Link building has been a controversial issue over the past few years. Some SEO’s are now focusing exclusively on social networking sites to the exclusion of all else. There are SEO’s that claim that directory links and reciprocal links are dead.

But, if you believe in the theory of link building as if the search engines didn’t exist, then you’ll also believe that reciprocal links and directories still have some value. If the search engines did not exist, then webmasters would use the following resources for link building:

• Directories with small targeted categories
• Reciprocal links with relevant sites
• Creating quality content
• Link baiting
• Article writing and distribution
• Press releases
• Blog comments
• Social networking
• Message boards

Of course, not all links hold equal value and links from directories and reciprocal partners may not hold the wallop that they used to, but to say they are of no value, across the board, is missing the point.

There are some directories like Yahoo, Dmoz and some niche directories that still offer targeted traffic to websites. Also, reciprocal links from similar or complimentary websites also can offer targeted traffic. So, it only follows that these resources still hold some value in the search engine algorithms.

The best linking strategy, however, is to cover all the bases. If a person links using all of the resources listed above, then a website will generally do well in the search engine rankings. Of course there are exceptions, but why limit yourself to just one linking strategy when casting a wide net can be beneficial to both direct traffic and the search engine rankings?

Filed under: Link Building