Reciprocal Linking

Reciprocal linking is an "I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine" activity. The idea is to locate sites related to yours and send them e-mail asking them to link to you. In return, you generally offer to link back to them.

The best way to set up reciprocal links is to simply browse the Web looking for related sites and send e-mail to them. You will find that the response rate is perhaps 25 percent. But it can't hurt to try, and the more links you have on the Web the more traffic you will get. One link in exactly the right place can make a BIG difference in the traffic that a new site receives.

The following are a couple of resources for creating reciprocal links:

Paid Advertising
If you need traffic fast, one of the best ways to get it is to pay high-traffic sites to advertise your service. Paid advertisements typically appear as long, thin, blinking ads at the top of Web pages, and they are called banner ads (there are lots of other types of ads, though -- check out How Web Advertising Works for details). Here are three examples of banner ads:

Most larger sites, with traffic in the range of 10,000 or more visitors a day, have standard advertising programs. A typical rate is something in the area of $15 to $70 per 1,000 presentations of your ad. The key is to find a site that will let you target your advertisements specifically to people who will be interested in your message.

For lots of information about banner ads, see How Banner Ads Work. The following links offer information on the advertising programs of some of the larger search engines. Most search engines offer some form of advertising -- look around on the home page and you will generally find a link to information about advertising on the site:

More Information on Web Site Promotion
The following articles will be useful in learning more about Web site promotion and marketing: