you need to interlink those sites on freehost #1, you need to interlink those sites on fh #2 etc. then, you need to link all that shit together. damn, my head's spinnin' but basically that's it.. if you have to use a recip to get listed in a dir then go for it - its ok.
a mainstream example should be something like this:
fuck, i'm full as a howitzer - but i tell you, a well thought-out linkwheel still works.