Benefits of a reciprocal link exchange programWebsite
Promotion - Why should web masters expend time and effort exchanging
reciprocal links ?
The value of website promotion can not be underestimated if you
wish to increase website traffic.
Proper website promotion results in increased page ranking, greater website traffic and better
search engine placement of your website listing. Often novice webmasters
overlook the benefits of reciprocal link exchange, whereas those
serious about website promotion know well that reciprocal link
exchange with other well placed websites of similar content, not only
increases your website traffic, it also greatly enhances the
placement of your website listing in most of the major search
engines. The few minutes that it takes to add your website details to a reciprocal link partner is a small
investment for the returns in increased website traffic and website
listing placement. Perhaps more importantly reciprocal links are
probably the most economical form of website promotion
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Even many so-called "web marketing gurus" really
do not understand the dynamics of linking. Everyone knows that it is
important to search engines, but very little has been written about
the real benefits of website promotion through reciprocal linking. Studies have shown the true value of linking, and the advantages
of building a substantial link exchange network. For sites that serve a market
of enthusiasts, like sports or hobbies, or those that have
a large number of resource or directory sites, like careers, then
linking should be the foundation of the site's traffic. For businesses,
it is a way of driving website traffic that you would not
otherwise have received.
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Each of these benefits associated with link
exchange is quite powerful. Cumulatively, this list
places linking as the “king of the hill” when it comes to earning a
return on your website marketing endeavours. Because many of these
advantages have never been exposed, please read them carefully, and
take time to reflect on their true meaning, and the benefits it could
have on your website promotion efforts:
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Value: The "cost per click" on most search engines is increasing. As
more and more websites vie for the traffic directed by pay-per-click
website, the cost to the advertiser will raise. On the other
hand reciprocal links from other website, in most instances cost you
nothing except the time to submit your URL and other details.
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Reliability: Reciprocal links continue to drive traffic for as long as
the links exists. It's true that you can not expect the same results as
from the major search engines, but then again, there are no ongoing
costs.
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Search Result Enhancement: As long as there are free search engines,
many of them will reward you for being "popular". This popularity is
often measured in the number of links that are directed to your
website, and to a lesser extent to the number of links going out of
your site, a commonly overlooked fact. Search engine results and
website listing placement tends to
improve dramatically for sites that implement good link exchange practices.
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True Network Effect: Reciprocal links are a widely-distributed source
of traffic. They are not reliant upon a single point of control, as
are many other sources of traffic, like search engines. Links
represent a "fail-safe" network. They are protected from the
ever-changing criteria and consolidation of the free search engines,
and they are sheltered from the competitive attacks that is now
taking place with the pay-per-click bidding wars.
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Stability: Reciprocal links
gained through link exchange partners are extremely stable, in the aggregate.
Sure, you'll lose some links over time, but by and large, they tend to
stay in place indefinitely, providing traffic day after week after
month after year. And of course there is nothing to prevent you
increasing both your popularity and traffic by continuing your link
exchange practices and adding addition links
over time.
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Publicity: The very act of asking for the link from another site is
equivalent to an industry-specific press release, but the payoff here
can be long term. You never know what will come your way from making
your market aware, especially if your product is new or unique. In
fact, in promoting your website you may well also be promoting your
product. A legitimate request to another website to sway or
exchange links is the
ONLY way to properly engage in email website promotion, without "spamming".
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Branding: The more links you have, the greater the "branding" effect
for your name. This broad awareness can improve the
click-through-ratio for your links. At the least, it makes surfers
curious as to why your site name seems to show up everywhere.
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Traffic Driver: A well-structured links page can actually be used to
bring people back to your site. As well as being a vehicle for website promotion it can also be a valuable resource to your visitors, and
they will come back to it again and again.
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Links to other sites is not a net traffic drain.
This line of thinking is simply flawed, for a variety of reasons. The benefits
of linking far outweigh the occasional click out of your site by
people who are ready to leave. A well-designed links page opens all of
the outgoing links in a new browser window, leaving your site open on
the user's machine.
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Market Intelligence: Reciprocal link traffic patterns reveal many of
the real "players" in an industry. This info, extracted from your site
referral logs, can be used to your advantage in other ways, such as
for placing banners or finding good affiliates and marketing partners.
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Minimal Oversight: Unlike pay-per-click search engines and banner ads,
links take only limited management time once they are in place. This
is the opposite of pay-per-click, because when you are spending money
for each click, you need to constantly stay on top of both your bids
and your volume. That is a hidden but very real cost of pay-per-click
banners and ads. To assist you in managing your links, our site offers GI
Link Manager, free for the downloading.
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Asset Value: Reciprocal links are assets of the business. Like the
bricks of a house, a few don't amount to much, but pile them up, and
you have a rock-solid foundation and structure. They can also greatly
enhance the equity value of a website.
Please read this last one twice...
Affordability: The traffic that comes from established links is
essentially free, but earning those links is not. It takes time
to build a link network. There are many websites that offer a service
to manage and promote your links. Generally there is an upfront cost, which could
be viewed as a capital investment in site marketing, and there could
be ongoing management fees. The decision to use such a service may
depend upon your budget. But for the budget conscious there are always
the free links to be achieved simply by politely asking other
webmaster to exchange reciprocal links. Most web masters, like
yourself, are very interested in website promotion and increasing
their website traffic. The majority will be happy to exchange
links with your website.
For those who do not yet have the budget to spend money for online
advertising, the investment in links may very well save you from
having to institute other, usually expensive, ad programs to get traffic.
There is nothing else in website promotion and marketing that can compare to the long
term advantages of links obtained through reciprocal link exchange
partnerships.
Click here to submit your site for inclusion in our link pages
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