The Rules of Reciprocal Linking

In most SEO-related articles, one finds a mention of reciprocal linking. The concept itself is simple: Site A adds a link to Site B, Site B adds a link to Site A. Both sites are noticed by Google, and proceed to benefit from the so-called "reciprocal" link. It's not quite that simple though -- there are a couple of rules that one should know before constructing an SEO strategy around reciprocal links.

First, you need to set a goal. It's not realistic to shoot for twenty links a day: unless you're a really good salesman (or you're bribing your link partners), that's just not gonna happen. Instead, you should set a goal that you can comfortably meet. For new sites, this might be as little as one reciprocal link per week; for more established sites, a couple links per week might be possible. Once you've set a goal, stick to it! E-mail other webmasters and ask for link exchanges, look on related boards for link partners, etc. It's not hard to get links, but you've got to actually try in order to do so.

Choose your link partners wisely. Link only to sites that are relevant to your target topics. Reciprocal links have little to no SEO value unless they're between two sites with related content. Google (and others) are pretty lenient about this (I've gotten PageRank value from sites that only shared a couple keywords), but it's best to link with the most relevant sites possible.

Don't submit your link to "free-for-alls", or poorly-categorized directories. Since about 2002, Google's been smart about link-farms; any page with more than a couple dozen links on it will carry little to no SEO value, and may even hurt the scores of pages linked from it. In order to avoid this problem, don't submit your site to free-for-all directories, or directories with more than a few links per page (i.e. poorly-categorized ones.) If you must submit to directories, be sure to submit your site to the most refined sub-category you can. Doing so will yield more refined traffic and will give your link more SEO power.

Pitch your site to webmasters. Don't be afraid to get out there and promote. E-mail the webmasters of relevant sites and pitch your site: briefly tell them what your site has to offer, why it would be of interest to their visitors, request a link, and tell them where you'll link their site. Chances are, they'll say "yes" -- few webmasters will turn down the offer of free traffic. Once you've worked out the details (anchor text, what page, page location, etc.), you'll both start to benefit from the increased traffic. If you get in the habit of e-mailing the webmaster of every relevant site you run across, you'll soon have a mountain of incoming links and a heap of quality traffic.

Reciprocal linking is a simple process -- but it requires dedication and a bit of patience. If you're willing to put in a bit of work, however, you can get a tremendous amount of targeted traffic for free. And that's hard to argue with.