Reciprocal links

Reciprocal links are one of the most common and most effective forms of website promotion. The basic concept is simple - you link my site, I'll link yours and we'll both get an increase in traffic. But there is more to it than just exchanging links with a random site.

The very first problem is to find the right site to do an reciprocal link exchange with. A good partner has content that appeals to the same kind of visitors as your site does, and vice versa of course. For example, a Futurama fan site could have reciprocal links with a Simpsons fan site, a free stuff site with a sweepstakes site and so on. To create successful reciprocal links, the exchanging sites need to be similar yet different enough so that they don't compete with each other.

After you've found a site that fits the above description, there are a few other important things that need to be figured out. First, is the other site interesting? If it's filled with banner ads and typos, you're better off finding another site to exchange reciprocal links with. A good rule of thumb is "If it doesn't interest me, it's not going to interest my visitors".

The second thing is to figure out how much traffic the site gets. Usually you can make a rough estimate just by browsing the site - if it looks and feels professional, it probably gets a pretty good amount of visitors. If it feels like it was a poor site to begin with, and no one has updated it since 1997, it probably doesn't get more visitors a day than you have fingers in your hands.

For the exchange to be useful to both parties involved, sites performing an exchange should have similar amounts of traffic - that way one site doesn't just rip visitors off the other one without giving any in return. Because most webmasters know this rule (some even monitor the amount of traffic they receive/send out), it's unlikely that a low-traffic site can get a link exchange with a high-traffic one. But if your site is really good, your proposal for a link exchange could be accepted even if you get less visitors than the site you're trying to exchange with. The old "content is king"-rule applies here, too :).

After you've found a site that seems to be suitable, it's time to contact the webmaster of that site. Tell him that you run a site that has a similar topic and describe your site a bit (remember to give your front page's address). Say that you like his site and have included a link to it in your site (give him the address of the page where the link is), then ask him to return the favor by linking to your site. If you never get a reply or your proposal gets rejected, just forget it and find another site.

If you manage to make a deal and get the other webmaster to link to your site, keep your end of the bargain - don't remove your link without contacting the webmaster of the other site first. Because there are some webmasters who agree to exchange reciprocal links, add your link on their site for a few days/weeks and then remove it without noticing you, you should also check the site of your partner every now and then to see if he's keeping his part of the deal. If he is not, contact the guy and kindly ask him to explain why your link has disappeared. If you don't get a satisfactory explanation, remove the link to his site from your site and find another partner.

Top ten Things Not to Do When Asking to Trade Reciprocal Links
When you E-Mail or otherwise contact webmasters to ask to trade reciprocal links, you usually get one shot to make a good impression. Here are ten things I have seen in webmaster letters written to myself asking for reciprocal links. Needless to say, the results such webmasters receive is not often what they wanted. 
10) DO NOT WRITE IN CAPITAL LETTERS. WHEN SOMEONE WRITES IN CAPITAL LETTERS IT IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING. 
9) Do not forget to mention your own web address in the message. Yes, I have received great letters about how I should reciprocally link to a site and the webmaster forgot the address. 
8) Likewise, do not forget to mention your website's name. Don't forget to describe it, either. No, this does not mean that you should deliver a media kit; just give me a few sentences or a paragraph summarizing your website. If your website is a personal page, just say so! Trust me, we'll find this out later when/if we visit your site. 
7) Do not include a 100k attachment with the website's complete package of buttons, animated banners, JavaScript code, etc. usable in a reciprocal link campaign. I admit that for a while, I did not like it when anyone started a conversation with an attachment of any size, but that has changed. Large attachments, however, are not the way to start a conversation. Ask the webmaster if they would like your complete package of reciprocal link codes and graphics BEFORE you send such information. 
6) Do not forget to let the webmaster know how they can add a link to your website! You can do this without sending them a complete package of graphics and code as listed above. In your first correspondence, either give them a snippet of HTML that they can place on their website, or on your own website (you did give your URL, didn't you???), provide the code and graphics

5) Do not, in your first message, briefly mention reciprocal link trading and then go on to the subject of asking me for money for some product or service. It may be OK if I respond with a relevant offer, or if your next message contains such offers after we have developed a relationship, but don't start off in your first message talking about prices. Many people find messages like that to be borderline SPAM. 
4) Do not forget to tell the webmaster which page with which you want to trade links. In fact, mention the URL as well. I receive requests CONSTANTLY that fail to mention this information. As I run many sites, I always first have to ask the name of the website to which they were referring. Usually, the sender has sent the requests by a blind carbon-copy mail, so they don't remember the name of the website. Most people would be too embarrassed to reply that they don't know the name of the website. Opportunity is lost.
3) Do not write a letter with obvious punctuation and grammar errors throughout the message. I'm not expecting webmasters to have the eloquence of Mark Twain or Robert Frost, but I also don't expect to see what could be considered a bad E. E. Cummings clone, either. If you write a stock message to all webmasters, please proofread it first or have your word processor proof the message!
2) Do not ask to trade reciprocal links, and if I do not respond within 24 hours, ask again. Then, please do not keep asking me until I do respond! Like many other webmasters, I am quite busy and usually put off trading reciprocal links until I get many requests. That way, I can handle all of the requests at once. A follow-up message after one week is fine, but don't harass me. You need a way to record which sites you have asked for reciprocal links to avoid this problem. Envision Programming is working on such a product and plans to have it on ReciprocalLink.Com shortly.
And, of course,
1) Do not use an invalid E-Mail address. For gosh sakes, you should know your E-Mail address if you wish to correspond with people. If you mistype your address, that's one thing, but to leave it out or put in an address without an at-sign or period, then.... well, you better at least have mentioned your website URL or I will just send the message to the trash. Even with an URL, I may trash the message anyway if the e-mail address is invalid.
Most of these items should be common sense, but in case they're not, hopefully you have learned something from this article. Now, go out there and trade some reciprocal links - the right way!