[gussie789]

Hi everyone,

I have been working at submitting my site to some free search engines, but i notice that a number of them require that a link be placed on my site before they can accept my site.
Is it a good idea or should i just use the ones that go without.

If i should go ahead and place the link, how many is the actual amount i can use?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Patrician]

Exchanging links is called reciprocal linking. Meaning the site will post your link if you reciprocate and post theirs.

I would go for any that don't require a reciprocal link. If you are going to do reciprocal linking, then you should set up a program to do it for you and handle the process.

It gets real tedious to do this manually. LinkMachine is one program that a lot of us use and it exchanges links for you, as well as for people who submit manually, it allows you to decide if you want to accept or not.

This is because you should only link with sites that are in or related to your niche - in this case of PIPS - home business, affiliate programs, work at home, etc.

In other words it does no good and may do harm for you to link with just anyone - for instance someone who is selling shoes.

As well you have to be careful to check out the sites you are linked with to be sure that they do what they say they do.

In any case you would have a page on your site that is for putting the links on.

Reciprocal linking is fine, but not as important as it used to be. As long as they match your niche, there is no limit to the number you can have.

One-way links aka Back-links are much more valuable and these are accumulated from posting to your blog and forums, and submitting articles, using your URL in your signature and relevant keywords.

[Kym Robinson]

Well said Pat!

I submit to directories aswell.
I do at least 5 a day!
Put your info on a word doc or similar so you can just copy and paste to save time!
I have not submitted to any that require reciprocal links - there are HEAPS that dont - so why would you?
Make this directory submitting part of your daily to-do list!
But realize that you wont see the benefit for a while - the links take time to show up as backlinks - so , the sooner you get started the better!
Kym

[Stephen Meyer]

I would not do any reciprocal linking especially if you do not have a programto keep track of it. Without keeping track you have no idea ifthey are keeping up their end of the bargain.

Link machine is a program some say works and Directory Submitter does work well but they both cost.

[Matt Helphrey]

Yep I agree,

Focus on one way links. If they ask for a reciprocal link...move on.

Matt

[gussie789]

Thanks for all you help. I appreciate it very much.

[Peter Lee]

I don't do so much reciprocal linking but more one-way linking. But if you do want, here's what I had tried before. Join a free relevant link exchange (I joined freerelevantlinks.com)

Most people don't do traditional free link exchange where you get non-relevant backlinks! However this relevant link exchange allows you to choose up to 5 keyword phrases and 2 descriptions promoting multiple keyword exposure which in turn increases your keyword Search Engine Marketing efforts. This site says "Never worry about your link exchange again, just choose your category and install the service code into your website". The good thing I like about this is that I receive emails when there is a "matched" partner with similar niche and keywords and I decide to approve or reject. That's where the relevancy comes it.

I actually posted this in my blog so you can read all about it. Here is the post:
Free Relevant Link Exchange. Hope it helps.

Peter Lee