Reviews of Reciprocal Link Management Software

If you're familiar with HTML, it's fairly straightforward to add half a dozen links to a links page. But if you want to build dozens or hundreds of reciprocal links -- each matched with a link to your website -- you'll want software to make the task much easier.

You'll find three types of software available:

• Desktop Link Management Software
• CGI Link Management Programs
• Hosted ASP Link Management Programs

It's difficult to be exhaustive, but below are brief reviews of several programs. You'll see my recommendations for programs in each of these categories.

In general, the two desktop programs I recommend -- Zeus and Arelis -- are best at seeking out and contacting prospective linking partners. The CGI and hosted ASP approaches don't use such an extensive e-mail approach, because -- frankly -- such a site would soon be blacklisted for e-mail spamming. So the CGI and ASP sites are particularly good at providing a process for a potential linking partner to propose his own link and go through an approval process. A thorough  linking strategy might use both a site identification and e-mail inquiry system, such as Zeus and Arelis -- and a system on your website to encourage linking partners to propose links.

Warning. All the programs in this review can help you build an extensive directory. Avoid the temptation. Rather aim for a tightly-targeted set of 50 to 100 reciprocal links from sites with the same theme as yours. Don't build a general directory just because you can. The increased use of Latent Semantic Indexing will work against sites with diverse directories. 

Desktop Link Management Software

Desktop programs typically install on a Windows computer. Neither Arelis or Zeus works on a Mac OS. Typically they spider the Web, looking for sites that are compatible with yours. Then they generate e-mail to initiate reciprocal links, check to make sure a reciprocal link is in place, and generate static webpages containing your links directory which you FTP to your website. These programs are especially helpful when you don't have much traffic to your site and must contact others via e-mail. The danger is that you'll be tempted to spam webmasters that aren't carefully targeted, rather than use these powerful programs as the highly-targeted tools they're designed to be. You pay a one-time fee. Demo versions are available. Below I've reviewed:

• Arelis Reciprocal Link Solution
• Zeus Internet Marketing Robot

Arelis Reciprocal Link Solution
http://www.wilsonweb.com/afd/arelis.htm
Axandra/Voget Selbach Enterprises GmbH
Mosaik Str. 16
56235 Ransbach-Baumbach, Germany

Arelis is a popular desktop software program for Windows computers that performs a number of functions. (1) Searches for potential link partner sites that link to competitors or by keyword. (2) Creates an annotated database of potential link partners. You can edit a link to sites that you like into database fields that will later generate links directory webpages for your site. The fields include: URL for your links directory, link text to be hyperlinked for your links directory, site description for your links directory, URL of the webpage from this site links back to you, whether to include the link in your webpages, a category, a subcategory, and link order. (3) E-mails potential reciprocal link partners by finding an e-mail address on the target site, composing  an e-mail message (using your own modifiable template) that merges the fields from your links database into the final message. The program allows you to personalize the message with a couple of sentences. (4) Generates an updated set of links directory webpages, using the template, categories, and subcategories that you select. You then upload these webpages to your website via FTP.

Free download of full, unrestricted software for 30 days (limited to 100 generic links). This program is widely used and well-liked. One advantage is that there is a one-time fee of $99 and the links directory webpages reside on your website. Recommended.

Zeus Internet Marketing Robot
http://www.wilsonweb.com/afd/zeus.htm
Cyber-Robotics
David Notestine
PO Box 11721
West Palm Beach, FL 33419

When you listen to the recorded teleconferences on the Cyber-Robotics site you find that Zeus creator David Notestine is a true believer in links as the only important means of traffic. Though he tells you to optimize your webpages for search engines, he asserts that by far the bulk of his abundant traffic comes from reciprocal links he has built with his Zeus Internet Marketing Robot.

You "train" Zeus with a number of (100 or more) unique keywords that only appear on the kinds of websites you are targeting -- websites that have content very similar to yours. Sites like this are likely to bring you very targeted traffic through the reciprocal links you set up.

This full-featured, popular system runs on a Windows 95+ desktop computer. It searches the web for compatible reciprocal linking partners, contacts them via e-mail, and produces static HTML links pages which you upload to your website to update your links. Free demo. Pro version is $195. Recommended.

CGI Link Management Programs

CGI programs, usually written in Perl or PHP, are installed on your webserver. A form on your website makes it easy for visiting webmasters to add links to your categorized directory. You view their proposed link information and either use it as is or edit to suit. Your acceptance or rejection message is then e-mailed to the submitter. Most of these programs have a spider that allows you to check periodically that reciprocal links to your site are still in place, enabling you to remove links that aren't reciprocated. These programs don't provide much assistance in finding appropriate linking partners. For the most part you you'll need to find partners via search engines and invite them to come to your site and submit a link. Most of these programs generate static HTML directory pages on your website. You want to avoid dynamically generated webpages that reside in your cgi-bin directory, since search engines may balk at these to some degree. You pay a one-time fee for a license.

