One Good Link
Deserves Another
by Jack Humphrey
http://power-linking-profits.com
There is nothing on
the web that compares to a good link when you are talking about
building steady streams of traffic to your site.
Did you know that one good link can bring you more daily traffic than a
#1 position on a search engine? It’s true!
Did you also know that there are sites out there, thousands of them,
who rely solely on the traffic they get from reciprocal links with
other webmasters? There are! I call the webmasters of these sites Link
Minded people!
No webmaster in their right mind would argue that links aren’t the
lifeblood of the internet. A search engine is only a directory of
links. A link directory on your domain is also a search engine when you
use the proper technique of creating a “themed category listing.
I think the biggest problem on the net today is that so many webmasters
are looking for a Magic Pill that will solve their traffic problems
with The Click of a Button. How many times have you seen an ad with
those exact words in it? 50? 100 times or more?
Well, I am sorry to tell you, there is no magic pill. That I can
absolutely positively guarantee. There is no substitute for plain, old
fashioned hard work and dedication to your website and the business you
would like to succeed in. The internet offers tons of automation
solutions, and even reciprocal linking has had a couple of valiant
attempts and even successes at a certain degree of automation.
But exchanging meaningful, traffic-driving links with other webmasters
is and always will be a personal, one-on-one thing. It is like a mini
joint venture with other webmasters and you have to address them
without bulk mail or spamming in order to even have a chance at getting
the mother of all links someday!
When you look at reciprocal linking (the oldest original form of
advertising since the web began) it is really surprising how few
marketing experts deal with the topic. I wrote a book about the whole
phenomenon simply because there were so few people looking into the
science of link swapping!
And there is a science to it! There are pitfalls. There are plain
NO-NOs. There are myriad ways to waste your time chasing after useless
links, or worse, links that will get you banned from some search
engines! Reciprocal linking is not link farming or posting to 400,000
Free-for-All links pages. (A most detestable practice used for awhile
by all newbies, then abandoned after the damage is done.)
In short, you really have few choices on the net better than starting a
link directory and asking webmasters with relevant content to your site
for a link swap. Unless you have a huge budget and can afford to pay
someone to get your site optimized and ranked in the top ten on all the
big engines, there aren’t other alternatives.
Banner exchanges suck visitors from your site. Traffic exchanges bring
you hits, but totally uninterested visitors. Ezine ads are an important
linking strategy, but that is an ongoing process you do to get quick
spurts of traffic, not ongoing, steady streams of it. Plus it is hard
to know where to get the best ads and usually the best ads are pretty
expensive on a small budget.
My recommendation for people who really want their site to be noticed
to the tune of 1000 hits a day or more, who are on a budget and are
just starting: start a link directory on your site and have clear
instructions on how to swap links with you.
Then, search the net for your link partners (relevancy is SO key here,
don’t swap links with Victoria’s Secret if you sell fishing line!) send
them personalized emails asking for swaps, set up top listings for
those willing to be “link partners and keep going until you have at
least 100 links to your site! (Verifiable at altavista.com by typing in
“Link:yourdomain.com)
Then, stop and take a break and start again. It’s work. Even with
automation software. Nothing good comes on the net without work. Did
you EVER in your life see a successful business owner who said “It
really was easy, no real work at all to get where I am today!?
But the payoff here is guaranteed: Reciprocal links will bring you
traffic and increase your site’s link popularity and ranking on the
search engines. Any webmaster willing to do what it takes to succeed
should be willing to work their fingers to the bone to get a huge
amount of traffic through link swapping!
--------------------------
Jack Humphrey is the Author of "Power linking 2: Evolution"
which hit the net this week to rave reviews. Grab your copy
before your competition does at
http://power-linking-profits.com
