Reciprocal Linking - How to Get Started

Last week we discussed in detail the meaning of terms Link Popularity and Reciprocal Linking. If you missed last week's Marketing Tip, you can find it here. 

After last week, Tom Robertson, one of our valued clients, writes:

"This is Tom Roberson, Eileen Roberson's husband and 'webmaster', and I just wanted to 'add my two cents worth' to the reciprocal linking topic. I was also a full time Realtor for seven years, so I fully understand the business, and always carried the 'marketing' part of our business, which became her business. I made the decision to go with Advanced Access in July, 2002. 

It was around September - October, 2002 when the Marketing Updates began mentioning Reciprocal Links. I looked into it, and started actively pursuing reciprocal links in October, 2002. After a few months of adding links, I could see a very dramatic increase in the number of hits Eileen's site was receiving. From October to the end of December, the traffic doubled!, and doubled again by the end of January! Last month (July) there were over 34,000 hits! No other changes were made to the site. 

I can only attribute this to the addition of reciprocal links. Without Advanced Access bringing this to our attention in the Marketing Updates, I doubt that I would have pursued reciprocal links as actively as I have, and do. If any one has any doubts about their benefit, I encourage them to review the following statistics:

September, 2002 - 2,478 hits, 1,471 unique sessions
October, 2002 - 5,502 hits, 3,542 unique sessions
November, 2002 - 6,318 hits, 5,052 unique sessions
December, 2002 - 10,997 hits, 6,336 unique sessions
January, 2003 - 20,057 hits, 10,685 unique sessions
February, 2003 - 20,620 hits, 12,513 unique sessions (A short month)
March, 2003 - 31,286 hits, 20,072 unique sessions
April, 2003 - 32,713 hits, 20,090 unique sessions
May, 2003 - 30,672 hits, 13,745 unique sessions
June, 2003 - 29,217 hits, 11,707 unique sessions
July, 2003 - 34,434 hits, 14,333 unique sessions

Of course, this has meant a big increase in business for Eileen (and she works only with buyers - no listings).

I encourage everyone to keep adding those links. It most definitely pays!!"

In appreciation,
Tom Roberson

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Wow! Thanks, Tom, for sharing those wonderful stats!

How do you start the Reciprocal Linking process?

First, you have to find the site with whom you would like to reciprocate. For a GREAT list of links, we suggest you start here:

www.AdvancedAccess.com/findhelphere/re-sites.html

The list is organized in categories such as "Search Engines - Paid Submissions," "Free Links," and "REALTOR® Links." You might want to begin with the free website links on the list and gradually add links whenever you have some free time. Each week we feature a new Link Popularity partner in our Marketing Tip (many times more than one!) and you will be able to add new partners every week. Those who have realized the benefits of "partnering" discovered that the more link partners you have, the more potential visitors can be driven to YOUR website!

When you click on each link you will be directed to more detailed instructions.

So, what's the next step?

Ok, so you found the person or company with whom you want to reciprocate. First you need to add THEIR information to YOUR Web site. Say what? Let's use Pat Haddad as our first example. On the Link Popularity List, Pat Haddad is listed under 'Free REALTOR® Links'.

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When you visit Pat's specific page, Pat asks you to add her link to your website. Once you add the link to your website, you can fill out her form with your information and she will then add YOUR INFO to her website.

Ok, sounds fairly simple, right?

Let's now add the link to YOUR website!

Log in to your Virtual Office.
Click on 'Favorite Links'
To add a new link, click on 'Add New Link'.

The page will then ask you for the Website Address, the Category under which you would like to place the link, the Description, and will ask if you would like the link opened in a new window.

Pat has actually made it very easy for you. She has provided the special coding (HTML) that you can just 'copy' and 'paste' into the Website section.

Pat has also provided two choices of descriptions you can use. Select one, and 'copy' the information out of the white box... and 'paste' it into the Website address box.

Then, be sure to select 'Yes' to open the site in a new window.

If you are not certain how to copy and paste, you can simply type in the Title, Description, and Website address into the boxes.

Pat has specified this information:

Title: Carmel Real Estate, Noblesville Real Estate, Fishers Real Estate - Pat Haddad

Description: Realtor/Broker with dominant Indiana company specializing in Carmel, Cicero, Fishers, Geist, Indianapolis, Noblesville, Sheridan, Westfield, and Zionsville. Search the MLS from this site.

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Now that Pat's link has been added to your website, it's time to fill out her form so she can add YOUR information to her website.

Pat asked for the name of your site (your title), your URL, the description, your name, and e-mail address. Once you fill out that information and click on submit, Pat should be adding you to her website and she will notify when it has been completed.

