While most webmasters agree that reciprocal linking is a very good way to increase website traffic, if you make the wrong reciprocal request, you won’t get the link.
To ensure you don’t make this mistake, here are some important tips for requesting a link from a potential link partner:
1. Make sure your entire website looks professional. Nobody will link to a shabby or unprofessional looking website.
2. Whether you use a linkbot or not, you need to do some physical research on a potential link partner’s website.
- You must answer these questions:
- Does the website have a similar or complementary theme to your website?
- Is the website content useful?
- Does the website look professional?
The key is to look at the content of the website from your visitor’s point of view. You’ve clicked a link on your site for more information, make sure the content is worthwhile in its destination.
- Are the links helpful?
- Are the links grouped logically and easy to browse?
- Are there less than thirty links for each category? You will not get traffic from a site that has more than this.
- Do they look appealing?
- Are the links related or complementary to the main site?
3. If the site is worth linking to, find and copy the “link code” that the site owner would prefer from you for their reciprocal link, such as:
- link title
- Link URL
- link description
You need to make a note of the webpage you want your link to appear on and, if the site has a categorized link directory, the category.
4. Find the contact details of the website owner.
The increasing collection of email addresses means that not many webmasters will put an email link on their site, most will use a contact form.
Try to find the owner’s name. Many website owners have a website about themselves or their business.
5. Using the link information you found during your research, create an HTML link pointing to your potential link partner and upload it to your links page.
The only time it’s acceptable to use information “discovered” by your linkbot is when you can’t find any linking information during your research.
6. If you are contacting the owner or webmaster about a reciprocal link, you must do one of the following:
- Fill out the link submission form.
- Contact them via their contact form.
- Email them (This is the last resort). Emailing the WhoIs contact details is the same as spamming, DON’T DO IT.
Use ready-made link letter templates that you can copy and paste into the contact form or your email program.
To ensure the email looks personal, fill in the following “blanks” in the template:
- The name of the website owner. Don’t use Hi John or Hello John, use Dear John. If you can’t find the owner’s name, don’t use a salutation at all.
- The URL of the web page where you want your link to appear. If necessary, enter the category in which your link should appear.
- The full URL of the reciprocal link on your site.
- The title of your link.
- The URL of your link.
- The description of your link.
Make sure to include your email address and website URL after your name at the bottom of the email.
If your site has a low Google PR, state so and tell your potential link partner that your site is new, doesn’t have a high Google PR, and linking to you isn’t doing their Google PR well.
Tell them that you have a policy of linking to quality websites that have a similar or complementary topic and as a result, your Google PR will steadily increase, as will the number of visitors to their site via their link on your webpage.
Anyone who receives a link request written using these tips will be more inclined to exchange links with you because you took the time to review their site and your professional approach has a positive subliminal influence on their decision becomes.
