Recently there has been talk that Google has discounted reciprocal linking as a factor in their ranking algorithm. For webmasters who don't know, reciprocal links are just traded links - web site A links to site B, and site B in exchange links to site A. Often term "linking partner" is used instead of reciprocal link. In past, it seems that reciprocal links have played an important role in how a site is ranked in search results. It was an indicator from webmaster that other site was of value to their visitors.

Once marketers caught on to this, various software was developed that would help automate process. As webmasters started freely swapping links with every other webmaster, this diluted value of having reciprocal links in place. Google caught on to this, and apparently has now downgraded or completely removed this type of linking as a ranking factor.

Should marketers continue to pursue reciprocal links? Are they worthwhile? It probably depends on

Welcome to part ten in this search engine positioning series. Over past nine weeks we have covered nine fundamental steps to a proper search engine positioning campaign. From choosing keywords and writing content to optimizing your pages and building quality links we have covered required steps to attaining solid rankings that will last. In part ten we will cover extras.

The extras consist of tips, tools and resources that you will want to use to keep you on cutting edge of who's who and what's what in search engine positioning arena.

Over this series we have covered ten key aspects to a solid search engine positioning campaign.

The Ten Steps We Have Gone Through Are:

1. Keyword Selection
2. Content Creation
3. Site Structure
4. Optimization
5. Internal Linking
6. Human Testing
7. Submissions
8. Link Building
9. Monitoring
10. The Extras

Step Ten - The Extras

The first nine steps in this series cover true nuts-and-bolts of a solid SEO campaign. These are crucial steps you need to take to attain top rankings that will stick. That said " there are "the extras", icing on SEO-cake so-to-speak. Those little things that will bump you up from number 4 to number 2, or help you hold your positioning through an algorithm change.

Some of these things have been touched on in previous articles while others are completely new. Either way, these are things that will give you that little one-up over other ethical SEO's who know their stuff.

Tools

One of most important advantages you can gain over your competition comes from tools you use and more importantly, how you use them. Some people blindly follow advice given to them from so-called "SEO-software". This is never right decision. Taking information these good tools can provide, and knowing how to turn that information into advantage is key.

Here are tools that many successful SEOs use to build solid rankings for their clients and why:

Top Optimizer Pro

I've noted this one in article on link building and it's definitely worth mentioning again. Never before have I found a tool that can tear apart your competition so thoroughly for such an affordable price and in such an easy-to-understand manner.

This tool with take a look at top 10 for a search phrase, and give you:

• their position
• their PageRank
• their Alexa rank
• the total number of backlinks to their site as seen by Google
• the number of their site pages indexed by Google
• their keyword density for targeted phrase
• their title
• their H1 tag

This is overview it gives you. You can then select one of sites and view more detail including:

• the backlink URL
• the backlink domain
• the IP address of backlink
• the PageRank of backlink from that page
• the specific anchor text use for that backlink (or a note whether it was an image)
• the title of page linking back
• the Alexa rating of page linking back
• the top three keyword focus' of page linking back
• the number of links pointing to that page
• the number of outbound links from that page

Right below that there is access to a breakdown of sites backlink's that gives a summary of:

• the specific anchor text, number of times that anchor text was used, and percentage this represents of total backlinks counted
• where these links come from. This will give you great information as to how many of these links are coming from same domain, which is generally accepted in SEO community as holding less weight than same number of links from different domains
• a PageRank breakdown of all links

At $247 from TopNet Solutions it's a bit pricey but worth every penny if you only use it on one campaign. Click here for more details.

PR Prowler

A necessity for any search engine positioning campaign that requires link building. This tool, also developed by TopNet Solutions, doesn't do all fancy things that Top Optimizer Pro does however it does do one thing VERY well - it's seeks out quality relevant link partners with high PageRanks.

If you're not in a competitive industry and you just want to save time on link building (and I do mean a LOT of time) this tool will do it for you. You simply set it to find links based on specified search phrase(s) and with a minimum PageRank. You can search for up to 1000 links at a time. Simply start tool and continue on with other work or go to bed while it's working for you. Come back and you've got some great leads and best part is, it's weeded out all duds so your efforts are focused only on links that will most benefit your site.

This tool has taken campaigns that would have required many hundreds of links to a point where same effect can often be realized with 50 and in a fraction of time spent. Click here for more information on PR Prowler.

FireFox

While this isn't exactly an SEO tool per-se it makes researching and optimizing much faster and more convenient. FireFox is a browser (read: Internet Explorer replacement) that has MANY features that make it more convenient.

I like tabbed browsing (moving between multiple pages through use of tabs on one browser screen), username and password ability is far better and more advanced than Internet Explorer's and it's far more secure than more popular Microsoft product. It blocks popups and spyware just isn't written for it.

I will admit that for first few hours I was trying it out I found it a bit more difficult to use but once you realize how much more powerful it can be and that difficult arises from instinct to make task more difficult by doing it way you would have with IE, you'll never want to switch back. The next time you've got 5 IE windows open to various search engines, another for WordTracker and a couple more to various other pages think of FireFox and you're world will be made easier. It's a free download.

You can read more on advantages of FireFox browser in a search engine positioning article written by ISEDB Editor Jim Hedger at http://www.isedb.com/news/article/1062.