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Reciprocal Linking: A Disturbing TrendVishal P. Rao In the world of Internet Marketing, and Web site promotion, nothing changes faster than the parameters that rule good Search Engine rankings and placement. This has led to a developed new science in the last few years, SEM Search Engine Marketing. This new science, SEM, has been a boon to both Web Masters and the merchants that maintain Web sites as a way to increase exposure and revenue for their products and/or services. SEM has become a much sought after entity, with SEM specialists, who focus on optimization of a site, routinely adding linking campaign management to their overall repertoire of services. This has resulted in a large influx of Web sites focusing on linking campaigns and reciprocal linking as it has been established that good, solid reciprocal linking campaigns increased traffic and visitors to a site exponentially. However, like with everything else online, the idea of SEM and linking campaigns has spread like "wildfire", with sites seeking links seemingly endlessly. This has led to what can only be termed, "linking explosions", with many sites posting links to everything and anything in an effort to increase their Search Engine rankings and placements. The actual attainment of effective linking campaigns, is a work oriented, tedious undertaking, with literally months spent developing a good campaign. While a good linking campaign does increase rankings overall, with the Search Engines, the question remains, "does it increase sales" After all, consumers are the ingredient that facilitates the sale of a product/service in the long run, not the rankings or placement of a site. Questions about whether linking campaigns increase revenue for a site are coming into play now. Recent data courtesy: WebSideStory has shown that consumers, now more than ever, are arriving at Web sites via "search features", not by direction to a Web site via another Web site link. The use of "search features" to arrive at a site has increased by almost six percent in the past year. In addition, direct navigation by visitors to a Web site, has also increased from a year ago, by almost ten percent. In direct contrast, Web link "arrivals" of visitors has dropped in the past year, by a somewhat staggering, twenty percent! The World Wide Web quite obviously has now become more utilitarian to consumers, and linking campaigns, as a result, may become more ineffective as time goes on. Linking campaigns, by their very nature, promote "browsing" and time-consuming "visiting" of many sites, before the product/item/service, is found by the consumer. As the Web progresses and consumers become increasingly discerning in their overall approach to the Web, they are now going right to the source, more often, via "search features" and direct navigation. Accordingly, then, the "digging around" on other sites, has diminished over the past twelve months, and in all likelihood, will continue as a trend well into the future, hampering the effectiveness of linking campaigns overall. This trend reflects an international shift towards this method of finding information on the Web, and is not localized whatsoever, crossing many demographic and geographic barriers. Its really difficult to effectively pinpoint the cause in this shift for consumers. However, the sheer magnitude of the linking campaign craze that is so prominent now, may account, at least in part, for the shift in the attitudes of consumers. Because of the popularity of linking campaigns as a method of increasing rankings and placement, attaining "quality" links those with a Page Rank of 5 or higher has become more difficult for Web masters. In addition, the sheer volume of linking requests to pages with a high ranking, has also increased, to the point where higher ranked Web sites are inundated daily with linking requests, interfering with their ability to attend to their own business. Web masters have now oftentimes taken to using any links whatsoever, as long as the links added have the appropriate Page Rank. Little thought seems to be given at times, to the theme of a links page or the relevance of links that have been added, leaving visitors to some sites confused and frustrated. This will in all probability lead consumers to turn to the Search Engines and direct navigation even more in the future, not less. This could have dire consequences for many Web sites down the road, as those at the bottom of search listings could conceivably be forced out of business. There are methods however that can aid in the retention of top rankings and listings with the Search Engines, in and above linking campaigns. These methods would also hold greater appeal for consumers in general, as they would add quality to a Web site, as well as content, something that will add "longevity of appeal" to a Web site: 1. The writing of good, content oriented copy which imparts value to a Web site. Good copy has always been utilized to establish good overall traffic and conversion patterns. Even Search Engines seem to understand this and routinely rank Web sites with good pertinent content, higher than other Web sites. 2. The placement of ads on high traffic sites. Just one good ad, placed on another Web site with good overall traffic, will significantly increase rankings and placement by the Search Engines. 3. The submitting of a Web site to all possible, pertinent directories. Directories were always a good method of increasing rankings and placement, and they still, to this day, are a good choice. 4. The optimization of all other aspects of a Web site, from the meta-tags to the design. Meta-tag optimization, like directory listings, continues to be a good overall optimization technique. The design of a Web site can also enhance rankings and placement, as the site needs to be "readable" to the Search Engines, and some flash and other enhancements, can prevent "readability", thus hampering rankings and placement. 5. The enhancement of traffic by offline marketing campaigns. This is one facet of Web site traffic management that many individuals neglect, but that can successfully increase rankings significantly. 6. The use of PPC Pay Per Click campaigns. While these can be expensive, if care is not given to the bidding, they can also enhance traffic to a Web site, as "traffic begets more traffic", establishing a ranking pattern for the Search Engines. 7. The addition of keywords that are relevant to a site, throughout the copy, the title, and the meta-tags and any other text, such as articles and reports. Keywords are the "guides" that the Search Engines use to find a site and rank it. The addition of good relevant keywords always enhances rankings and placement. Linking campaigns, as you can see, while having their overall place in effective rankings and placement within the Search Engines, are not the "be all and end all" of optimization or rankings. Many various fundamentally sound methods of optimization still exist, and should be utilized in any well-rounded Search Engine Marketing campaign.
