Update: Reciprocal Linking - Found Alive, and Doing
Well!
by Dirk Johnson
- LinkStrategy.com
The
SEO pundits seem to be releasing a new wave of "Reciprocal
Linking is Dead" articles and pronouncements. I've seen more
than half a dozen in the last couple months, in one form or another.
There is a well-known search forum moderator who could not be more
hostile toward reciprocal linking, and this person now seems to
refuse to allow any posts that do not support his entrenched dogma
against linking.
This
crowd openly begs Google to "see the light". Let's look
at that argument, too. Let's imagine that Google is going to toss
out six years of success, just because the people who most want
to jam up the Google index results want them to change this or that,
and thus make it easier for their tricks to work. Uh huh.
Reciprocal
linking is not dead. Anyone who thinks it is, based upon the opinion
of these "experts", and then acts upon it for their own
site, stands to make a serious error. One could end up spending
a lot more money to achieve less effective, less stable, results.
Many
of these recent articles never support with facts their argument
that reciprocal linking does not work. Usually there are no facts
presented at all. It is often just opinion, based on flimsy empirical
evidence, or just vented frustration. Be very careful when reading
this stuff. Compare carefully what they offer as an alternative,
especially from a cost and stability perspective. You can pay for
link placements, of course, but what if you stop paying? And what
about price escalation? Many of us can remember the long gone days
of 1 cent clicks on GoTo (now Overture). The same upward spiral
will happen with paid link placements, only faster.
To
determine if directory-to-directory reciprocal linking still works
or not, one need not take my word for it (or theirs). Just do the
following: Look at some Google search results, and then analyze
the link-back profile of the top listed sites. Use the Marketleap.com
<www.marketleap.com>
link popularity tool to do it.
Pick
ten keyword terms, from a variety of industries, and run them through
Google, and then look at the link report for the top four commercial
sites for each term. For a more realistic test, use specific, and
not general terms. Use terms from your hobby. Or add some locality
modifiers to the "big" terms, like "(your city) real
estate", etc. Use commercial brand names for widely distributed
products, like "XYZ widgets".
Invariably,
the sites with the most links will be at or near the top of the
page. If you dig further into the results, you will see that most
of those links will come from plain old directory-to-directory reciprocal
linking. The reason for this is because directory-to-directory reciprocal
linking is the most accessible way to earn the most links from as
many unique domains as possible, for the least possible investment.
There are other good ways to get links, but they usually cost more,
take longer, and produce fewer results. The typical results that
you see will not always follow the trend that I have described,
but it does in most cases, and often with exceptional clarity.
I would
much rather have you do this analysis on your own keyword selection,
than for me to provide a list of examples, which would be suspect.
But I am confident of your results, because I do this kind of link
analysis almost every day in the course of my work. I see this same
outcome time and again.
Another
way to find out if directory-to-directory reciprocal linking works
is to talk to someone who does it diligently for their site, and
has done it for a while, preferably several years. Again, the chances
are excellent that they will tell you that they plan to keep doing
it, because it works, especially from a return-on-investment perspective.
They might use other paid marketing methods, but they know that
the foundation of their traffic is linking, especially if they are
a site that caters to an "enthusiast" realm of interest.
Enthusiasts will peruse the links directories on other sites, and
those links can provide significant direct traffic. The links are
valuable on their own merit, and not because of the search engine
angle.
I suspect
that the reason that these SEO experts seem to despise linking is
because they don't want to have to do it. Doing it right takes effort,
dedication, and time. It's messy, detailed work that can't be handed
off to others easily. And many of these SEOs are tired of seeing
their clients getting trounced in Google by sites that take linking
seriously. This is what prompts them to beg Google to stop rewarding
it. All of the "optimization" games in the world cannot
displace a site with good content, good page structure, and a lot
of links. Money is not really the issue here. Most link campaigns
cost a fraction of a competitive PPC campaign.
So,
many of the SEO gurus now seem to have taken the approach that if
they publicly denounce directory-to-directory reciprocal linking,
and do it loudly and often, maybe they will collectively disarm
the marketplace and get people to stop doing it, thus restoring
their old advantages. Or get Google to change. I doubt it, on both
counts. Sites that have done a lot of linking will not quit doing
it. They know better. If these gurus convince other sites to unilaterally
disarm themselves, that's all the better. Those who keep on linking
the old way will simply extend their advantage even further.
Directory-to-directory
reciprocal linking has been around long before both the search engines
and the search engine gurus. It is one of the most basic, original
forms of website marketing, and it continues to be effective and
vital for a lot of sites. It is very hard to fake good results,
which is another point of frustration for some SEO specialists,
many of whom may prefer their gamesmanship and opaque methodologies.
Directory-to-directory reciprocal linking is quite transparent and
straightforward, and done correctly, it really has nothing to do
with search engines. All it takes is some determination and a decent
process to make it more efficient.
To
anyone who decides against a link program based solely on the opinions
of these gurus is taking a huge risk. Currently, the facts prove
beyond any doubt that this could be a very misguided strategy. Yes,
you'll make some SEO gurus happy by becoming one of their flock
of followers, but will that really help you? Or them?
Would
you like more detailed information about our services? Please send
an email to djohnson@roiwebsites.com
with your site address and contact information, and we can begin
the process of building a firm quote for our services.
copyright 2004 Dirk Johnson www.linkstrategy.com
The next page on the tour is:
Pricing
- Our competitive advantage
Find
out about reciprocal linking, the right way....Please
tour our site for a complete review of the benefits,
our unique process, our competitive advantage, industry specific programs and
custom services..
| |
