Don't
Be A Reciprocal Linking Turkey!
Don't Be A Reciprocal Linking Turkey!
I had an email exchange with an SEO client today after his webmaster
called him pushing reciprocal linking software (when all this web
designer was after was to generate some extra work from a client
that hasn't needed him for awhile). Then that client called me after
he received my email de- nouncing the software, fully convinced
by a follow-up phone call from his web designer that the reciprocal
linking soft- ware WAS valuable.
He had been assured that the spamming, er - I mean, linking software,
would increase his visiblity for an inside page on a hot topic currently
in the news. He didn't want to hear my unpopular opinion that reciprocal
linking is DEAD! Halloween is over people! We don't need the mummies
of yesterdays' linking schemes haunting our Thanksgiving too! Oh,
it must be a Thanksgiving TURKEY! A reciprocal Linking Turkey! Can
reciprocal linking Santa's be far behind? OK, I'll drop the holiday
metaphors.
I tried in vain to convince this client that he didn't need that
software for his review of the new Myriad Pictures flm, "Kinsey"
about early sex educator Professor Alfred Kinsey.
We had just that morning distributed a press release online which
is now posted on over 100 high visibility news sites and Yahoo news
picked it up!
These are hugely valuable ONE WAY inbound links that will vastly
improve his search engine ranking immediately due to the topical
nature and excellent timing of the release. This client is a sex
educator and runs an educational web site about sex and love. His
press release put down the idea of the use of the new Intrinsa©
testosterone patch to cure the low sexual desire of post-menopausal
women and praised the new film Kinsey. He'll be top ranked for two
highly desirable and valuable (to him and his web site) keyword
phrases within the week.
By the way, I HIGHLY recommend this approach for those with newsworthy
issues they want to promote to the press. will send your newsworthy
press release to over 100 top news sites, hundreds more radio, television
and newspaper reporters, and tons of journalists who have signed
up to receive them. Ereleases.com is syndicated by major news organizations
and you can gain hundreds of links while generating interviews and
even television appearances, all for only $400! Some people will
pay that much for worthless reciprocal linking software and installation
by webmasters having a slow week. ;-) Back to our story...
I re-affirmed my opposition to the use of the software as we ended
our call and he hung up disappointed because he wanted my support
and assurance that the sales pitch he got from his web designer
on the reciprocal linking software was accurate and that it would
do more for him than this press release.
Unfortunately, we'll never know because he bought the sales pitch
from the web designer, installed the software and immediately sent
out a sp*m - AHEM, er, I meant to say - email to his newsletter
mailing list announcing the availability of reciprocal links and
asking them for links to his newsworthy new pages.
When will this linking insanity end?
Following is my reasoned - and decidedly calmer than I am now -
email response to him.
Dear Gary,
This link generation scheme is standard for reciprocal link software.
The value of "Reciprocal links" is far lower than the
value of the ONE WAY links you already have from that press release
distribution and the posting of the press release on your site which,
by the way, includes linking instructions at the bottom of the relevant
pages.
I've written an article call "Linking Psychosis is Treatable"
which discusses the foolishness of links pointing all over the web.
It doesn't address reciprocal linking so much as the insanity with
which webmasters persue them. Your press release has ALREADY generated
a huge number of inbound ONE WAY links that will increase the visibility
and rank of both Kinsey Film Review and Intrinsa© Testosterone
Patch pages.
Doing the reciprocal page will initially LOWER your rank because
it is RECIPROCAL. There is a concept called "Authority Site"
that search engines use where ONE WAY inbound links are ranked VERY
highly and reciprocal links are devalued BECAUSE of software like
that being promoted by link-crazy folks not willing to do the hard
work of generating the more valuable one-way links.
The search engines know about the software available from linking
fanatics and DEVALUE pages that use it. Ultimately it can increase
your visibility, sometimes, over the long run, but it just isn't
that helpful in most cases.
I've taken a hard line about this and get a lot of flack about
it from those without SEO experience or knowledge. But smart professional
SEO's agree that reciprocal linking schemes - AND ESPECIALLY SOFTWARE
GENERATED PAGES - are not worth much in search engine rank. The
search engines are reducing the importance of those type of pages
daily because it is too easy and too commonly used by scores of
webmasters looking for an easy ranking.
I have written in the past that "Reciprocal Linking is Dead!"
in which I outline my linking policy and encourage all reciprocal
links requests to submit articles to be used on my site and that
I'll link to them through the resource box of their articles - IF
I decide to publish them - but that I just don't do reciprocal linking
- period. I don't even require them to link to me, but I point out
that I have over a hundred fifty articles on my web site available
for use on their site if they use my resource box, provide author
credit and link to me through my resource box.
That's my story and I'm sticking with it. ;-) No matter how unpopular
it makes me with software vendors selling programs or link fanatic
webmasters looking for extra income and easy solutions.
Don't be a linking turkey! Happy Thanksgiving!
About the Author Mike Banks Valentine
Here's some free link popularity software
http://website101.com/download/link-popularity-software.html
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