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!
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