One often neglected method of increasing the popularity of your hotel web site and getting a better ranking by search engines is to develop reciprocal link agreements for your site. For those unfamiliar with the term, these are links on your site directed to another site which, in turn, has a link directed to your web site.

These reciprocal links can have a powerful impact on the popularity of your web site. 

Many people feel that it is very clever to post external links (outgoing) to their local Chamber, AAA, attractions, etc. Although these are convenient for the visitors to your site, they can actually reduce your site�s effectiveness. Why? These links direct people away from your site and your reservation booking engine. Not a good thing.

Links to sites which list other hotels, as well as your own, just don�t make any sense at all. The visitor has found your web site, why would you provide a link to a site where they can view other hotels in your market?

To offset the potential negative impact resulting from having external links, make sure all outbound links are placed deep into your site, never on your home page. Hopefully, they will use these links after making a reservation. Next develop a strategy to get links directed to your site. If you can get away with it, try making their link to your site a prerequisite for placing their links on your site. 

Links to Your Site Have Impact

Developing reciprocal links is very time-consuming but it is a crucial element involved to further develop your web site. Links to your site are important for several reasons:

1. They can be traffic builders; more visitors to your site.
2. Several major search engines use link popularity as a primary ranking criterion. Their thought is that the more links to your site, the more popular it is; so links directed to your site can have great impact on your site�s ranking.
3. The number of links to your site creates more opportunities for search engine spiders to find your site. 

One place to start is to determine which sites, if any, link to your competitors� web sites. Google has an excellent tool to find their links. Using the Google search engine, simply enter your competitors address into the search box. In the search results you will see a text link to view which sites link to their site. Of course, you can see your own as well. You may be surprised.

Perform this �link search� for all your competition. If other companies are providing links to your competitors� web sites, why shouldn�t they do so for your site as well? 

Once you have created a list of these referral sites, it�s now time to contact them. Most sites have a contact or web master listed. Compose an email to them requesting a reciprocal link. It�s tedious and difficult, but it�s worth the effort. There are also several companies which can do this for you for a modest fee.

If you�re still not motivated to develop reciprocal links for your web site, allow me to give you two more reasons. 

First, these two way links are free! It�s like bartering access to each others sites. Your only investment is time and effort, and maybe some selling skills. Attractions and restaurants, if you don�t have one, are prime candidates. Be creative, some companies who have people to your area might also be interested. Certainly anyone receiving a negotiated corporate rate at your hotel might have an interest, no matter where they may be located.

Second, smart hoteliers are always seeking ways to gain an �edge� on the competition. Reciprocal links could give you that �edge�. 

Check with your Web Site Developer and/or Maintenance Company to make sure these valuable links are placed in the proper location on your site. No external link should ever be placed on your home page; even it is simply to another hotel in your group. Combining two or more hotels on one web site puts them in competition with one another. 

Remember to check all links on your site, regularly. Search engine spiders do not take kindly to broken inks. Ask your web master to make this a part of their monthly routine maintenance of your web site. A web site is a work in process.