| RELATED ARTICLES Submitting Your Site To The Open Web Directory: Some Dos And Don’ts One of the most important steps in any site’s publicity campaign is the submission to the Open Web Directory http://www.dmoz.org as this directory provides search results for many of the most important search engines and online portals. This directory is not a robot driven spider, but a human edited directory and you must observe a few important points if your submission is to be successful.http://resource-zone.com/ubbthreads.php .There you can ask about the status of your submission, but you must give them the date and category to which you submitted your site. You can ask questions about the procedures etc, but one more thing, don’t argue with the editors. Find out how the editors of the directory work and do your best to meet their conditions and you will be successful. For Newer Sites, Web Marketing Depends On "Titles" & "Links"! We all start out the same. Some have budgets, some dont. The one true factor out there is that we all want to expose our business. For 99% of us, starting out in the world of web marketing means a few things:A huge learning curveEndless nights workingTrial & ErrorLearning the ropes 3 Simple Ways To Dramatically Improve Your Website Before you start worrying about marketing your website on the internet it always pays dividends to look at the website itself and get the fundamentals right before looking to shout about it from the virtual mountain-tops. Do You Submit Your Website To All The Search Engines There is really only one search engine to worry about submitting too and that is Google and you should only submit one page your main once and maybe a sitemap a week later but never more than once a week. If you have a link coming to your new site from a site that is currently listed in Google then Google will find you quicker. Promote Your Website - Link Popularity What is link popularity You Have More Web Sites Than You Think You Have:The Importance of Deep Submission If I ask you how many web sites do you have You may say “One, yes it is www.mycompany.com “ or “two” in case you have a second organization or company. When I first began promoting my web sites I was, like most people, only thinking in terms of one web address, the url of my main page.And I thought that this main page was a difficult one to promote because it was the index page of a magazine that covered a wide variety of fields environment, arts, science, politics, spirituality, etc. How could I optimize a page for so many keywords, which market could I focus on Dollars In The Details! When it comes to your marketing message, the little things count. Trouble is, you’ll never come to respect how much, until you make a commitment to science. How To Drive More Hits To Your Website And Increase Subscription What is SPAM Why so many people hate it and yet so many people do it SPAM is actually known as Unsolicited Commercial Email, its just like the junk postal mails you receive everyday in your mailbox. The only difference is that sending junk mails online costs almost nothing and it can reach the recipients within minutes just by clicking a button. Ten Steps To A Well Optimized Website - Step 8: Link Building Welcome to part eight in this search engine positioning series. Last week we discussed website submissions. In part eight we will be covering the importance of link building and developing inbound links to your website. Building Link Popularity As Easy As 123 The most difficult area of SEO is building link popularity. You may be thinking why Because there are no easy ways to build link popularity. In this article I will tell you how to get links and how to find them. Dear Bill Gates, You Clever Fox Dear Bill Gates. Link Building: To Link or Not to Link, That is the Question Lately, there have been a lot of heated discussions regarding link building. Is it ethical to create a link building campaign Does Google or any other search engine penalize for “link farms” a bunch of non-related links created for the SOLE purpose of increasing search engine ratings Is the “link building era” over Ten Steps To A Well Optimized Website - Step 6: Human Testing Welcome to part six in this search engine positioning series. Last week we discussed the importance of internal linking. In part six we will cover the obvious and yet often overlooked importance of its appeal to a real-live human being. Your Article is Being Used Without a Resource Box - What Can You Do Sooner or later, no matter how much you hate it, some Webmaster is going to use your article and wont include your resource box. Another common practice is that of replacing your HTML link with a text link. Funny thing, when you submitted the article, it had a HTML link! See No Google, Hear No Google, Speak No Google I woke up last night in a cold sweat.Seriously - Im not joking!It was three in the morning and Id just had a nightmare that is enough to scare any website owner. Google didnt exist. Insane Offer! - $2 For Your Classified Articles With Unlimited Features Advertising through articles has been proven to be very effective. Many marketers at present would rather submit articles on article sites like iSnare to hit two birds in one stone. A Look at Ask Jeeves and Teoma, an interview with Jim Lanzone with Ask Jeeves Recently, Jim Lanzone, Vice President of Product Management with Ask Jeeves, attended a chat session with students from the Academy, and he answered a lot of very interesting questions about Ask Jeeves Web properties. 10 Great Search Engine Optimization Tools for Your Online Success The Internet promotion of every company is related to the search engine positioning of the site. The positioning is important for your books, products and services to be easily found online. Five tips to improve your chances with Google et al. "Dear David: I just created a website on baby toy safety.What should I do to make sure gazillions of people find me through the search engines" Are You Guilty of Stinkin’ Linkin’ Thinkin’ Do you know what kind of sites are suitable link partners for your site |
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