There have been many theories about whether reciprocal link building still works. Some are speculating that it no longer works at all whereas some are saying that it is still working. I am going to give you my point of view about this matter after having done some analysis. Saying that reciprocal link building is dead cannot be further from the truth. This marketing technique might have been a bit devalued meaning getting "less weight" from the search engines but it is still working.
The truth is that if you still have some solid reciprocal links from related and relevant sites, your search engine rankings won't disappear just like that. And the key is to solicit links from quality and ontopic sites. Links from related sites work too if you can't secure too many links from sites with exactly the same topic as yours. Eg you can have a site about shirts and it's not a bad idea to get a link from a shoe website because these two topics can fit in the same theme ie clothing. But don't just depend on reciprocal links to promote your website. Try to get article links too, one-way links, directory links. Just do a combination and you'll prosper and get more traffic for years to come.
The value of an on-topic reciprocal link is big. Not only will this link alone get you traffic but it will naturally help to boost your search engine rankings automatically. Doing some homepage link partnerships with related and relevant sites just for the sake of exchanging traffic can do wonders. I know that because reciprocal links alone bring a nice additional source of traffic to my websites.
I've been marketing and doing search engine optimization for many years and I can tell you links alone are worth traffic and sometimes, it's good to look for links for the sole purpose of getting targeted traffic. Imagine 1 good link bring you 10 visitors per day, imagine having a few dozens of them, that's already free and valuable traffic.
So don't underestimate this powerful method of marketing online. Take your time to look for ontopic or related websites and see if they might be interested in your link exchange offer by sending them an interesting email. Just be brief and to the point. Of course, if your site is new, you better look for links from sites with similar success level. With time, when your site grows, you will have higher chances to secure more quality links. You need to work at it and give it time. I started with low traffic sites and with time after keeping at it, they prosper little by little.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This article can be freely published on a website as long as it's not modified in any way including the author bylines, plus all the hyperlinks must be made active just like below.
Jean Lam is the webmaster of
http://www.top-ranking-strategies.com. Check out
Top Search Engine Ranking Secrets in Google Revealed, his concise, step-by-step guide to high search engine ranking for the beginner to intermediate level webmaster.
