Is 1-1 link Exchange with other sites still a good Google SEO practice? I see most of the top ranked sites in Google (in my industry) have done little or no link exchange. I wonder if I still keep doing it?
It's usually popular opinion that drives notions like don't do reciprocal linking because.. It's still as valid as ever to exchange links, and just as effective. The only reason most of the top sites out there seem to be using one way links is because more often than not they're managed via 'linking services' or the like which will not only kill off overhead (time wise for seo teams) but also support one way linking (which does remove any doubt about possible disadvantages with reciprocal linking). Basically, keep doing it, but ensure your IBLs/outbounds are tightly themed. Do that, and you won't need as many links. Hope that helps Cheers, JL
link exchanges have always been a good idea. Since the begining of the internet and the hayday of the webring linking has always been a great way of getting new traffic and helping your search engine position.
Stay away from spammy, crap, not relevant exchanges. I question the value of recips, these days ...to be honest. (G only, Y, M=good for now) H
links from spammy sites can actually have a negitive effect, however, reciprocal links are generally a good SEO tactic. 3 way exchanges (A links to B, B links to C, C links to A) sometimes have better results
The biggest problem I see with recips (and yes, for now I do use them, and will continue to do so, BUT...) is that they have a built in limiter. For a link to be quality, you need to cap the number of other links on a page, the page has to be indexed, hopefully have decent PR, and generally be within x number of clicks from the homepage. To meet all of these criteria you can really only have so many links to partners on your site. If you need more than 10,000 links to cover all of your keywords you will need to start finding other means for sure. The problem with the directories that many people are using these days as a means of 3-way exchanges is that they rarely maintain the directories themselves, leading to low value for whoever exchanges with them. -Michael
Reciprocal links *may* prevent your site from being crawled in it's entirety *if* the Bid Daddy crawling/indexing threshold remains unchanged. However, I've seen no indication that the ranking value pased by such links has diminished in the least. Google can and does detect "linking schemes" so it's generally a good idea to avoid them. Dave
Does the site you are considering linking with have content that would be of interest to your own vistors? Are you providing a service - helping them find related content - by including that link on your site? You might have a site about camel husbandry and swap links with a site that focusses on the environmental impact of camels round the Great Wall of China. That is vagely relevant. If your camel site links to a Harley Davidson Bike Club in Papua New Guinea - well, Google would be forgiven for di¡scounting that one. As for the 'top ranked sites' in your industry, perhaps they have reached their position by offering the kind of content that other sites naturally wish to link too - organic linking. Or perhaps they are linking in a three or four way exchange as described above. Maybe they are going wild with article submission. Or maybe their general SEO is better than yours. You cannot say that a site ranks better than yours for number of links alone. You have to look at link quality, content quality, age of the site, overall relevance to the key phrases you are after - so many other variables too. You might get more constructive responses by asking for help in the critique forum, fessing up your prized keyphrases and asking for suggestions in how to improve SERPS.
Just like all other search engines, Google will rank you higher for a specific keyword if you have those keywords in the link or anchor text of the inbound link. Probably the most important ranking factor for all search engines. If you have a choice. Try to get as many variations as possible.
I have read various statements about the last two Google updates discounting reciprocal links, however, my personal observation is that relevant, topical reciprocal links are still just as valid as ever, perhaps more so. Why do I say this? Because I have always been careful to only gather reciprocal links from topically relevant quality sites. One site in particular is 90% reciprocal and instead of going down it continues to rise in the rankings. Draw your own conclusion. My own opinion is that for many sites, their pasts are catching-up with them.
I find it hard to believe that links *to* your site *from* spammy sites can hurt you, because that opens an easy opportunity for sites' webmasters to hurt competitor sites. They can just open a spam site and link to their competitor site and that way hurt him. However, I do believe that link *exchange* with spam sites hurt you.
Welcome to DP DerekPTP. I think there are other factors envolved as well but I have no doubt in my mind that G's linking (voting) algo has changed BIGTIME. Some people may think this is the case that you can link bowl a competetor out of serps, and it may be true . I think you need to be careful with ibls you can control these days, IMO. H
Most everyone is right. Recipricol linking is okay as long as it is a relevant site. However, recipricol linking alone will get you nowhere. Try and mix it up and try to get others sites to link to you.
One way links are the most important and are highly recommended but they are also very hard to get so if you cant get them then reciprocal links are also not bad. Akash Kumar
Hey Akash, good to see you here I agree with what you said. I just read from the last pubcon that NEVER DO LINK EXCHANGE, except for one way links.