There is nothing on the web
that compares to a good link when you are talking about
building steady streams of traffic to your site. "Link
Swapping", "Link Exchanges", "Reciprocal Linking", "Power
Linking", whatever you call it, a good quality linking
system for your website will bring you traffic like you've
never dreamed possible!
Did you know that one good link can bring you as much and
more daily traffic than a #1 position on a search engine?
It's true!
Did you also know that there are sites out there, thousands
of them, who rely solely on the traffic they get from
reciprocal links with other webmasters? There are! I call
the webmasters of these sites "Link Minded" people!
Here are two "live" examples of sites that have taken full
advantage of "Link Popularity" to get 1-2 million hits PER
MONTH.
Keep in mind that neither webmaster did anything more than
Power Link and submit their sites to the major search
engines ONCE. You can check out their live server logs to
see how they are doing right now.
Example 1: CTEX CD Replication holds the number one
keyword placement on Yahoo for "CD replication." How did
they get there? Link popularity! Check out their live server
log files at:
http://www.ctexinc.com/stats/index.html
Example 2: Toolady.com is a website that has been
using reciprocal links for a long time and her web site
traffic is generated almost completely by reciprocal links!
In four months it became one of the most heavily trafficked
bird web sites on the internet. Now it is simply the "Amazon.com"
of bird sites! No other form of marketing was done. Check
out her server log files here:
http://toolady.com/reports/log_bird.html
No webmaster in their right mind would argue that links
aren't the lifeblood of the internet. A search engine is
only a directory of links. A link directory on your domain
is also a search engine when you use the proper technique of
creating a "themed" category listing.
I think the biggest problem on the net today is that so many
webmasters are looking for a "Magic Pill" that will solve
their traffic problems with "The Click of a Button." How
many times have you seen an ad with those exact words in it?
50? 100 times or more?
Well, I am sorry to tell you, there is no magic pill. There
is just no substitute for plain, old fashioned hard work and
dedication to your website and the business you would like
to succeed in. The internet offers tons of automation
solutions, and even reciprocal linking has had a couple of
valiant attempts at a certain degree of automation.
But in the end, exchanging meaningful, traffic-driving links
with other webmasters is and always will be a personal,
one-on-one thing. It is like a mini joint venture with other
webmasters. You have to search for and address them without
bulk mail or spamming in order to even have a chance at
getting the mother of all links someday!
When you look at reciprocal linking (the oldest original
form of advertising since the web began) it is really
surprising how few marketing experts deal with the topic. I
wrote a book about the whole phenomenon simply because there
were so few people looking into the science of link
swapping!
And there is a science to it! There are pitfalls. There are
plain NO-NOs. There are myriad ways to waste your time
chasing after useless links, or worse, links that will get
you banned from some search engines! Reciprocal linking is
not link farming or posting to 400,000 Free-for-All links
pages. (A most detestable practice used for awhile by all
newbies, then abandoned after the damage is done.)
In short, you really have few choices on the net better than
starting a link directory and asking webmasters with
relevant content to your site for a link swap. Unless you
have a huge budget and can afford to pay someone to get your
site optimized and ranked in the top ten on all the big
engines, there aren't other alternatives.
Banner exchanges suck visitors from your site. Traffic
exchanges bring you hits, but totally uninterested visitors.
Safe-list bulk mailing is the same as sending your ad
directly into 2 million trash cans per day. It works for
some people, but with phenomenally dismal returns. Don't
waste your time.
My recommendation for people who really want their site to
be noticed to the tune of 1000 hits a day or more, who are
on a budget and are just starting: start a link directory on
your site and have clear instructions on how to swap links
with you.
Then, search the net for your link partners (relevancy is SO
key here, don't swap links with Victoria's Secret if you
sell fishing line!) send them personalized emails asking for
swaps, set up top listings for those willing to be "link
partners" and keep going until you have at least 100 links
to your site! (Verifiable at
altavista.com by typing in "Link:yourdomain.com")
Then, stop and take a break and start again. It's work. Even
with automation software. There is no high quality traffic
to be had on the net without work. Did you ever in your life
hear a successful business owner say "It really was easy, it
took no real work at all to get where I am today!?"
But the payoff here is guaranteed: Reciprocal links will
bring you traffic and increase your site's link popularity
and ranking on the search engines in ways you've only
dreamed about before. Any webmaster willing to do what it
takes to succeed should be willing to work to get a huge
amount of traffic through link swapping!
