A reciprocal link is pretty much just what it sounds like: Two (and sometimes more) websites agree to link to one another to boost traffic, as well as to increase search engine visibility. This type of linking can also be referred to as “link swaps,” “link exchanges,” and “link partners.”

If you were an early web user, you might recall “web rings”. Sites that all dealt with a similar topic created these rings, explicitly recommending that their visitors visit these other, similar sites. That’s one kind of reciprocal linking.

A more modern example of reciprocal linking is one website that specializes in traditional Chinese recipes and cooking techniques exchanging links with another site, which sells hard-to-find Asian ingredients and cooking utensils. These two sites are very obviously complementary, and not at all competitive with one another. (A major reason for the demise of web rings was competition, when online advertising heated up.)

Clearly, the users of the recipe and cooking website can benefit from having a source for the tools necessary to create the recipes. The utensil and ingredient seller’s audience can certainly benefit from knowing how to properly use the ingredients and implements they can buy on the second site. (In fact, this knowledge might actually help to increase sales.) The two sites agree to a reciprocal link. In essence, they’re “voting” for one another, or vouching for one another’s credibility and relevance. This can help increase traffic for both sites, underscore both sites’ relevancy in search algorithms (Chinese/Asian cooking), make both sites more crawlable (thanks to additional inbound links), and help to raise the profiles of both sites in search engine rankings.

Everyone wins.

Reciprocal linking is, in the best sense, a win-win scenario: more traffic, more relevance, and more search visibility. Some sites even take it upon themselves to link to direct competitors, calculating that the benefits of relevance and search visibility outweigh the obvious disadvantages.

As with other types of linking, quality matters just as much as quantity. There’s certainly nothing stopping a company that manufactures snow tires from linking to a site concerned only with Asian delicacies—but why would it bother? Such a link wouldn’t count on the relevancy scorecard. (In fact, it could even hurt.) Reciprocal linking isn’t willy-nilly. It involves an ongoing commitment of time, research, and dialogue with other sites.

In other words, the concept is simple. The execution requires plenty of commitment!

An obvious place to start with reciprocal linking is with the search engines themselves, of course. Look for sites focused on content areas that complement your own field of expertise. Depending on your own website, this could vary widely—site-wide, section-by-section, or even on a page-by-page basis.

Step two entails visiting those sites that come up as likely prospects. If you’re that Asian cooking utensil seller, a recipe site with just one or two Chinese dishes featured isn’t as likely a reciprocal link partner as those featuring only (or primarily) Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Thai dishes. And bear in mind you’re looking not only for sites that you’re hoping will link to you, but also sites you are willing to link to—essentially, to endorse—from your own website. Once again, quality counts.

Make a list of the likely candidates and link to them from your website. Only after doing so should you compose a short, personalized note (use the webmaster’s or publisher’s name whenever possible). Take care that the note includes a positive remark about their site. If you can’t find that one positive thing, drop the site from your list and don’t bother to get in touch. If you can’t provide them with a reason why you linked, why on earth would they bother to link back? Provide the URL of the page that links to their site and suggest very specifically where they might link back to you from one of their pages. Develop a schedule to follow up on inquiries, perhaps even by phone or by mail. (E-mails are easy to overlook or ignore.) A good link from a quality site isn’t guaranteed, but it’s worth that extra bit of effort.

As with all things in SEO, when there’s a right way to do things, there’s often a wrong way. A very wrong way! Link exchange websites exist to continually and actively exchange links with one another, often via processes that are almost entirely automated. You’ve been warned. Often these schemes connect you to link farms (see Truth 46, “Don’t cultivate link farms”) at worst, and at best utterly irrelevant sites. At best, this benefits your own site not a bit. At worst, involvement in this sort of scheme can get your site banned from search engines altogether. Don’t do it!