See how easy it was to add in a Reciprocal Link?

Now, you can move on to the next person or company on your list. But wait! Your Favorite Links page might get a little lengthy with all your links added into one large category. 

One of the advantages of our Favorite Links section is that you can create NEW categories to organize your links in a structured manner. This will make it easier for your web visitors to find the link they are looking for. 

To create a new category, click on 'Add Category' within your Favorite Links section. You might want to call the category 'Realtors in Other States,' as an example.

Then, all the links you create can be placed in this special category.

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If you need more options than Favorite Links allows you, and you are one of our Classic Package clients, then you have the option to create new pages in the Page Manager program.

Pat Haddad has created a comprehensive page that lists and organizes her reciprocal link partners. To see Pat's example, visit www.PatHaddad.com  and click on Find a REALTOR®. Pat has created a section using our Page Manager and organized each state into a different page. The individual page for each state has a list of Pat's link partners and a beautiful header graphic. Although Pat's 'Find a REALTOR®' section required an investment of her time, it is now highly organized, and easy for her clients and prospects to find a REALTOR®.

Building a list of reciprocal link partners provides your site with more content and as a bonus, it will create more link popularity, drive more traffic to your website, and ultimately enhance your exposure on the Internet.

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How to create a Sign-Up Form and be featured on the Link Popularity Update

Stay tuned for our Marketing Tip next week where we will discuss important items such as how to create a Sign-Up Form, how to determine your Title and Description, and how to get on the list!

Read the following from real estate professionals who are using Advanced Access' Marketing Tips to their advantage:

"August 19th completed my first year with an Advanced Access hosted website. I would like to share my reflections, thoughts, observations and success with everyone at Advanced Access and to say “THANK YOU” for helping it be a highly successful first year.

When I received the solicitation call from the Advanced Access representative, I had 4 websites online, when a lead came in; it was cause for a celebration! As I looked at the stats for the sites it made me sick. The Advanced Access representative in a very professional and knowledgeable manner showed me around the Advanced Access website and the tools that were available to me. I could see a difference right away from the other sites. Questions of a technical nature were referred to another person within Advanced Access and answered on the spot. In the end I decided to sign up for an Advanced Access website. (Best marketing decision I made!)

As most people think “Okay, I have a website – I should find it on the search engines and the traffic just flow to it.” I was wrong. The month of September I saw a grand total of 367 visitors and 634 in November. I was getting visitors – more than the combined total of 3 sites out of the 4 sites that I had. November we had 2,130 visitors things were looking up. At the end of November I was hospitalized for 11 days. During the recuperative period after the hospitalization, I started to look at the Virtual Office and what I could do. Many questions came up and I called Support. Support is truly support. The staff in the Support Department are always was courteous, patient, personable, followed-up, and knowledgeable. No matter how stupid I thought my question was they answered it clearly and concisely and clarified points that I was not clear out. As I worked on my site more and more Support was a phone call away to assist me, correct my errors, and offer suggestions that would enhance what I was attempting to do. Another thing about the Support Department – I have never been on hold. My experience with Support has been fantastic and beyond my expectations. Honestly, Advanced Access Support should be written up in Beyond Excellence and be a model for customer service departments. Thank you for being there for me.

Finally, I started to read the Marketing Tips. And launched a full blown improvement program for the website. I started to add pages that I felt would interest visitors. Then started to actively pursue link exchanges. On December 26th I emailed over 200 website owners asking for a link exchange. In January, Advanced Access launched the Forum. Between the Forum and Support I was asking more questions about improving my link popularity effectively, raising my position on the search engines, etc. Advanced Access was there for me – answering questions, clarifying areas where I was fuzzy, instructing me on the how to’s within the Virtual Office, and pointing me to reference materials. Revisions were made to the website title, keywords, etc. with guidance from Advanced Access.

February, was unbelievable – the website had almost 12,000 visitors with over 17,000 page views. I was pleasantly surprised. Never did I think that a real estate website could generate so much traffic.

Over the intervening months, I continued to tweak the website with the guidance of Advanced Access and ideas from the members of the Forum.

Now I look back at the year as a whole and this is the results - we have had 95,000 visitors to our website that have viewed more than 150,000 pages, and with at least 900 leads generated. Almost 800 links to the site. The site is listed on the first page of most of the major search engines using the 3 keyword or keyword phrases. Business wise this translates in 14 sales for almost $5 million, 10 pending sales for over $2 million, possibly 11 more transactions for over $10 million. These stats are directly relate to the website. I have not undertaken to determine the indirect effect of the website on the other transactions (telephone calls, emails not generated