Reciprocal Linking Doesn't Work Like it Used To

When it comes to advertising, few vehicles beat the word of mouth mode. It's free, it's simple and it takes no effort other than providing a good service or product.

In the online world, a form of word of mouth advertising does exist. It's the process of securing links - called "backlinks" into your site. In years past, "reciprocal linking" was a search engine optimization technique practiced by nearly everyone, and it worked. At least for a while. Then, search engines got smarter and started placing added value on links from sites that were related to your topic, placing little or no value on those that weren't.

Today, reciprocal links provide very little value. While it may be true that selected links you secure from sites that are relevant to your topic and considered "authoritative" sites by the search engines and which already enjoy a Google PageRank value equal to or greater than your own site's PageRank can give you some juice in the search rankings, value is typically greater if you don't link back to the sites that are linking to you. Seems kind of anti-social, doesn't it?

Initially, the answer for securing one-way links to your site was getting listed in web directories that didn't require you to link to them. In some cases, that may have meant paying to get your website listed in the directory. This practice still exists today, but now even web directories are losing their influence in search rankings.

My personal observation has been that many web directory pages have lost PageRank in the past several months. And Google itself is now devaluing paid links, viewing them as a type of "spam" in some cases. That means even online advertising could be seen by the search engines as attempts to artificially inflate your PageRank and search rankings. What's a site operator to do?

While it may be very true that reciprocal, directory and paid links from other sites will have less influence on your rankings, it doesn't mean they can't bring you traffic. A select number of web directories do get some good traffic that may end up on your site as a result of your directory listing. Additionally, even though reciprocal links have been devalued, it doesn't mean they won't bring traffic into your site. Incoming, unpaid links act as a form of "word-of-mouth" advertising that won't cost you, except for the fees your SEO specialist might charge to find the best one-way and reciprocal linking opportunities available. For these reasons you don't want to leave your link campaign management in the hands of software tools or firms that offer to get you 100 backinks for $6.00.

Keeping up with shifts in the search engine algorithms - formulas used to determine your site's rankings - is no easy task. Website optimization is not a once and done type of endeavor, either. Successful sites that want to build traffic and improve their search rankings need to face the fact that this is an ongoing effort that cannot be automated and cannot be forgotten. It requires a professional effort by practitioners who keep up with these changes and know what techniques are the most effective in bringing traffic to your site.

After all, you can have a great Google PageRank and good rankings and still have no one come in to your site wants to buy your products and services. Promotional opportunities and maximizing conversion rates are also important to a website's success. That's why the seo experts at Boss Design look for not only current, but long-lasting opportunities with a balanced, or "hybrid" approach of getting your site ranked, increasing your traffic, and getting that traffic to convert. to sales. Don't trust your website promotion efforts to amateurs, contact the pros at Boss Design.