do you know if Google considers a page "important" enough 
for you to pursue a link on it? The answer is PageRank Score. 
(Downloading the Google toolbar will allow you to see any site's 
PageRank Score.) If the page in question has a Google PageRank 
Score of six or higher, it's a real good candidate.

Does that mean you place your link on any web site that has a 
PageRank Score of 6 or higher? No, and here is why according to 
Google:

    Important, high-quality sites receive a higher PageRank, 
    which Google remembers each time it conducts a search. Of 
    course, important pages mean nothing to you if they don't 
    match your query. So, Google combines PageRank with 
    sophisticated text-matching techniques to find pages that 
    are both important and relevant to your search. Google goes 
    far beyond the number of times a term appears on a page and 
    examines all aspects of the page's content (and the content 
    of the pages linking to it) to determine if it's a good match 
    for your query.

Getting a link from an important site that's relevant is the key. 
And the payoff for you will be more than just higher rankings. 

Many site owners and marketers have forgotten that a well-placed 
quality link can actually bring them business. I mean, generating 
leads and sales is the reason you want to rank highly in the 
search engines in the first place, right? 

So I have a fairly radical proposal for you. 

In my opinion, its time to stop trying to get a free ride in the 
reciprocal linking game. It's time to start looking for quality 
sites that will post your linking ad... and be prepared to pay 
for it.  

Yes, I said pay for it. 

Because at the end of the day, it's far better for your business 
to have a few links on important, relevant web pages than it is 
to have hundreds of irrelevant, low traffic, low PageRank sites 
linking to you. 

Why? Because having your ad appear on a site that Google 
considers important and relevant can not only improve your 
rankings but can also attract targeted traffic that converts 
into leads and sales. (This assumes that all other search engine 
optimization strategies are in place and working, i.e.: 
spider-friendly HTML code, strong content, and proper 
registration with the right search engines and directories.) 

Another bonus: With this linking strategy, you don't have to 
give anyone a reciprocal link or maintain a link farm or 
"resources" page on your site. All links flow one way - your 
way.

I have found many potential linking sites that charge anywhere 
from nothing to $25 a year to hundreds per month. Yes, the rates 
vary wildly but your choice of link partner should not be based 
solely on cost. You need to consider all these factors: 

1)      Is the linking site important according to Google's criteria?
2)      Is it relevant to your site?
3)      Does it have the quantity and quality of traffic you need?
4)      Is it affordable to you? 
5)      Does it accept linking ads?

Do some research and make a list of sites that meet the above 
criteria. Then review the list and start working with the ones 
that fit your budget. Don't be too shy to negotiate with sellers; 
there's lots of ad space competition out there and you may be 
able to cut yourself a better deal. 

Once you've found the right linking ad partners at the right 
price, any fees they charge will likely be repaid to you in more 
targeted traffic, higher PageRank Score, and higher search 
engine placement. This all leads to more sales. 

But possibly the greatest benefit of using this strategy is the 
dramatic reduction in headaches caused by trying to find hundreds 
of link partners that only end up burying your reciprocal link.

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Michael Pedone is founder of eTrafficJams.com, a professional 
search engine optimization company (http://www.etrafficjams.com/) 
that specializes in getting targeted, eager-to-buy traffic to 
your site! Setting up and maintaining an effective link 
popularity campaign takes a lot of work. If you'd like our help 
or just want to learn more about link popularity, contact us. 
We'll be happy to conduct a free search engine optimization 
analysis (http://www.etrafficjams.com/freeanalysis.htm) of your site.
================================================================

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