There are a number of CGI programs available in both Perl and PHP, some free, others available for a fee. When you're shopping for a program, look for one of the few that is designed to support a reciprocal linking campaign. Most in the link management category are designed to produce a large Yahoo-like directory of outbound links, but this may work against high rankings in your niche space. You're looking for the maximum number of in-bound links from sites that have a lot in common with your site's theme. 

Linking 101 Link Management Script
http://www.wilsonweb.com/afd/linking101.htm
Linking 101
Larry Sullivan
2311 Young Dr.
Augusta, GA 30906-3055

Here's an easy-to-use CGI linking script that installs on your website. It allows visitors to submit their sites for consideration, but you can decide on all links -- and their categories -- before they go live on your linking pages. Online administrative functions include view, add, edit, check, and delete links. When adding or deleting links, you have the option of automatically notifying the webmaster via e-mail. Pages can be customized with a header and footer to match your website. $55.

I installed this program on my server and found that it was ready to go out-of-the-box. (There's no real box, in spite of the picture, but you know what I mean.) All I had to do was add the header and footer to customize it to my site. The wording of messages was well done, just right for a reciprocal links exchange. It doesn't support sub-categories and has no space for a category description, but for most really targeted reciprocal links programs, subcategories aren't really necessary anyway. A nicely-designed feature spiders all the links in the system. If reciprocal links aren't found, you can (1) do nothing, (2) notify the webmaster with a prepared message, or (3) delete the link. Very efficient. Strongly recommended.

Duncan Carver's Link Management Assistant
http://www.onlinemarketingtoday.com/software/link-management/
OnlineMarketingToday.com
Duncan Carver
Wellington, New Zealand

Link Marketing Assistant is a free program written in PHP and linked to a MySQL database. LMA creates dynamic webpages with any extension you choose (such as .html), so they don't look like dynamic pages to the search engine spiders and don't require so many actual webpages on your site. A support forum is available if you have installation and application questions. Note: The program doesn't work properly if you have PHP configured on your server in the CGI mode.

One feature is LMA's ability to import thousands of keyword-rich links (with the category structure) from the Open Directory Project. From the standpoint of a linking strategy, however, this encourages the user to build a directory of outbound links. This may feel good, but the goal of a reciprocal link strategy is inbound links. Fortunately, the import feature is optional.

I am quite impressed with LMA's features, especially the easy management of reciprocal links. Once installed properly, the program is ready to go without a lot of modification except for headers and footers to match your site. Its ability to manage outgoing e-mail communications is the best I've seen. In addition to the ability to e-mail all link partners, you can customize the following e-mail messages to potential linking partners: (1) confirmation message, (2) submission received, (3) listing approved, (4) listing declined, (5) link not found, and (6) listing removed. In addition, you can customize the following e-mails to alert you, the administrator: (7) new directory submission, (8) listing suspended, and (9) import completed. 

The program can be set up to spider link partner sites every seven days (or whatever you set), to remind (or remind and suspend) those who don't have a link in place after three tries (or whatever you set), and after that to remind and delete links after three tries (or whatever you set). In other words, if you desire, links can be maintained on autopilot. While I think you need hands on maintenance, this program will certainly assist you. Strongly recommended.

Hot Links SQL v2.3
http://www.wilsonweb.com/afd/hotlinks.htm
MrCGIGuy
Michael Ramirez
4327 Bayhead Court #1C
Aurora, IL 60504

A well-conceived and complete CGI linking system written in Perl with a MySQL database backend. It includes categories and subcategories and a reciprocal link checker. One handy feature pre-populates link requests with spidered data from the linking webpage. It includes flexible templates. For users developing a large directory, it features ratings, reviews, click-through counters, a "top sites" list, and sponsor links integrated with PayPal, etc. Each of these features can be individually enabled or disabled by the way you set up the templates. The database creates static webpages on your website. It is available for a one-time fee of $79.95. Less capable and less expensive versions include Hot Links Pro ($39.95) and Warm Links ($15.95) that use a flat database and do not produce static links pages.

Since this program integrates a fairly sophisticated system of Perl programs with a MySQL database, installation requires doing a number of things right. However, I found installation pretty straightforward following the programmer's instructions. But installation is not for the novice. Find someone familiar with CGI and MySQL installation to do this for you.

This program is really designed to build a large site directory and only secondarily for use with a reciprocal links campaign. I found the basic wording suggested for the process of sharing links to be rudimentary, requiring significant rewriting. I also had to rewrite the acceptance and rejection e-mail messages. Though a spider checks for links from your linking partners, you only get a list of sites with and without links. Unfortunately, you can't selectively e-mail or delete one link at a time; this is a fairly clumsy bulk function. I also found it difficult to modify the "Add a Link" page to explain the linking procedure and requirements to those requesting a link. Recommended if you're willing to do some adaptations.

