If you’ve talked to any Internet marketing professionals about all the available options for optimizing your Website, then you may have heard the term “reciprocal links” batted around. We know that just the term “reciprocal links” may make one’s eyes glaze over; it’s not exactly a term that sounds like it’s a lot of fun.
So what are reciprocal links? Reciprocal links what Internet marketing professionals use to create a mutual link between two separate Websites. They are implemented to ensure a mutual traffic boost from both Websites. There are a number of reciprocal link directories on the web that you can join. That will mean that your Website link will show up in their online directory, but only if you include a link to their directory somewhere on your site.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But a much more complex question is whether or not reciprocal linking is useful at all. That’s an issue where Internet marketing professionals diverge. Some Internet marketing professionals think that reciprocal links are great, while other Internet marketing professionals find them quite useless. And there are some Internet marketing professionals who land somewhere in between. They think that reciprocal links can help, but they’re not absolutely crucial to a Website optimization strategy.
Many Internet marketing processionals think that there’s a threshold to reciprocal linking. In other words, some are good, but too many reciprocal links will be a huge red flag to search engines. If Google or other search engines notice too many reciprocal links within a Website, then that Website is in danger of getting blacklisted.
The thing to remember with reciprocal links is that quality matters. Linking to a lot of high quality sites will probably not get a Website penalized. But linking to too many link directories runs the risk of getting on Google’s bad side.
Unfortunately, there’s no clear cut and dry case of when to use reciprocal links and how many to use. Tests by Internet marketing professionals have shown that reciprocal links will help a Website if that Website deals with a very specific issue, and if that site has reciprocal links going to related sites.
For example, the study in question involved a Website called “The Southeastern Bat Diversity Network” it’s an organization that works to conserve bat habitats in—you guessed it—the southeast US. All reciprocal links on that Website were to other Websites that covered bats. Those are the types of links that are considered “high quality.” If the reciprocal links were to Websites that were about something different—if the bat conservation Website linked to a Website that sold iPhone accessories—then that would look suspicious.
So should you use reciprocal links? The bad news is that it’s too complex an issue to offer a straight yes or no answer. For the best results, an experienced Internet marketing professional should evaluate the Website in question and decide whether or not it’s a good candidate for some reciprocal links, or perhaps many reciprocal links. Shoot Search Circus an email if you want to know more about what reciprocal links can do for your site.
