Reciprocal Linking Overload - Any Old Link Back Will Do?

Are you attempting to become a Google junior by adding thousands of links on your site? Don't bother, listen to these facts first.

So you want to get a Google top page rank and get your site listed on the first page when an internet surfer types in your keywords, right?!? Of course you do. At one time it was extremely important to get as many sites linking to you as possible, so the Google bots would spider your site, see all of these sites linking to you, and determine that your site must be of some importance because so many others are linking to it.

That was then this is now! Google is certainly aware of all of this tomfoolery and has reduced greatly, the importance of huge amounts of reciprocal links to your site, and has refined how they determine rankings and importance of each site. Did you know that there are sites with under 10 link backs that have a Google page rank of 7 or higher? It's true. So instead of trying to fool the search engines, try these simple rules.

1. 99% of your reciprocal links should be relevant to the content of your own site. Why not try to give something that might be useful to your visitors and only allow links that might benefit them. If you own a travel site, then only allow links that might benefit travelers. Your visitors will appreciate it, and it might even bring them back, knowing that you not only offer your services, but links to some other good services. The other 1% of links should be reserved for sites with a Google page rank of 6 or higher.

2. Categorize your reciprocal link index in detail. Don't make links hard to find, add categories and sub categories. For instance: If you own the travel site, and you are going to allow a section on rental cars, then you might have a category structure as follows: Travel Services>>Transportation>>Ground>>Rental Cars. Visitors want it made very easy for them, and the more categories you add, the easier it is to navigate.

3. Limit your links per page to 20 or less. Do your visitors and link partners a favor, do not have a page in your reciprocal link directory with 100 links on it. Separate these links into Page1, Page 2, Page 3, and so on. I promise you, if you are my link partner, I would rather have my link on your site as number 5 on page 3, than number 87 on page 1. You also will not overwhelm your visitor with the tedious task of the endless scroll down to reach the bottom of the page. TIP: This also adds more pages to your site, which Search Engines spiders look upon favorably as more content on your site.

4. There are those sites that do not fit into any category of your site that have that HUGE Google page rank, and you want them to link with your site. Here is a tip for you to keep those sites happy and get that top rank. In addition to you're regular links directory, create a separate smaller reciprocal links directory. This may be only 1-3 pages in size. This directory must have a direct link from your homepage (most top rank sites require that), and title it something like "Special Link Partners" or "Recommended Links". Add only page ranks of say 6-7 or higher to this special directory. This will ensure your most important link partners that you will not be burying their link way down inside your link directory.

Well, there you have it! There are many more tips and tricks to maximizing you web presence on our site at http://www.bullmarketer.com. We hope you will stop by and make use of our many free services.

Best of luck and warm regards!

About The Author

Derek Arnold is the President of BullMarketer.com, a webmaster resource site offering many tools for webmasters, marketers, and designers. Also has over 18 years of experience in the marketing and advertising fields.

webmaster@bullmarketer.com