Establishing inbound links through reciprocal link exchanges is a very effective promotional and advertising tool. If done correctly, building inbound links can improve your rankings in the search engines by raising your link popularity, increasing your website traffic, and providing a valuable resource for your website customers and visitors. Here are 15 link exchange tips to get you started:
1. Exchange links with websites that will bring you targeted traffic. Targeted traffic means visitors and/or customers that will be interested in your products or services.
2. Keep your link title brief and free of long sentences.
3. Try to keep your link description brief (aim for 200 characters or less).
4. Do not capitalize all letters in your link title or description.
5. Do not give the webmaster a deadline on when they should reciprocate. Webmasters are very busy people and it may take from 1 to 60 days or more. Be patient and in the long run you will receive more quality link partners!
6. Never remove a link partner from your site once they have agreed to exchange links with you and placed your link on their site.
7. Do not request link exchanges from sites that are unrelated to your website. For example, if you have a candle website, don't exchange links with a pharmaceutical website. This will not benefit your customers or visitors and the search engines may penalize your website for this.
8. Let the webmaster know that you have indeed visited their site and explain to them why a reciprocal link exchange with your website would be beneficial.
9. Be sure that your link pages are search engine friendly. Link pages are easier indexed if they have no more than 25 links per page.
10. Complete your website before requesting reciprocal link exchanges. Most webmasters will not link to a site where most of the pages are "under construction".
11. Do not give misleading information in your link exchange request. Most webmasters are not going to believe it and your request will most likely be ignored. For example, don't claim that your site receives 100,000 unique visitors a day unless your site really receives that many.
12. It is best to categorize your link partners. For example, you might want to have a home and garden page, a home improvement page, a candles page, etc. This is a much better way or organizing your links for both your visitors and your link partners. If you just have one huge page of links in no order, most webmasters will not approve your link exchange request.
13. Make sure your links page is linked and visible from your home page.
14. If your site is family friendly, do not add link partners that offer services or products that are not family friendly.
15. Be aware of free-for-all link programs and link farms. These are sites that basically offer nothing but unrelated links and end up collecting and sharing your email address, which results in a lot of unwanted SPAM in your inbox.
The above tips are only a few suggestions on how to build a successful linking campaign. Most importantly, be patient and take your time to find quality link partners that will add a valuable resource and bring targeted traffic to your website.
Lesley Dietschy is a freelance writer and the creator/editor of The Home Decor Exchange and the Home & Garden Exchange. The Home Decor Exchange is a popular home and garden website featuring resources, articles, decorating pictures, free projects, a shopping marketplace, and more. The Home & Garden Exchange is a unique link exchange directory dedicated to home and garden websites. Please visit both websites for all of your home, garden, and website needs.
http://www.HomeDecorExchange.com
http://www.HomeGardenExchange.com