Reciprocal links are links where you link to your partner’s web site and your partner links to your web site. Reciprocal links are also known as bilateral links. Reciprocal links are a very cost effective way to get links and visitors to your web site. Many webmasters engage in link exchanges for reciprocal links.

Reciprocal links are thought to be de-valued by search engines. It is much better to have non-reciprocal, or one way links, which can be achieved quickly with text link ads. Having said that, link exchanges for reciprocal links are still an important aspect in building your web site’s link popularity.

Reciprocal links between thematically similar sites can bring more targeted traffic to your sites. In addition, both websites’ weight with regards to search engine results can be increased as search engine algorithms are believed to give greater value to links from the topic-related sites rather than irrelevant backlinks.