Reciprocal links

are they getting harder to get?

[buksida]

I've recently noticed that the arduous task of getting reciprocals is getting tougher.

Most sites now dont display their email due to spam threats or dont have or offer links. Often the links are hidden away in their directory database so they serve no SEO purpose whatsoever as they cant be spidered. The question really is : how do you do it?

If webmasters in general are backing away from the whole reciprocal linking scene what is the most effective way of getting a new site out there?

The last reply from a site I requested a link exchange with read something like this "Thank you for your enquiry. We have been link free since 1996, please buy some advertising". As if its something to be proud of!

[Akash]

We have no problem with conversion yet.
There are lots of sites interesting in reciprocal links. Are you reaching them? There is a superb list of how to reach link partners at the supporters forum.

Also, are you using mail from your domain? Free mails get deleted now as spams.

Do you personally visit the sites? Or use automation to send mails?

Keep you mail to the point, show your partner how a link from your site might benefit him [and actually offer that].

Links should grow with time and care. Patience.

[Trey03]

Use software like Arelis that will "mine" sites for you. I've found most success finding recip partners by collecting the links that link to my competitors. Arelis even tells you the page where it found the link. Usually the addurl page is a click away. I screen all the sites and delete the ones that do not clearly trade links. If they dont have a links page or and email address that says "email me for a link trade" than dont waste your time on the site.

You can easily mine 1000 sites in an hour.
Pre Screen 1000 sites in 4 hours (obvious bad apples or non related sites from meta title obtained).
Screen and collect email address of 500 sites takes 16 hours (the most time consuming)
300 link request 8 hours
Wait a month for replys.
8 hours for adding "group trades"
Walla 100 quality links.
Use Seo Elite to find which ones link back. 4 hours
1 hour deleting sites that dont link back

To get quality partners (PR 4 PR 5) links put there links on good pr pages... at least a 3.

Maybe Im lucky but I get a 30% success rate.

[buksida]

Thanks for the suggestions. Here's what I usually do, look for the top PR sites from the category that I fall under in the dmoz directory, check the site out personally then email them. I often add their link first. The email comes from my own domain name.

Guess I've had about a 10% return rate so far.

I have never considered using software for this as previous attempts have been successful. Maybe this particular site is more difficult to market though we dont really have any direct competition as we're an information site and are not selling anything (yet).

Can you tell me where I can get this site mining software?

[martinibuster]

Can you tell me where I can get this site mining software?

Just Google the name of the software you are looking for.

Please, no url drops, thanks.

[gordon jason]

I cant get one thing - why are you all so crazy about that Arelis?
There are lots of other tools (Alink, LinkAssistant, Zeus, WebPosition at least ;) and many others) - and some of them are even better! Just find some of them and play.

[Sierra_Dad]

gordon jason,

Which one do you think is best?

[gordon jason]

I can't judge which one is better - I just can tell you my own experience.

Every product has its own quirks...

Link Exchange Manager, ALink etc. - just toys - nothing to do with them.

Arelis is quite ok - it is widely spread and tested for years, but it cannot do 3 things I would use:
1) it doesn't have e-mail client inside. You know it can take very long to compare all the e-mails sent by arelis and all the answers recived with you email client (e.g. Outlook)
2) Only one subcategory support. You cannot make you directory 3 or more levels deep.
3) It is really hard to create customizable pages: what if I wish to have all my links use some css (e.g. <a href="somesite"> class="myclass")? I have to genereate all my pages with arelis and then check and correct every link! really boring peace of work...

LinkAssistant - a new player on the market. Allows fine-tuning of many features - especially conserning links pages generation (it may seem a bit hard at first - but it is easy to understand everythig, especially if you work with some script languages). A little bit raw software (still beta), but they seem to be growing fast & they are likely to have the best price/quality ratio in the nearest future... :)
And if they develop the import from Arelis - they will have all the chances to beat it ;)

Link-Check Pro - nice software...

Well - all of them are sold under "try before buy" license - so you can easily try any of these products yourself and buy what YOU like ;)