Swapping links is still one of the best ways to get highly targeted traffic into your web site and to improve your search engine ranking.

But how do you actually go about doing it? What I have created for you in this article is a simple four-step guide to increasing your link popularity. So let's get started.

Step 1: Do the research.

All too often I see people approaching other web site owners to exchange links when there is no real relevance in doing so. You need to find websites that are not in competition with you but at least will be visited by people that will also visit your website. To try and get into this mindset, think about where visitors that are coming to your site will have been before they land on your page.

What else will they be thinking about buying or what other services did I need. Are there other products or services that your visitors might be considering before during or after they come to your website.

These are the types of sites you need to approach. On the other hand, don't always restrict your approach for link exchanges to sites that are too related to yours.

You need to broaden your horizons a little bit but not so much that the search engines will see that the links you are getting are irrelevant.

Step 2: Link to them first.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people making in link exchanges is that they don't actually place the link to the other site on their site first. You need to place the link to the person you are actually contacting on your site first.

This way you can contact them and direct them to the page to prove to them that you have already taken the time to create a description, a title and a link to their web site.

Step 3: You need to contact them. When you contact the person who you are hoping to exchange links with try and be a little different. Keep your email short, concise and to the point. Try and use the word you as often as you can.

You might also want to consider actually telephoning them. This might sound extreme but as more and more people are using the idea of link exchanges you need to think of different ways stand out from the crowd.

Step 4: Always follow up.

If you are anything like me it could often take two or even three reminders to act on a link exchange. So don't be disheartened if somebody doesn't get back to you immediately. Maybe send them another email a week later telling them that their link is still active on your site and you would like them to reciprocate

What I would advise against doing is issuing a warning saying their link will be removed if they do not get back to you. This to me creates a bad atmosphere in the email and it is likely to have a negative effect.

If you want more information about how to get targeted traffic into your website see the mini course I have created for you below:

About the Author

You can get "How To Increase Your Targeted Traffic In 5 Days", a free 5-part mini course, here: http://www.targetedtrafficsecrets.com