Reciprocal link exchanges must be well thought out otherwise your web site may get penalized.
I did not place reciprocal link exchange at the top of my list because link exchange has been abused to produce link schemes. This is where site owners have generated thousands of links from unrelated web sites.
Search engines have begun to ignore web sites that participate in any type linking whose purpose is just to gain high search engine rankings and does not serve the benefit of visitors to your web site.
When to exchange links
You should only exchange links with websites that compliment your own. For example if I sell camping equipment I may exchange links with sites that offer good places to camp.
On the other hand, if a gambling site offered several hundred dollars to place a link on your website, should you participate?
Well, the money would be tempting but it could result in Google penalizing your site. It will then take years to get your high rankings back.
Procedure
a. Create a links or resource page
This page should provide all the relevant resources visitors go to for information not included on your site.
b. Place the link from the site you wish to exchange links with on your site first.
Make sure you include appropriate link text within the link ie if the site is on “best hiking trails in Maryland” include this in your link text. Under the link should be a brief description of his site.
c. Send an email to the site owner.
Outline all the benefits of exchanging links with you, and that you have already placed his link on your site (include the address of the link page). Make sure his link is featured prominently on the page.
d. Provide the HTML code of your web site link
Include the exact HTML code of the information you want placed on his site, so he can just copy and paste it into his own. It should include a brief description of your offer and the URL of your site should contain anchor text.
e. Wait for a response
If you don’t get a response within 3 days try sending your request again 2 more times. If there is no response, remove his link from your page.
Tip
Some site owners delete any link exchange request automatically so this task can be very time consuming. An alternative method to this is to offer a well written article that can be placed on their site or in a newsletter. You may get a better response and you won’t have to ask for a link back.
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