Getting other sites to provide links to your site is an important way to build traffic. If, for example, you have an online tool store, you might benefit from reciprocal links to sites about home repair, gardening, do-it-yourself projects, home restoration and so on.

Getting linked is not as simple as saying "I'll link to yours if you link to mine." That is considered rude and selfish. Why would a web site with a lot of traffic want to link to yours? You must first give them a good reason. Send a personal e-mail message to the webmaster of the site to which you want to be linked.

A phone call might be obtrusive and e-mail can be saved for future reference and answered when she has time. Say you were visiting the site and saw information that would be helpful to your visitors so you linked your site to theirs. Politely suggest that the webmaster look at your site and see if she thinks it is appropriate to provide a reciprocal link. Most webmasters will appreciate the fact that you know something about their site, will look at your site and answer your personalized e-mail.

Don't bother with automatic link sites. They tend to be disorganized, can be totally random and are highly unlikely to provide you with any traffic worth having. Like everything else about building traffic, there are no shortcuts.