With more and more experts and search engine enthusiasts claiming the right way and the wrong way to handle link swapping, link exchanging or reciprocal linking!
You can tell something is important when there is more than one name for it! GRIN!
There are also two schools of thought on the reasons link swapping.
The first reason for link swapping has always been to carry favour with Search engine rankings. Have a good site with lots of links and this is seen as a good thing and therefore Search Engines will rank you higher.
Sadly, like all things in life, this system can be abused and taken to the extreme. Sites are buying in hundreds if not thousands of links trying to “boost” their ranking artificially. This is fine in the short term but we are starting to see a fundamental shift in Search Engine algorhythms.
My last article of link swapping , If Content is King, then surely relevance is Queen! explains my personal view of relevant linking which is still follow.
There is now a second and perhaps more disturbing reason for swapping links.
To build a useful link resource or directory for your visitors.
With working with similar themed sites, swap links to build a directory service which can share and drive traffic to sites within it. Some have even claimed this can drive more traffic that a Search engine ranking.
So how do I create this vision of loveliness.
Simple, build an on topic directory of your major site content.
There are a couple of great tools you can use to automate this process.
These tools will add new sections, manage your directory structure, and allow you to add links or even allow others to add their own links which you just approve.
This can all be run from a web browser so you can be swapping links sat on the beach or in fact from anywhere.
They are so simple to use you could get family to help out too! GRIN!
In terms of places to find links try: www.linkpartners.com as a good start point.
Remember, Search Engines change their algorhythms all the time and you could fall out of favour at any time.
Your visitors are also getting more sophisticated and demanding at the same time. Give the visitor what they want first and let the search engine sort the rest out!
Jason Hulott is Director of J2 Squared, leading specialists
in Internet
consultancy whose specific aim is to drive more revenue
to websites. Their main area of focus are the insurance,
finance, and automotive industries.
