Are you a long-time webmaster who has been dutifully exchanging links with other webmasters for years? Have you noticed that over time less and less of your inbound links are showing up as Google backwards links? I know I have. Two of my websites have been in existence for over 5 years and as I now check back in my link partner records there are literally hundreds of inbound links to my sites still in existence on the links pages of various partner websites on the web. Sadly, no inbound link page rank credit has been given to my pages for these missing links regardless of the page rank of the originating page.

B. THE PROBLEM:

Conventional reciprocating links as a means to boost Google page rank have become of very little benefit to either party. Virtually every webmaster still clings to the belief that reciprocal linking work but all are wasting their valuable time in this largely fruitless enterprise.

C. WHY IS THIS?

It's logical! Independent, inbound links originating from pages with content relevant to that of the link object pages are deemed by Google to be an indication of perceived value of the targeted website by the public. Google translates this perceived value into a higher page rank for the receiving page. However, reciprocal links are not an indication of value. Reciprocation indicates only the ability of the two webmasters involved to: locate each other, and trade links with each other. It in no way indicates that anyone found either of the two sites to be interesting and/or valuable.

D. THE EXPLANATION:

Fact #1 - Google software designers and engineers are fully aware of the widespread practice of webmasters historically boosting their backward links numbers through reciprocal linking programs. Given the huge advances in artificial intelligence technology it was a simple matter for them to modify their spider algorithms to identify: when two websites are exchanging links with each other, and when an inbound link originates from a page that is in reality a links, resources, or link Partners page no matter what it is called.

As a result, the old model is now on its deathbed and Google (and the others) give very little page rank credit to the receiver of a link: identified as being part of a reciprocal link arrangement, or originating from a links directory page. In fact, in casually cruising the web examining websites, I notice that most links pages now have a Google Page Rank of only 0 or 1. Not all of them, of course, but most.

Fact #2 - Google is on record as stating that the 2 main factors in determining the page rank of a page are: fresh, original, useful and well-thought-out content on the page, and the number of backward (inbound) links to the page originating from independent, contextual, relevant sources.

Fact #3 - Also, excessive duplication of content is now penalized and this includes links. A link that has previously appeared on the web over and over again, in some cases hundreds of times, is easily identified as not being original content and discounted.

Ask yourself how many times you have, as I have, traded links using the same anchor text, hyperlink target page and description again and again over the years. Now take a few minutes and determine how many of these links Google currently shows as valid backward links for your site. My two sites currently have literally hundreds of identical hyperlinks pointed at them but only a few are shown as backwards links by Google. Finally, the best of these inbound links are independent hyperlinks from articles sites and are not reciprocal.

E. THE SUCCESSFUL SOLUTION IS TWOFOLD:

1. Keyword-Rich Text - Webmasters must now write accurate, valuable, keyword-rich text for each page of each website such that the spiders will recognize the pages as having intrinsic public value and rate them highly. It's not easy to evaluate and probably rewrite all of the pages of your websites to comply with new keyword requirements but the stakes are high and if you are in this for the long pull you must do it.

2. Links, But Not Reciprocal Links - Webmasters must arrange to have inbound links to each page of their websites that: are not reciprocal, that do not originate from pages that spiders could identify as links directories, that do originate from pages that are thematically similar to the destination pages.

F. THE SECRET PROCESS:

Well, easier said than done, you say. The rewriting is daunting but easy to understand. But how does one go about complying with the linking requirements?

1. What should you not do: Reciprocal linking? It's just not worth the time! - Reciprocal links are probably not hurting your page rank so if other webmasters approach you to exchange links, why not. Just do not expect them to do much for your search engine rankings. Inbound links from links directory pages? - If other webmasters are linked to you from their links directory page it is not something you can control and you are unlikely to be penalized for it. But again, do not expect much.

2. What should you do?
So now we know what does not work but where will all of these new inbound links come from? Articles - Write interesting articles about your topic that contain one or more hyperlinks to your site and place them on internet sites that encourage author submissions. There are lots of them. News Releases - You can also write news releases about your site and post them on news sites that are looking for just this sort of content. You are really limited only by your own imagination. Crossing Editorial Exchanges - Another method is to establish a link crossing program that will comply with, and exploit, the latest search engine evaluation standards. It is basically a twist on reciprocal linking but with much more positive results. The steps are: Find sites that you would ordinarily approach about exchanging reciprocal links. Most webmasters operate more than one website so suggest to those that do that each of you write a short, original article of approximately 100-150 words about one of the other's two sites, but cross them. These articles should consist of:

1) A headline of about ten words in the form of a question having something to do with the topic of the website,

2) One paragraph of three medium length sentences that will answer the question,

3) An author credit.

The three sentences should each contain a keyword taken from the menu pages of the website it is about and each of these three keywords should be hyper-linked to the appropriate page. The author credit should contain a link to the index page.

Each webmaster should post the other's article unaltered on the higher ranking of his two websites on a page satisfying the following conditions:

1) The main page of each donor site should have a Google Page Rank of at least 1,

2) The article should not be posted on a page called links, partner, resource, or any other synonymous term and, likewise, the URL of the posting page should not include these terms,

3) The article should not appear on a page that is, in reality, a link partners page no matter what it is called. In fact, it would be best if each article were posted to its own web page. Next time, reverse your donor and recipient sites.

G. THE RESULT:

Conceptually what happens is that one of each pair of sites receives a strong, contextual, relevant hyperlink from the other of each of the pairs and neither link is reciprocal. Very highly rated by Google. Over time this will have a highly positive effect on each site's SE ranking.

This is a bit more complex and time consuming than completing a one link trade but, given the current low value of incoming reciprocal links, it will not take very many exchanges to have a significant positive effect on page rank.

H. A FINAL COMMENT:

Take the time to figure it out and get with the program! The concept is simple, it's easy to implement, and there should be no shortage of willing participants. Just contact all of your previous reciprocal link partners. The hard part will be for webmasters to intellectually accept and debunk in their own minds the myth of the value in conventional reciprocal linking.