On your links page, be sure to include simple instructions for anyone who wants to link with you. Many sites include a short piece of HTML code including all your link information, ready to be placed on reciprocal sites links page. Be sure to place an easily-found link to your links page on main page of your site as well.

Now you are ready to go looking for relevant link partners, sites that are complementary to yours, but not competitors. You can do it manual way, by doing searches on your site’s favorite keywords. When you find a site, evaluate it for content relevant to your own, evaluate its quality and note its search engine rank. If you have to choose between a site that is ranked #2 and one that is #20, always choose higher ranked site. Look for links page, where you should find instructions on initiating links between your sites. If you don’t find one, it usually isn’t worth your time to contact webmaster to inquire about links; go to next one.

One method to speed up process is to use a free service from http://linkpopularity.com/. From this site you can check link popularity of your site. But, you can also check which sites are linked to your competitors – particularly your competitors with high search engine ranking. With that information, you can go to each of these sites and most likely get a reciprocal link. A similar product, Link Survey, is available at http://www.antssoft.com/linksurvey/index.htm.

Another system for speeding up process is http://links4trade.com/. Although not free, it also helps to manage headache of link page maintenance.

Link exchange services which claim to completely automate link exchange process can be found at http://www.powerlinks.com/ and http://www.softbizscripts.com/link-exchange-script-features.php.

A quite amazing tool you might look at is called Zeus, at http://www.cyber-robotics.com/index.htm. Zeus is an intelligent robot that builds a link directory and creates reciprocal links for your web site. A free version is available. You can also find a group of Zeus users ready to swap links at http://www.zeuscollective.com/.

Regardless of how you do it, continue to pursue reciprocal links and make it a part of your overall marketing strategy; you are sure to find it rewarding!

Darryl DeLong is a successful Internet Marketer and Ezine Publisher. Learn how to build up your opt-in list, site visitors and sales with my brand new ebook entitled "Viral Internet Marketing Strategies" get a free copy here: http://www.viral-internet-marketing.com

You can see how I did this by visiting:

http://www.freeclassifiedlinks.com/recsites.html

I only recommend something I believe in, that has personally worked for me or someone I trust.

If product is full of hype and not up to my standards of excellence, I will not put it on my recommendation page. Period.

Here is a quick start guide to getting your own recommendation page up and turning a profit:

- Compile a list of your favorite products and services within your niche

- If product/service has an affiliate program, be sure to join up.

- Tell your customers about this page. (You can do this with newsletter subscribers as well)

If someone trusts you enough to buy your products, it is very likely they will buy something you recommend.

If you are struggling to find something positive to say about one of these products/services, that should be an instant red flag. You should only recommend products you have purchased and believe in.

Never compromise your customer's trust in you. Trading money for a damaged reputation can be fatal to your online business.

Once you lose someone's trust, you can never truly gain it back. This can mean lost sales and profits for your business.

Try putting this simple plan into action, and I can almost guarantee that you will be thrilled with results.

Copyright © 2005 Jason Tarasi