Are reciprocal links really a bad thing for my lawyer website?

A: They are certainly not the best thing for optimal attorney web marketing, but they are better than no links at all. A reciprocal link is when a site links to your practice site, and your site also has a link to their site. Sometimes these are known as these are known as "link swaps," "link exchanges," or "link partners."

Negative Side

• When the reciprocal links do not appear on the link page.

• They have the "smell" of an arranged link scheme or a trade

• When the other site is not as reputable as your site

• A reciprocal link has a natural reduced value

Positive Side

• When reciprocal links are shared between related sites

• They do have the ability to increase traffic

• Good, solid links (think quality over quantity) can boost your rankings in search engines

• As stated above, they are better than nothing!

Be smart about your reciprocal links. Check out the sites you want to exchange links with, and make sure they are complementary to your site and of good quality. Then, place their link on one of your internal pages, not your home page. Next, email the owner of the reciprocal site, compliment their site, and ask if they will link back to your page. Remember, your reciprocal link partners should make sense. The other sites should be natural and within a related community. Do not let reciprocal links be the only links that bring in traffic or affect your attorney web marketing.