The Basics of Asking for a Reciprocal Link

Asking another webmaster for a reciprocal link is standard practice on the Internet. Webmasters have been asking other webmasters for reciprocal links since the beginnings of the Internet. The very nature of the web is linking websites to one another. It is of even higher importance, now that AltaVista and others have changed their ranking algorithms.

If a webmaster considers your email spam, then he can report you. If your emails are unique, without commercials, and are personalized with unique personal information about the webmaster's web site that you are emailing, then it would be hard to call your email spam.

All webmasters must be responsible in their asking for reciprocal links. This includes following simple rules and guidelines in choosing web sites to include in your link directory.

Organizing a Tightly-Themed Vertical Link Directory

Reciprocal links do increase your search engine positioning if used properly.Tightly-Themed Link Directories get high ratings from search engine robots, but only if they are true resources of organized knowledge. Search engines are getting very smart in their query result rankings. They include all kinds of advanced calculations pertaining to how the links point to you and away from you. They can include keywords in their algorithms, and now they know how tightly linked your Themes or subjects are. Don't try to fool them into better positioning by including a lot of web sites that are outside your web site's real Themes in your Link Directory.

Your Link Directory's Themes must match the Themes of your web site. You must not let your zeal to email, and perhaps get a reciprocal link overpower your need to create a true web resource. You don't want to create a directory that includes all the knowledge of mankind and also sounds like a soft drink. You should be happy with organizing a tightly Themed Vertical Link Directory. Be the best in your area, linking only sites that relate to you.

A smaller, tightly-themed Link Directory will grow much faster than a diluted, loosely-themed, large bulky one. Your web site's traffic will quickly increase, not only with visitors from your Reciprocal Link partners but will also increase from Search Engine visitors, once their robots quickly find your Link Directory pages through your Link Partners!

Email General Guidelines

If you are including web sites in your Link Directory just because you want to send an email and possibly get a link, then you are spamming in mind and spirit. The webmaster who receives this kind of email is not a happy camper. He or she is proud of his achievements in creating traffic to his site over the last few years, perhaps millions of hits every month, only to receive an email asking him to link to a web site that in no way can remotely match his web site or be useful for his visitors. This is spam. Remember the phrase reciprocal links? Please change it to Reciprocal Themed Links. This is important !

DO NOT commercialize your email in any way.

It shouldn't look like spam or people will think it is. Do not include ANY links in your email signature area except links to your web site. Keep it short and to the point. Ask for a reciprocal link and that's it.

This message should only be a few lines, and not a long narrative with rules and guidelines. Save that for your information on your link directory. Use a unique email reciprocal link message.

It is possible for webmasters to receive the same basic message from another webmaster. Each reciprocal link request MUST look different by being fresh and original.

Do not use Let's Trade Links as your subject. Let's trade Links is probably the most used email subject line on the Internet today, as there are thousands of webmasters using this phrase. If you keep this subject line, then you are sending the same one as everyone else. It will not be accepted or worse, it will look like spam.

Personalize every email message

Include a personal comment in the email message to each of your selected email addresses. You could include something like: "I really like the animations you had on your home page.", ".. and loved your background image" or "I loved the content on ...... page". This personal comment should prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that you personally visited their web site.

Use logic when selecting those to receive an email.

Before you can send a reciprocal link request, you need to explore their web site to decide if you want to include them in your link directory. You need to also use some thought in who you send a message to. A super large web site will probably not trade links with you in the beginning, perhaps you should save those for later. If you cannot find a links page, they are not going to trade links either. Think before sending email.

I hope this helps in your future marketing decisions.

About The Author

Marc Oswald Singer

CEO WSP Advertising Inc.

http://www.wspromotion.com/

More Traffic Building Articles

Viral Marketing Technique Creates a Chain Reaction with One-Time Action!
Suddenly your site's traffic multiplies. You get "Money Waiting" emails from your Payment Processor; more sales than you can handle.

Power Packed Linking Strategies - Part One
This is the first in a series of three articles showing you how to find a suitable linking strategy for your website and put it to work for you.If you?ve been sitting and wondering why the traffic to your website is trickling in to your website ever so slowly then this article is intended to help you add some much needed oomph to your marketing campaign by using a linking strategy.

Power Packed Linking Strategies - Part Two
The keyword marketing guide to a linking strategy that packs real punching power.This is the second in a series of three articles showing you how to find a suitable linking strategy for your website and put it to work for you.

Power Packed Linking Strategies - Part Three
This is the third in a series of three articles showing you how to find a suitable linking strategy for your website and put it to work for you.Link strategy number four.

Linking is Queen
If content is king, then linking is the queen that shares his throne. We have all heard about adding content to your site to give the search engines fodder to consume.

Is There Such A Thing As LAZY Way To TRAFFIC?
Nowadays there are just too many people trying to give you something of a less (or no) value at a very high price. Why do you buy it? Why do they do it? Will they succeed?And they question is not about information products.

Jump-start Your Link Building (without Getting Sandboxed)
Link popularity has been written about ad nauseum, but most articles address the subject from a perspective circa 2001. The available information usually focuses on topics such as reciprocal linking or the current price of a PR6 link.

Linking Strategies That Bring Results
Website link popularity is used to indicate how many other web pages link to your web page. It is calculated by counting the number of web pages that contain your link, also known as inbound links.

Combine Links with Quality Resources and Youre on a Winner
There are 1001 ways to drive traffic to your websites.I reckon I?ve tried most of them over the years and in the process have become blasé over the whole process of traffic promotion - but here?s one that surprises even a hardened old cynic like me?Several months ago I designed a single-page website, launched the creature as a sub-domain and promptly forgot about it.

Link To Get Traffic - Not Search Engine Rankings!
There have been a lot of changes on the web since I wrote the first edition of "Power Linking Your Way to 1 Million Hits" in 2002. Back then I told everyone that the only thing that will never change, despite search engine shake-ups and search technology improvements, is that links will always be the most important part of any website promotion campaign.