Is Reciprocal Linking Dead?

This most recent Google update affected a lot of web sites that depended on their reciprocal linking technique...

If you have been reading some of the world wide web forums, the final Google update surely induced fairly a stir, and it has left a lot of men and women asking the question "Is link building packages reciprocal linking Dead?".

This newest Google update affected a lot of internet sites that depended on their reciprocal linking technique to rank high in Google.

If a webmaster wanted to outrank a competing internet site, They would operate out how several links they necessary from distinct internet sites with a particular PR rating and then commence a reciprocal linking campaign link building seo to out rank their competitors.

This method was definitely sound and was extremely successful. But most webmasters would swap links with anybody and everyone, so lengthy as the website had a Google page rank (the larger the much better).

Each and every link swapped was a step toward ranking greater in the search engines and beating out their competitors.

This method could have worked in the past when Google was not as wise, but it appears Google has wised up to this method. So, it is not surprising that as Google and the other search engines get more sophisticated that the effectiveness of reciprocal linking has diminished as an important factor for ranking properly in seach engines.

Which brings us back to the question "Is reciprocal linking dead?"

Instead of asking yourself if reciprocal linking is dead, you should truly ask your self what outcome do you want to attain with your reciprocal linking strategy.

If reciprocal linking is your only approach to rank high in the search engines, then you ought to re-believe your strategy because reciprocal linking is not fairly dead, but it has taken a large hit.

I have not stopped my reciprocal linking methods because I am aiming for the following outcomes:

1. To drive visitors to my website from other relevant web sites.

2. To add value to my guests by offering them links to websites that they could be interested in.

three. If I rank higher in the search engines, then this is a bonus.

Prior to swapping a link with an additional website I am always mindful that if a visitor sees a link on my web site, they appropriately assume that I have recommended this internet site to them, and, if the web site I send them to is not relevant or really good, then I loose credibility and a attainable return visitor.

Whenever I am going to swap links with yet another site I often ask myself the following concerns:

1. What is the other site about and does it compliment my internet site?

two. Will my visitors discover this site helpful to them?

three. What is the quality of the content of the site?

If I assume my visitors will locate this site valuable I then look at the web site from the webmasters point of view and ask myself the following inquiries.

1. How will their guests find my link? If a visitor cannot discover my link then how am I going to get any visitors.

2. Is quality link building there a link on their property page (preferably on all their pages) to their links directory?

3. Exactly where is my link going to be placed? Is it a lot more than two clicks away from the house page?

4. Does the site have a sitemap and is the links page included in the site map?

If, and only if the site passes the above criteria will I proceed with a link exchange.

A reciprocal Linking technique may not be as effective to rank high in the search engines, but it still is an crucial component of acquiring targetted site visitors to your internet site if carried out correctly.