Giving up my one-way links

[4string]

My site has all one-way links. I'm in a small niche topic and my site is very useful to everyone in that niche. I'm running out of places to get one-way links. Everyone now seems to know linking is key and everyone wants a reciprocal link. So, I want to put up a links page. Here's my dilemma: if I put up a links page, I have to link to those that were kind enough to link to me expecting nothing in return. It's just the right thing to do. I don't mind doing that except I fear throwing away all those one-way links!

Any ideas? I feel painted in a corner with my linking campaign.

[howiejs]

I would create another site / directory

have your recip link page on your main site - point to the new site . . .

[4string]

That's a thought. But then I fear eventually triangle linking will get penalized. Then I might lose many more of my links. Hmmm...

[figment88]

if I put up a links page, I have to link to those that were kind enough to link to me expecting nothing in return

Why? If they didn't expect a link then would they expect one now.

I have a links page and still request one-ways. If they ask for a recip, I may or may not give it to them.

[4string]

Many of them did ask for a link once I put up a links page. Plus, they were kind enough to give me a link when I had few and no PR. And, I'd be a hypocrite asking for recips if they want me to post their link.

I guess I have to weigh the potential of any new reciprocal links I can get vs. the weight of one-way links I have. That's what I can't figure out. Are the one-ways really worth a lot?

[ken_b]

4string;

I agree that if you are going to start doing reciprocal links you should show some appreciation for the sites that previously gave you one way links by linking back to them now.

But it isn't clear if you are considering natural one way links that you already have, or may well get with greater awareness of, and traffic to, your site in the future.

There are webmasters out there that link to sites they like without even telling you they did so, let alone asking for a link back.

If you haven't done so, you might be able to identify sites already doing this by digging through your refer list and cross checking it with the list of sites you asked to give you a link.

Linking back to those sites is another matter. If you didn't ask for a one way link and someone gave you one anyway it's bit of a different equation.

Sometimes I link back to those sites, sometimes not. It depends on the type of site it is, and the context of the link.

[4string]

Yes, I was planning on only linking to those links I originally requested. Lately I get a lot of links which I never requested. I wouldn't seek them out to add a link.

Perhaps I will make a directory site. We certainly don't have enough of them! But, I could feature those sites prominently in a directory as a sign of appreciation.

Thank you all for the feedback!

4

[Robert Charlton]

4string - Hard to say what the right thing to do is. I've pondered the same question and really haven't come up with a good answer.

Perhaps I will make a directory site. We certainly don't have enough of them! But, I could feature those sites prominently in a directory as a sign of appreciation.

If you had a lot of other sites in your directory as well, this might be OK. Otherwise, I think that this could be seen as triangle linking.

[arrowman]

You seem to be avoiding outbound links. Why? On what assumption?

I'm making one-way outbounds to improve my ranking.

[Swebbie]

There's no need to get rid of one-way links just because you've run out of related sites to ask for them. Write a decent article or two about your subject and submit them to the many article directories. They make your articles available to others to pick up and post on their sites, as long as they include your author section, which will have a link or two back to your site. Just vary the anchor text in those author links, and voila. Every time your article gets picked up, you just gained another one-way link. Works like a charm.

[Nuttakorn]

If your site is niche and unique content, I think it is easy for getting link by distribute the Press Release and also submission to Directory. That become the new topic.

[4string]

I approach all SEO by trying to think like a search engine user and ways I've noticed search engines working. Personally I do feel that one-way links have more value than recips. To me that seems reasonable and logical. Whether it's true or not is unknown.

I'm not avoiding OBLs. I just never got around to making a links page in the beginning.

I don't think a press release would work for my site.

I may look into the article writing approach. I don't even know how to approach that. There's a place where you submit free articles for others to publish?

[Swebbie]

4string,

Re: articles, there are many sites that warehouse articles submitted by authors. They make these articles available for reprint for free, provided the author's resource box (at the end of the article) remains intact. You just need to make sure you include a link or two to your site. Whenever someone downloads your article and places it on their site, you instantly have another one-way link (2, actually, if you use 2 in your author section).

I didn't mention it before, but you may also see a nice spike in traffic if an ezine publisher picks up your article and distributes it in their ezine. So there's another good reason to pursue this option.

You can write the articles yourself or have someone do it for a reasonable price. Try elance DOT com. Good luck!

[4string]

Thanks for the info! I'll look into it.