What Is A Reciprocal LinkA reciprocal link is a mutual link between two objects, commonly between two websites to ensure mutual traffic. Since the inbound link is a very important factor when search engines decide the ranking of a website both in value and search result, a lot of webmaster use reciprocal links to get inbound links.
So, don't be surprised if you see a "partners" or "resources" page of a website that is full of links. There is a very special type of reciprocal link called a "3-ways-linking" or "multi-ways-linking", which works as "Site A" links to "Site B", "Site B" links to "Site C" and "Site C" links to "Site A".
To get reciprocal links is very simple and below are 2 common methods:
First: Join a link exchange website and request a reciprocal link with another website. There are many very famous link exchange websites you can leverage, such as, build-reciprocal-links.com etc. These websites also have a functional that allows you to check whether your link has really been put on the other website.
Second: Add a "Link Exchange" page to your own website. If you have regular visitors to your website, and your website has informative or interesting content, you can request a link exchange from your visitors and build up reciprocal links. Some websites even have a website directory that stores websites they have reciprocal links with.
Site reciprocal linking is no longer effective and can actually accrue penalties toward your website/s. Google and other SE's (Search Engines) can easily find these pages and discount them. However, this does not mean all reciprocal linking is ineffective.
Google states on their "link schemes" page that "Excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging ("Link to me and I'll link to you.")" is in violation of their Webmaster guidelines. Notice the word "excessive" being used twice in there.
This means that selective link exchanges between quality sites is not against their guidelines and and it still works! But if you have many websites, avoid tactics like "Site A" pointing to "Site B", "Site C", "Site D", and "Site B" points to "Site A", "Site C", "Site D", etc. This will be very easily captured by Google and treated as "excessive reciprocal linking".
There are 2 ways you can use:
The first method is to use 3-ways-linking or multi-ways-linking described above, and it is very difficult for Google to consider these methods excessive. If you have multiple websites, this is definitely the method you should use.
The second way is a contextual link exchange. The word here is a little bit new. Let me describe it a little bit here. Instead of simply putting a link to the other website, you put the link within the article you have written for your website. Links that appear within content are much more "natural" looking than sidebar and footer links. What's even more important is Google likes contextual links.
Successful Factors for Reciprocal Linking
In order to make sure you have a successful reciprocal links compaign when promoting your website/s, you should pay attention to these factors listed below:
Only exchange links with relevant websites. If your site is talking about web hosting, there is no need to exchange links with a website that is talking about games. Google will put a negative score to your site for irrelevant links.
Content is still the king when it comes to developing your website, no matter how many reciprocal links you have. If you cannot provide good content for online readers, all your effort will result in nothing.
Article by Ivy.Thai
Article Source: Webhostingclue.com
