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!

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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

POWER LINKING
The best-kept secrets for getting links, getting customers, getting traffic and getting thousands of hits weekly through Power Linking

-by Jack Humphrey

Today, it’s your turn to unleash the traffic generating fury of Power Linking into your website business and completely overwhelm your website with all of the free, targeted traffic that’s ready to pay you good money for your products or services.

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You’re probably wondering what the blazes is popular about a link! Well, in a word – plenty! Link popularity refers to the ranking assigned to your website by the search engines, and it determines the ranking your page gets when keywords are entered into a search engine. So, you’re probably wondering, how do I make my link popular?

Search engines are discretionary, giving status and ranking to sites that have links to their pages from related, quality sites. It’s a simple formula, but a very important one. Google created the system, and now virtually all the most popular search engines employ it to rank your web pages in their indexes.

The more commonly used your keyword is, the harder it will be to achieve link popularity, but without achieving this step, it is almost certain your site will never rank highly on any search engine. But don’t be discouraged; there are tried and true ways of achieving link popularity using the most competitive keywords.

There are a few things you should be aware of. The first is that just linking up with a large number of other websites will not achieve link popularity. In fact, it may have quite the opposite effect. This is particularly true when pertaining to websites that are nothing more than “link farms” – pages containing line after line of indiscriminate links. Search engines may aggressively discriminate against your website if you are associated with a link farm, so steer clear of them!

The next thing to bear in mind is the quality of the site you are linking to. Never link to a page you have reservations about your visitors seeing. The last thing you want your website to appear as is indiscriminate and cheap. Linking to sites of poor quality will only lessen your link popularity, if not completely destroy it.

So let’s get to what you need to do to achieve supreme link popularity and improve your rankings to stellar status on all the popular search engines.

The first step, and the fastest way to get your foot in the door, is to get a listing in a popular directory, such as Open Directory Project and Yahoo. If your site is business-related, you will want to be listed on Yahoo, and despite the fact that it will cost you around $300 a year, it will be money well spent. If your site is non-commercial, the listing will be free, but it will take time and follow-up to actually get it listed. Open Directory is gives you a free listing whether you are business-related or non-commercial, but be prepared to make a lot of follow-up inquiries before you see your site listed.

You are aiming to get listed in the highest level of appropriate category, and this just takes some common sense. For example, if your company ships Alpaca wool from an Alpaca farm located in the middle of Nowhere, Tiny State, do NOT submit your listing to “Retailers from Nowhere, Tiny State.” BIG MISTAKE! All you have to do is look a little deeper – and submit your listing to the “Fine Alpaca Wool” category. You will not only associate yourself with culture and quality, but you will be listed in a national category.

The next step after you have attained directory listings is to locate other quality sites that will increase your link popularity. Try to find sites that are in some way related to yours, so not only will your link popularity increase, but your customer base may also be expanded. You want to avoid your competitors and look for sites that are useful to your site’s visitors. Let’s look at the Alpaca Wool site example. Linking up to a site that sells knitting supplies would be helpful to your visitors, and the chances of the knitting supply site wanting to link up to your site are also greater. By linking to a related site that will be relevant to your website’s traffic, you are increasing both of your site’s business prospects – and both of your sites’ link popularity.

Not all sites want to link to other sites, so you will have to do some research when you are looking for possible linking partners. Google is an excellent starting place for your search. Make sure you enter keywords that you think quality customers will also enter to find your own site. Remember, your criteria are quality, highly ranked, non-competing websites that have a links or resources page. Go to these sites and objectively assess them. Look at the quality of the product, the graphics, and the ease of use. Then check out the other sites they are linked to, and determine if your own site would fit in with the crowd.

When you decide you have found a good prospect, you must set out to woo them. The first thing to do is to add a link on your own links page to their site. This is an essential first step; it shows good faith, and ups your chances significantly of their reciprocity. After you have added their link, you must contact the webmaster of their site. Since this is almost always done by email, you want to make sure it is immediately clear that your message is not junk mail. This requires that you tell them right off the bat that you have added a link to their page on your site. A hook like this almost always insures the reader will read on.

Next, be sure to be flattering and let them know how much you appreciate their website. Make sure you emphasize that you have actually visited their site, and that their site is not just a random pick. Give them the address of your links page, and ask them to check out the link for themselves. It’s a good idea to mention that they will not only benefit from the increased traffic your website will direct their way, but you will also increase their link popularity. Briefly, explain why link popularity is so essential, but do this in a sentence or two so you don’t sound like a professor! Finally, tell them you would greatly appreciate if they would reciprocally add a link on their own links page to your website.

Go through this process with as many appropriate sites as you can find, bearing in mind the criteria of quality and non-competitiveness. After you have emailed all relevant sites, be sure to check these website frequently to see if they have added a link to your page. Give it about a month, and if no link appears, try another charming email. Then give it another month, and if your site is still absent from their links page, it’s time to remove their link from your own links page. The only time you want to pursue a link further than this is if you believe a site is crucial to your link popularity and your business needs. Just remember to keep all your communications complimentary and cordial.

Then set up a schedule to check your ranking in search engines frequently to see if your link popularity has improved. This is not achievable in the blink of an eye. It will take some time and a good deal of work. There is no way around the labor-intensive quality of improving your link popularity, which is why search engines regard it with such importance.

By the way – make sure you have a beautiful, streamlined site or you will never persuade anyone to link up to you. Be prepared to keep plugging away at this process, as long as it takes, until you achieve link popularity stardom!

 
Michael Rasmussen is a successful Internet Marketing Consultant and author of many top-selling eBooks. Michael has been marketing online since the early days and he knows what it takes to make money and succeed online. Stop by his Web site and subscribe to his Free monthly newsletter full strategies and techniques for successful web site promotions that can help YOU!

Go to http://www.search-engines-revealed.com

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