What's the best reciprocal link method / exchange directory

[Plinko]

Hey everyone,

Time for me to build some more links. Been hanging out in forums, spending money submitting to directories and social bookmarking but not seeing a lot of return. That's when I realized one of my best sites really only has a few reciprocal links on it.

So I'm wondering, what is the best way to get reciprocal links? I'd rather not outsource until I get the method down myself first.

I would like to hear from those who use a link exchange directory too. I was a member of linkmetro for ages but all I ever got was unrelated spam sites. SBI used to have a service that was good but I can't remember what it was called.

Anyone have suggestions?

[grumpyjacksa]

i use a service called http://linkalizer.com

so far, so good.....been about 2 months

[adrian-adrian]

Great way (worked good for me) is to find blogs in your industry and ask for a link swap... just go to google and look for blogs on your topic.

[sunnyman]

I would advise against spending your valuable time building *reciprocal* links.

As of what the gurus tell me, they no longer work. You should go for 1-way links instead.

[Bruce Hearder]

Reciprocal links are great for getting a site indexed and appearing in the Search Engines, but they value drops off after that..

What I do is get some recip links to a site (anywhere between 20-100 links) and then get going on the 1-way links, such as directory submissions, articles, paid to post submissions, SBM and so..

Hope this helps

Bruce

[Plinko]

As of what the gurus tell me, they no longer work.

Ya, not sure what to believe on that one. Andy Jenkins saying that's false but I'm not sure his off-the-cuff analysis is extensive enough to warrant merit.

I've got a #1 site (in a probably long tail in an ultra competitive top category) that has nothing but a handful of reciprocals, and a handful of unrelated directories really. So I have to think the reciprocals didn't hurt the ranking any. I'm not suggesting that is the only reason I'm at #1 (currently doing a global analysis on this) but I'm sure it contributed. If nothing else I think the fact that they come from related sites helps.

But my current site has much more competition and I'd like the 20-100 links recommended by Bruce above. Problem being emailing 200-1000 sites to get 20-100 responses seems like a long-term project.

Although linkalizer.com looks ok, they put sites in a publicly accessible directory which concerns me to a small degree. The concern is that Google knows they are a link directory, and your site is in it. I don't know if they consider that participating in a link scheme or not. Any thoughts? I've heard to stay away from any place that advertises they sell or exchange links publicly. Fact or fiction?

[Bruce Hearder]

Originally Posted by Plinko

I've got a #1 site (in a probably long tail in an ultra competitive top category) that has nothing but a handful of reciprocals, and a handful of unrelated directories really. So I have to think the reciprocals didn't hurt the ranking any.

I found the same thing.. I've got a couple of adsense sites up that are pulling good money for me, month after month.

It not becuase it all original content.. Its not, its all scraped, but these sites have about 100 reciprocal links pointing to them from completely unrelated websites (everything from dog training to weightloss)

But the site still ranks and still pulls in the clicks.. Get about a +20% click thru rate.. Not bad for an old scraper site..

take care

Bruce

[Plinko]

Thanks Bruce, that also clears up some suspicions for me. My site seems to do a little better every month, every year. Adsense also. Mine has age too.

I'm going to hit reciprocals on my new site (3 months old). Google only ranks me in 3 searches right now (according to Google Webmaster).

Any suggestions for the best methods on where or how to acquire reciprocals?

[Bruce Hearder]

Target sites that have Reciprocal Manager installed on them :

Use this google search
"If you use a program such as Reciprocal Manager then please input this information:" - Google Search

Finds about 3,400 sites for you to exchange links with..

Hope this helps

Bruce