LinkMaster Lite and Pro v3.0
http://www.e-web.net/scripts/linkmaster/
Adam Barkow
EWC, Inc.
2520 Welsh Road, #121
Philadelphia, PA 19152

Perl program with flat database. LinkMaster generates dynamic webpages in a CGI directory, so it's not as search engine friendly as programs that produce static pages. The administration panel allows you to set up categories but not subcategories. You can ban abusive domains and/or IP addresses of people who pester you. Filters prevent duplicate links and the program includes customizable templates. The Pro version ($199) checks for reciprocal links and includes an e-mail function that allows you to send mail to all your link partners. Though these programs provide linking basics and the Lite version can be downloaded free, the program doesn't provide for the administration system to contact individual partners via e-mail to encourage a reciprocal link, accept, or reject links.

Hosted ASP Link Management Programs

Hosted ASP Link Management Programs. This third category of programs work much the same as CGI programs that reside on your own server, except that no installation is required. You link from your site to the links management programs that reside on the vendor's site. The look-and-feel of your directory can be carefully customized. Be careful not to use a program where the links directory also resides on the program vendor's site. The best programs automatically FTP the updated directory pages to your own website, reducing the chances that search engines will view them as link farms.

LinksManager
http://www.wilsonweb.com/afd/linksmanager.htm
Creative NetVentures, Inc.
#104, 11585 Jones Bridge Rd, Suite 420
Alpharetta, Georgia 30022

LinksManager provides a categorized, automated linking service which can automatically FTP updated links page to your own website. Those requesting a link to your site are given a form to complete with the link information and a maximum 200 character description. You must approve it before it appears on your link page. The program also searches for reciprocal links on the link requester's site.

When I set up the free trial on my site, I was quite impressed with the thoroughness of the configuration system and the well-thought-out design. This is indeed capable of developing a comprehensive reciprocal linking directory. LinksManager is deliberately designed to be ethical, spamless, and search engine friendly.

To find willing linking partners, LinksManager.com sponsors a separate website --  LinkPartners.com, a free categorized directory of websites that trade reciprocal links with other sites to facilitate link swapping and link exchange. As with many such sites, you have to be careful that linking partners offer tightly-focused, quality link directories and aren't link farms that will link to anyone.

Cost is $19.95/month for up to 50 categories. They offer a 30-day trial and one month free for each paying referral. In my opinion, this is fairly pricey for smaller sites. On the other hand, LinksMaster provides a well-designed, easy-to-set-up system with extensive e-mail and telephone support for clients, with good documentation and help screens. This is the best-of-breed of the ASP programs I've looked at. It is quite easy to set up and adapt to your purposes -- better than any other I saw for reciprocal links. The average site owner with a bit of experience and some knowledge of HTML can set it up. If you can't set up CGI program on your site, here's the program for you. Recommended.

Links4Trade
http://www.wilsonweb.com/afd/links4trade.htm
560 South State Street, Suite F5
Orem, Utah 84058

Links4Trade facilitates trading by signing up "eager, link trade prospects" as members at a $39.95 registration fee (which includes the first month's membership) plus $7.95 per month and 10¢ per link trade. This makes reciprocal link trading truly easy. However, since Links4Trade hosts your categorized links page on their site, not yours, (1) Google can easily spot their domains for what they are, personal link exchange hosting and (2) when you stop paying the monthly fee, you lose all your links. I can't speak authoritatively on this matter, but I would be afraid that Google will eventually consider this an "unnatural" way to manipulate rankings and render it useless -- soon if not immediately -- and at that time your links have no value.

PowerLinks.com
http://www.powerlinks.com
Best Software Products
P.O. Box 4503
Springfield, IL 62708

This program allows you to automatically exchange links with member sites. Software allows you to exclude links to and from any categories you choose. Your links directory is typically hosted on the PowerLinks site. It can be hosted on your site -- but only if your webhosting service allows .asp hosting (not so common). When you join for $9.95/month, a link to your site shows upon automatically on each other member's links page. As I see it, such automatic linking reduces the quality of the incoming links. Since most of the links directories will be on the PowerLinks site, Google could classify this as a link farm and penalize those who link to these links directories and, if you stop paying the monthly fee, your links go away.

Editor's Choices

Several of the programs reviewed above are excellent. While both desktop programs Arelis and Zeus work well, Arelis is priced lower, so it wins Editor's Choice. Among CGI programs, Duncan Carver's free Link Management Assistant wins a nod -- if you can run both PHP and MySQL. Linking 101's Link Management Script is simple and excellent for a small to medium reciprocal links directory -- and well-priced. Of the ASP hosted programs, LinksManager.com is excellent, if a bit pricey. Each of these wins my Editor's Choice Award. 

My final warning: Pick one of these programs and get started, but be strict with yourself and potential linking partners so that you end up with a highly-targeted set of links, not a categorized hodgepodge that will confuse Google about the true nature of your site.