Link exchanges have been somewhat maligned of late. There are those who think that anything that sends traffic away from your website is just not a good idea. It is true that link exchanges do create two-way traffic, but the idea here is to get more traffic coming than going... or at least an equal flow... and to let more people know about you, your website and your products or services.
The basic idea of a link exchange is that two companies who market to the same segment of the population but who market complimentary rather that competing products or services can help each other by exchanging links. The link exchange is free to both parties of an agreement. For example; a company that sells dog houses might exchange links with a company that sells dog health products. They are not competing with each other but they are both targeting the same buying segment of the population... dog owners.
There are complimentary but non-competing businesses in just about any niche market that you can think of and there are, without a doubt, companies that would make good link exchange partners for your website and for your products or services, as well.
There is link exchange partner software out there that will automatically submit your link exchange proposals for you without you lifting a finger. However, this software is mostly ineffective. Businesses that receive an automated proposal for a link exchange usually take a dim view of such proposals. You many even have received a few of these automated proposals yourself. They can be considered junk mail or even SPAM. Besides, you don't have any money in your budget to waste on unhelpful software, anyway. You are going to have to do this the right way because you can't afford to do it the wrong way.
You will also find link exchange sites on the Internet. Where, for a price, you can list your company as being interested in link exchanges and view lists of other website owners who are interested in link exchanges. The better of these sites can actually be very useful but you just can't afford to register with them right now. They don't have any information that you can't find for yourself with just a little effort, anyway.
Here is how to locate potential link exchange partners. First go to your favorite search engine and type in words that would be related to your product or service. For example and staying with the dog theme; if you were selling dog houses, you might type in "dog health products"... or if you were selling an E-book about drawing up your own house plan, you might type in "home building products". You get the idea. You want to find businesses that are targeting the same buying segment of the population but are selling products of services that are complimentary to what you are selling but not competing with what you are selling.
You will need to take the time to visit each website that you locate and consider to be potential link exchange partners. It would be great if you could find link exchange partners that have a PageRank of 7 or better in the search engines, but those that have a less desirable PageRank can still be useful. This isn't costing you anything, remember?
When you visit each site, you can gather the information about who to contact. Look under their contact link. In some cases you will find a name and email address. For these you send a link exchange proposal. Simply be brief and get to the point. These other website owners are not interested in your personal information, nor your struggles to create an Internet business.
As you are visiting the websites and gathering contact information, you may well come across telephone contact numbers. If you do, use them and do so immediately. The website owners would not have posted telephone numbers unless they hoped they would be used. You might be able to work out a link exchange agreement on the telephone and do it sooner rather than later.
You are not limited by numbers but by space here. You can work out as many link exchange agreements as you are able to and have space on your website for posting reciprocal links. The more times your advertisement appears on the Internet, the better it is for you.
It is a good idea to limit your link exchanges to one per product. That is, if you are selling dog houses, you should only have one exchange with a company that sells dog health products but you could also have one that sells dog toys or dog sweaters. You do not really want advertisements for companies that compete with each other even if they don't compete with you.
A link exchange implies a recommendation. Having advertisements for companies that compete with one another makes you look like you could not make up your mind. It also makes the owners of the companies that you are exchanging links with more than a little unhappy.
When you choose link exchange partners, choose the ones that have the highest PageRank for their key words. These are the sites that will have the most traffic and more people will see your advertisements and have the opportunity to click on your link, visit your website and, perhaps, buy your product or service and sign into your opt-in list, as well.
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