Home
>
Traffic Building
>
Dont Be A Reciprocal Linking Turkey!

Dont Be A Reciprocal Linking Turkey!

I had an email exchange with an SEO client today after his webmaster called him pushing reciprocal linking software (when all this web designer was after was to generate some extra work from a client that hasn't needed him for awhile). Then that client called me after he received my email de- nouncing the software, fully convinced by a follow-up phone call from his web designer that the reciprocal linking soft- ware WAS valuable.

He had been assured that the spamming, er - I mean, linking software, would increase his visiblity for an inside page on a hot topic currently in the news. He didn't want to hear my unpopular opinion that reciprocal linking is DEAD! Halloween is over people! We don't need the mummies of yesterdays' linking schemes haunting our Thanksgiving too! Oh, it must be a Thanksgiving TURKEY! A reciprocal Linking Turkey! Can reciprocal linking Santa's be far behind? OK, I'll drop the holiday metaphors.

I tried in vain to convince this client that he didn't need that software for his review of the new Myriad Pictures flm, "Kinsey" about early sex educator Professor Alfred Kinsey.

We had just that morning distributed a press release online which is now posted on over 100 high visibility news sites and Yahoo news picked it up!

These are hugely valuable ONE WAY inbound links that will vastly improve his search engine ranking immediately due to the topical nature and excellent timing of the release. This client is a sex educator and runs an educational web site about sex and love. His press release put down the idea of the use of the new Intrinsa? testosterone patch to cure the low sexual desire of post-menopausal women and praised the new film Kinsey. He'll be top ranked for two highly desirable and valuable (to him and his web site) keyword phrases within the week.

By the way, I HIGHLY recommend this approach for those with newsworthy issues they want to promote to the press. will send your newsworthy press release to over 100 top news sites, hundreds more radio, television and newspaper reporters, and tons of journalists who have signed up to receive them. Ereleases.com is syndicated by major news organizations and you can gain hundreds of links while generating interviews and even television appearances, all for only $400! Some people will pay that much for worthless reciprocal linking software and installation by webmasters having a slow week. ;-) Back to our story...

I re-affirmed my opposition to the use of the software as we ended our call and he hung up disappointed because he wanted my support and assurance that the sales pitch he got from his web designer on the reciprocal linking software was accurate and that it would do more for him than this press release.

Unfortunately, we'll never know because he bought the sales pitch from the web designer, installed the software and immediately sent out a sp*m - AHEM, er, I meant to say - email to his newsletter mailing list announcing the availability of reciprocal links and asking them for links to his newsworthy new pages.

When will this linking insanity end?

Following is my reasoned - and decidedly calmer than I am now - email response to him.

Dear Gary,

This link generation scheme is standard for reciprocal link software. The value of "Reciprocal links" is far lower than the value of the ONE WAY links you already have from that press release distribution and the posting of the press release on your site which, by the way, includes linking instructions at the bottom of the relevant pages.

I've written an article call "Linking Psychosis is Treatable" which discusses the foolishness of links pointing all over the web.

It doesn't address reciprocal linking so much as the insanity with which webmasters persue them. Your press release has ALREADY generated a huge number of inbound ONE WAY links that will increase the visibility and rank of both Kinsey Film Review and Intrinsa? Testosterone Patch pages.

Doing the reciprocal page will initially LOWER your rank because it is RECIPROCAL. There is a concept called "Authority Site" that search engines use where ONE WAY inbound links are ranked VERY highly and reciprocal links are devalued BECAUSE of software like that being promoted by link-crazy folks not willing to do the hard work of generating the more valuable one-way links.

The search engines know about the software available from linking fanatics and DEVALUE pages that use it. Ultimately it can increase your visibility, sometimes, over the long run, but it just isn't that helpful in most cases.

I've taken a hard line about this and get a lot of flack about it from those without SEO experience or knowledge. But smart professional SEO's agree that reciprocal linking schemes - AND ESPECIALLY SOFTWARE GENERATED PAGES - are not worth much in search engine rank. The search engines are reducing the importance of those type of pages daily because it is too easy and too commonly used by scores of webmasters looking for an easy ranking.

I have written in the past that "Reciprocal Linking is Dead!"

in which I outline my linking policy and encourage all reciprocal links requests to submit articles to be used on my site and that I'll link to them through the resource box of their articles - IF I decide to publish them - but that I just don't do reciprocal linking - period. I don't even require them to link to me, but I point out that I have over a hundred fifty articles on my web site available for use on their site if they use my resource box, provide author credit and link to me through my resource box.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it. ;-) No matter how unpopular it makes me with software vendors selling programs or link fanatic webmasters looking for extra income and easy solutions.

Don't be a linking turkey! Happy Thanksgiving!

About The Author

Mike Banks Valentine

Here's some free link popularity software: http://website101.com/download/link-popularity-software.html

This article written about experience with SEO client Dr. Gary Schubach, of and is used with his permission.

You may reproduce this article on your site if you make all llnks live, maintain this resource box and provide author credit. This article available online with working links.

http://website101.com/download/link-popularity-software.html

eco-friendly cleaning service Buffalo Grove ..

In The News:

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

Dont Be A Reciprocal Linking Turkey!

Traffic Building