Caravan,

You've entered a realm that separates the truly "link dedicated" from those who are just looking for shortcuts and link gimmicks. Most people just bail out of this work and latch onto some easy link trick, until that trick is rendered useless.

You are right, this is hard, detail-oriented work. There are no shortcuts. Sorry.

I laugh when people call reciprocal linking "easy", and they say ridiculous thing like "just find other sites that link to your competitors and ask them for a link".

Obviously, these "experts" talk the talk, but don't walk the walk. If they did, they would not make it sound easy or mindless.

First, unless you hire a real pro to do it for you(as opposed to a link spammer who'll try to link you to everything that moves), then get yourself a good link management tool. This work is ALL about data management. Without a good tool, you are going to be overwhelmed very quickly. For DIY, I suggest using LinksManager. http://www.linksmanager.com.

Recntly, I posted two other posts in here about this subject, so here they are, again...

http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic...ivers&start=25

Sure, I have done recip link work for hundreds of sites. I see ridiculous stuff all the time. Most of it is some kind of selfish "ploy" that they have concocted to try to game the engines, and they demand that other people comply. All it does is make the site with the demand appear childish.

Your own criteria were valid ones, but not always necessary.

Remember this...reciprocal linking takes place between TWO HUMAN BEINGS. Each of them has to agree to the exchange or there is no exchange. Bullying and obnoxious behavior is loser behavior. You have to give to get. Be an adult.

While I am obnoxious and intolerant with all the SEO gurus who think they know everything about this subject, but they don't really know much of anything about it because they don't actually do it, I am very, very gracious with my link exchange partners.

The basics, in no particular order:

1) Never link automotive sites to gambling, viagra, health supplement, ink jet or ring tone sites. Link auto sites to auto sites, home-related to home related, health to health, etc. STAY RELEVANT. STAY RELEVANT. STAY RELEVANT.

2) Never, ever use no follow tags on the links or robot exclusions on links directories as a means to "hide" links. That's just immature, and of ZERO value anyhow. All it does is give people a VERY GOOD REASON to ignore your link request. Likewise, never "hide" your links pages. If you are going to reciprocate, be up front.

3) Never give deadlines or threaten to remove links. Be patient. People have more important things to do than make sure a link is placed within 48 hours. Or two weeks.

4) Never demand that they link to all 20 of your sites first. Take links as you get them, appropriately

5) Always link first, then make the request, and tell them where to find their link.

6) Skip the flowery talk about how this will help both of you achieve better rankings, blah blah blah. Be direct and concise with email requests.

7) Skip the talk about your high PR values. Snore.

8) USE SUBMISSION FORMS if they are provided. DO NOT send email requests to sites that provide forms, just because it is easier to blast out email. They'll usually ignore your email request anyhow, or send you to the form.

9) DO NOT solicit sites that do not publicly have a link directory and/or do not offer to exchange.

10) Do not demand PR for PR equivalence. In fact, ignore PR completely. You'll sleep much better, and get a lot more links.

11) Do not use an email verification gateway. If you want your requests by email, then make it a fully public email. Otherwise, you'll lose a lot of links that you could have had, since many people will not "verify" your address by typing a goofy word into a box. I can't imagine why anyone would want requests by email anyhow. If you're going to do this, then put up a submission form, even if it is a simple mailto: form. At least then the requests you do get will be orderly.

12) Categorize the link directory properly. Links page 1, 2, 3, 4 is not proper categorization.

13) Limit your links per page to something reasonable. If you get too many on a page, start a sub-category.

14) Link to and from the SAME DOMAIN. Three-way links are just so much SEO fad-du-jour. Most people with legitimate sites who offer to reciprocate will avoid three way links like the plague, and they see them for what they are. That is, you get a link from a junk site, but they want you to link back to their primary site. It's bogus.

That's a good start of what to do/not do. Overall, remember, there is a real person on the other end of a link request that wants to be treated fairly, as do you.

I hope it helps.

******************

and

http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic...=domaindrivers

As someone who does this work all the time, for hundreds of sites, follow these rules:

1) Make sure the site you are soliciting is related to your site.

2) Make sure the site you are soliciting has a link directory and publicly offers to exchange. Link to them first.

3) If they want their link requests to be submitted to a form they provide, then use the form. They'll ignore your email

4) Skip the flowery talk about your page rank and how much you think their site is the bomb. You want a link, and if your site is appropriate, they want your link. Be honest, sincere, and get to the point.

5) Tell them exactly where (what page url) to find their link on your site.

6) Tell them how you have listed their site on your site.

7) Provide a way for them to make changes to their listing.

8) Never threaten to remove their link. Nobody likes threats.

9) Provide the a way to "unsubscribe" from further solicitations.