Multi-Way Links

This is where some of the link schemes get clever. Reciprocal links, we are told have no value so you have to have three or more site's linking together so there is no direct reciprocating link at all.
Three-way link schemes aren't all that difficult for search engines to sniff out so these multi-link programs have gotten more complex. The latest version is link wheels. This is where networks of sites link to a second level of sites which then link to you. You get dozens or hundreds of "one-way" links to your site through these link wheel networks.
Like most linking schemes these link wheels will probably have limited value over the short-term without any real long-term benefits.

Reciprocal Links

A reciprocal link, in simplest terms, is a link from Site A to site B and a link back from Site B to Site A. Many have written reciprocal links off as being completely irrelevant but that's far too simplistic. There is nothing wrong with reciprocal links in an of themselves. Its all in the execution.

Low-Quality Reciprocal Links

The lowest quality reciprocal links are those found on pages specifically designed to house reciprocal links. What you get from these "resource" pages is a bunch of barely related links from Site A to one or more dozens of other websites. All of these build their own "resource" pages that do you the favor of linking back to you and one or more dozens of other sites.
These pages are usually easy to spot because they generally provide little value to the visitors of the site, other than for a good laugh. If you find yourself linking to a site that links back this way it would probably be of benefit to you to stop linking to them. The link pointed to you likely has no value, however by associating yourself with them (via your link) you can be sending the search engines a signal that you don't care much about the quality of sites you link out to.

High-Quality Reciprocal Links

Despite the belief of some, there are reciprocal links that can pass a lot of value to you. Low-quality reciprocal links are there simply for the quid pro quo of the link. High quality reciprocal linking has nothing to do with doing someone a favor in order to get something in return. These are two links that are made independently of each other simply because you, and the "reciprocating" site find each others content valuable.
It's entirely possible that one of the linking parties has no idea the other site is linking to them because each link was given entirely on the basis of the value of the content being linked to. It wasn't per-arranged or purposeful in any way.
That doesn't mean you can't per-arrange a reciprocal link and still make it valuable. You can, you just need to make sure it looks as natural and non-per-arranged as possible. Linking and receiving a link in the midst of quality content in primary site pages can do the trick. Just be careful about how many of these reciprocal links show up at the same time.

How Links Work

Links are the highway of the web. Without links nobody would be able to navigate, move from page to page or from one site to the next. The only way to find anything on the web would be to manually type in the URL of each web page. But luckily, hyperlinks let is click our way around websites gong from one page to the next and off to other websites.
In the simplest term a link is a vote for the web page it leads to. It's a lot more complicated than that, but for now that definition will suffice. If you like something you link to it. If someone likes you, hopefully they'll link to you.
Links can come in many forms. You submit your site to a directory and you get a link. Someone finds you in that directory, follows the link to your site. You link out to more information the reader is interested in (whether it's your own site or another) and the visitor follows that link until their navigation path has been satisfied.
If the reader likes what they see along the way they might throw a link back. People reading the newly linked site then follows the link to you, they navigate (via links) to other pages that interest them and the process continues. Of course, not every person who finds your site will link to you, but it sure would be nice if they would. Of course they want the same from you too!
Links spread like word of mouth. If you have something worth telling others about (or linking to) then more people will spread the word via their site's, blogs, Twitter, Facebook and whatever else strikes their fancy. The easiest way to get links is to have something worth linking to. Yes you, in the flow meter industry... you can create link-worthy content.

Five Rules of Copywriting

There are five basic rules to writing good website content that is appealing to both visitors and the search engines.
1. Avoid graphics in text.
Search engines are not so good about reading text in a graphic format. They are getting better at it but I think that it will always be problematic, especially when it comes to busy graphics or non-standard fonts. So for now, and the foreseeable future, it's a good idea to keep your text outside of graphics.
You also have to consider the user. Some users search with images off or the small screens of their mobile phones. Text in those graphics may be difficult or impossible to read. If the content is worth reading then it's worth ensuring that it is in the most readable format.
2. Think users before engines.
Your visitors come first. The search engines don't buy from you, they don't write comments, and they don't retweet your message. People do. The search engines only want what people want so give the people what they want and the search engines will, in most cases, reward you for that.
3. Write enough content.
How much content is enough? Only you know that. You need to write enough content to make the points you need and no more. Each visitor needs a different amount of content to read in order to be convinced. don't leave anybody out.
4. Target phrases not words.
People rarely search for words, they search for phrases. Knowing what those phrases are is essential to writing content that speaks to your visitor's desires. The phrases also put the words into context and give meaning to what the visitor is really searching for.
5. Don't force it.
Writing your content using the rules above should work naturally. Don't force anything if it just doesn't work. If you're trying to work in phrases that are not a fit for the page, then move those phrases to another page. If you're trying to produce content that will speak to different kinds of visitors, don't be afraid to break content off into other sections of the site such as articles or tutorials. This goes back to writing for the visitor. Meet their needs first and foremost and don't try to force anything that doesn't work.
As I said above, SEO copy-writing isn't all that much different than standard copywriting. It's all about creating good content that appeals to the visitors and meets certain criteria in terms of keyword usage. In Part 12 I'll go over some key examples of how to write good content that is good for engines and users alike.

Internal Linking

You want to do a good share of internal linking within your site. Not just the navigation, mind you but link from within your content areas and product pages. Good internal linking helps your visitors navigate from page to page and find other areas and products that interest them. This improves visitor satisfaction, leads to more sales and helps improve search engine rankings.
Use whatever opportunities you have to give your visitors opportunities to find these other sections of the site. If you talk about a product or service, link to it. If you have a related bit of information or another similar or companion product, link to it. Using keywords in these links gives the search engines more keyword juice for determining how pages should be ranked.

Directory Structure

There are three basic directory structures you can have, flat, deep or somewhere in between. A flat directory structure puts all of your site pages on the same directory level. Each page is essentially one click away from the home page and no page is given any type of prominence.
A deep directory structure is the near opposite. Only a few pages are accessible from the home page, then a few more are accessible from those, a few more from those and so on. This puts some pages many clicks away from the home page unnecessarily.
You want to be somewhere in between. You want a directory structure that makes sense. Pages should be grouped together in broad level categories and only sub-categorized as makes sense from the navigation standpoint. You can go a bit deeper with your URLs but again you don't want half a dozen directories
when a few will do just fine.

404 Redirect

You not only want to be aware of broken links on your site but you want to know about links on other sites that lead to old or non-existent pages on your site. You can do this by keeping an eye on your logs and looking for those coming in getting page not found errors. With this you can do three things:
1) Find out what pages are attempted to be accessed the most. If people are coming to a recently deleted page you either want to put something back up in its place or implement a 301 redirect from that page to the page that is the closest match.
2) Find out where the traffic is coming from. If other sites have links to you that don't work sometimes you can get that corrected by simply asking them to fix the link. They linked to you for a reason and it likely is in their audience's best interest to make sure the link works.
3) Implement a custom 404-redirect page. You won't be able to fix or redirect every broken link coming to your site but you can make sure that anybody coming to your site from a bad link gets more than the generic white "page not found" screen. By creating a customized page visitors can be redirected to relevant content on your site, you will keep more visitors and have an opportunity to convert them. You can read a longer tutorial on 404-