Why are reciprocal links still being used widely?
-
Looking at my competitors backlink profiles they all seem to have lots or reciprocal links and banner exchanges etc... I thought that only one way links really had any value. The reciprocal links they do have appear to be pretty spammy but the sites are still ranking well? Should I be adopting reciprocal links and banner exchanges. I know these strategies worked years ago but surely not in 2012?
-
From what I get out of Rand's comment above, there's no existing penalty in Google's algorithm for reciprocal linking. So it's a great idea, and yes jumping on board with the single goal of beating your competitors will get you fast results.
But those results might be short term if the reciprocal links you're involved with don't make sense logically. What happens if in a month the webspam team rolls out another Panda focused on devaluing any reciprocal links that don't appear natural?
Would you rather watch your competitors get washed off the first page, while you climb? Or join them in the rankings loss (and more importantly, traffic loss)?
-
I totally understand that reciprocal links have their place and it is normal for business to link to each other. What concerns me is that my competitors are reciprocal linking with the ONLY intention of swapping links (I can't see any other value in the backlinks I've examined) and that it appears to be working! These guys are outranking me and I worry that if I don't play the game their way I'll fall behind even further!
-
Exactly! Industry reciprocals are bound to happen. Why wouldn't you and your partners point links at each other?
It becomes a penalizable (new word?) problem when you over-do it or work it as a "strategy." Which worries me for you, Samuel, as you word the final question:
"Should I be adopting reciprocal links and banner exchanges. I know these strategies worked years ago but surely not in 2012?"
My answer would be, "No." You shouldn't be adopting a reciprocal link & banner exchange strategy. You should build a product or service that earns links and banners. And on your own site, you should feature businesses and websites that you respect and/or work with in your own banners and links. Point customers towards resources you're proud to recommend.
-
Great answer!
The Quality Guidelines state that excessive reciprocal linking is a no-no. But it doesn't tell you what qualifies as excessive. If you've got a few recips with some people in your industry that's a good thing!
-
Rand's answer to this question surprised me when I read it in the Monthly Moz-Letter from July. Short version: reciprocal links not working is a widely spread myth that even I believed** until reading this:**
Rand(om) Question**** Want to ask Rand your inbound marketing question? Send it toErica, our newsletter wrangler, and you might see your answer here next month.
Walter Hicks asks, "If a website has a backlink to mine, is it bad to link back to their site? Does Google see that as a reciprocal link and basically nullify them?"
Hi Walter,
This is such a common misconception that we put it on our list of top SEO myths (at #6 in this WB Friday video). Linking to a site that links to you has no negative impacts, and you shouldn't worry about doing so. The only caveat is the intent; Google's webspam team cares a lot about how you acquire links and why sites/pages link to each other. If the only reason you're getting a link is because you've agreed to link to someone, you're in danger and Google is working to stop those links from having an impact. If there's a legitimate reason for both to exist, you're on safe ground.
Wish you luck!
Rand
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Link Building where link building is dead. Latest tactics in a land of content.
Hello, What is your latest link building techniques considering manual link building is basically dead, and you should really build good content to drive results. Link building has really become less important. It seems to be much more 10X content now. What would you recommend for basic link building considering this besides the 50 first Links video by Rand, which is excellent. Thanks, Bob
Link Building | | BobGW0 -
Outgoing links
Hi Guy's, We have a website with no outgoing links (only Facebook). Is this a good way to score better in the SERPS? Or is it better to have some outgoing "relevant" links for a natural linkjuice? Thanks!
Link Building | | Happy-SEO1 -
Internal Linking - Post links vs Side Bar Links behaving differently
Hi, I have a question regarding the internal linking behavior. My website is www.hindimeaning.com which is approx 3 years old. I have approx 450 posts. Now i have a widget on right sidebar "Popular posts". A widget below my posts "Related Posts". And a simple html CSS menu above the posts (I removed menu around 6 month before so currently it will not show.) I crawled my site with moz crawler (same are the result from google crawler as well) and it shows menus links as internal links. While sidebar widget "Popular posts" and "Related Posts" are not showing as internal links. If we talk theoretically what i learn till now is "every link on a page behaves as internal link". Then why the widget links are not showing as internal links. Thanks, Mahesh Kumar
Link Building | | chaudhary04890 -
If you discount a subscription when the client links to you, does that classify as a paid link?
For example, we all subscribe to MOZ, but if we received a 25% discount on our subscription if we linked back, would that be considered by Google as a paid link, or would it be seen as a sales tool / promotion?
Link Building | | JonathanSmith0 -
Links in the Classifieds
We rent apartments. One way we use to find clients is to advertize these apartments in Classifieds. Generally, we use free ads. Sometimes, for very popular sites ( like Kijiji), we pay so our ads can be seen first. Could this be a problem with Google? Some sites send us clients, many of them never do. We keep putting ads there because of their PR. What is the worth of this kind of links? Thanks for your answers.
Link Building | | Caru0 -
Beaten to death but still have to ask, low comp area spammy directory links
I have a client that wants to rank for low comp local keywords (i.e. service + suburban area). Would several well written blog posts on relevant blogs be more effective than 100's of low level spammy directory links? I just want to give him an initial base of a few links, aside from submitting to the local search engines such as those in whitespark citation finder..... please keep in mind this would be a low competition area where on-page would probably rank in the middle of the 2nd page.
Link Building | | ilyaelbert0 -
Linking from Blogs
Hi I like to link from blogs on similar keywords on a regular basis but I am thinking about changing tactics as it can appear monotonous and un natural. What are peoples experiences in linking from blogs ?
Link Building | | onlinemediadirect0 -
Links from any country?
My site is aimed primarily at the UK, 90% of the traffic is from the UK and most of my links are from other UK based and UK targetted websites. The content is actually fairly international (apart from certain terms like Plasterboard instead of Drywall, etc). My question is: Should I concentrate on gathering links from the UK, or should I widen my search and try to get links from US and European websites? Are there any particular advantages or disadvantages to keeping links "local"?
Link Building | | Jingo010