Trading Backlinks a good idea?
-
New to the "backlinking" party. Wondering if its 'good practice' to trade links with other websites within a like-industry.
We've been receiving a lot of emails from other websites asking us to trade links. Is this a good link building practice anymore?
Thanks!
-
Thanks, Branagan. This is what I meant by "..a little knowledge being dangerous..." I've been reading a lot here and there (plenty here in SEOMoz) about the dangers of link exchanging and taking it as a hard and fast rule to never exchange links that is rather new due to recent Penguin updates. What I was missing was "excessive" or unnatural and that if it makes sense, is approached wisely and isn't done in bulk, it's still ok.
-
Might be worth checking that if they say they are going to link to you that they actually do so and that they leave it up. Hopefully if they are decent enough sites they wouldn't do that though...
As others have said, definitely only link with decent sites and only if it would make sense from a human point of view to do so.
Might be worth checking in GA to see if the site then refers you good traffic. It may help you decide which ones to link with in the future.
I wouldn't go mad with exchanges though.
-
Hi Gina, If it isn't clear enough in the comments, check the first video I posted and the sixth point in this one:
10 Myths That Scare SEOs But Shouldn't
Cheers!
-
Jumping in here with some confusion and probably an example of a little bit of knowledge being dangerous. Can someone please explain this to me? I thought that complimentary link exchanging has become a no- no. What am I misunderstanding?
-
If it makes sense to put their link on your site, then go for it. If it fits naturally and isn't out of place, then yes. Otherwise, no.
Basically just use your common sense. If it looks spammy on your site, don't use it.
Also, avoid having a page full of links. That's a huge red flag and could end up hurting you. And if they are putting your link on a similar page, you are better off without it.
-
I never really do link exchanges unless they are part of a blog post. Also, I don't link to sub-par websites or unrelated websites. It's okay to link to another site and they link to you. One example is I have my BBB Membership page point to my site and I point many links from my site to that single BBB Page.
Look at the site you are going to link to and ask yourself, "Can this potentially cause a problem in the future? What's the risk?" I have turned down MANY sites wanting to link exchange, but if they are willing to write a high quality guest blog post, then I'm fine with it whether I get a back link from their site or not.
-
Trading links with other quality sites in your niche is a great way to get links. Just make sure the sites you're linking to are high quality (not spammy, have pagerank, aren't using shady link tactics). A quick backlink check of the sites using OSE or Majestic is probably a good idea.
I usually like to put together a "Partners" or "Resources" page where I add all the links from people I trade with:
http://www.salsabythebay.com/resources/
Hopefully you can use the initial link exchange to begin a relationship with some of the other players in your niche, so you can collaborate on other projects too, like guest posting, interviews, etc.
-
If you exchange links with quality sites, relevant to your niche and in a useful manner from the user point of view, you should be on the safe side and could probably benefit from it.
Check out this video for more info: Whiteboard Friday - Sitewide, Reciprocal, and Directory Links
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
-
Paid Manual 10 Guest Post EDU Back-Links - GOOD or BAD idea?
Hello, I know **Fiverr **has been a topic of discussion for a while in regards to cheap and bad SEO work. Most of the threads I found here refer to buying 1000's of EDU backlinks - but what about 10 manually placed that seem legit? The seller states in his GIG "I have guest posting privilege at Different University websites. I will write and publish a post there with a dofollow backlink to your website, using your anchor text. The article will contain one relevant, contextual link to your website, using a suitable anchor text. There would also be a few other links to authority sites (not your competitors’ sites) to make everything look professional and natural." Could anyone give me advice as to something like this is worth it - or did the seller simply reduce the number from 1000's to 10's to avoid suspicion? I mean even if 1 of the links is valid - surely it makes a difference? or am I still high on the fiverr dream? I dont expect an instant PR or SERP increase, Im simply wondering if something like this is harmful or beneficial, and to what extent.
Link Building | | Danish78640 -
I knew better, but did it anyway. Should I keep these backlinks?
Out of desperation (lack of time and knowing we were way behind competitors on backlinks) - I went to Fivvr and ordered 50 "high quality" backlinks. I know there are no shortcuts, but this weak little voice push through and said, "Just maybe...it's so cheap, what's the harm?" Well, I should have listened to the rationale voice which is typically so much more assertive! What to do now? *Note - I haven't had time to review them all, but at 1st glance, it appears they are off-topic, spammy blog comments 😞 - snapshot of links: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9d23c93o1ryrhv1/Screenshot 2016-09-21 11.49.26.png?dl=0 Check each page to see if the rank suggested is correct and leave links with legit high page rank? They are all garbage, try to remove them immediately - is this even possible? Watch to see if rank is positively or negatively affected, then go about taking them down if needed? Other suggestions? (Besides don't do that again, stupid.)
Link Building | | vernonmack1 -
Best Way to Filter Backlinks
When analyzing backlinks and trying to get the same one for another site there are a ton of backlinks to go through. I know that if the DA of the link is then pages on the site might be a good choice like adding an article or something of the sort to the site but as far a the same page goes you can typically only do this with a comment on the page. My question is, given a huge list of backlinks from multiple sites, is there an easy way to analyze the links and determine which ones I can copy without manually checking hundreds of links?
Link Building | | spyke010 -
Backlinks from newpapers that requires subscription
Don't know if this has been answered in another post, but what happens to backlinks that requires users to subscribe and/or pay to view the content with the backlink on it?
Link Building | | helgeolaussen
Some newspaper sites has subscription requirement to view certain content.
Does the backlink drop in value? Or is there any negative effect from this?0 -
Blogging for backlinks
I have a real estate website. I would like to start blogging on blogs not related to real estate. I like reading web design, html, css, php, word press etc... blogs. I want to start talking to the bloggers using my real name (not keyword anchor text) on their blog. I'd like to have authentic conversations; however, will this confuse google about my site? If I am using my name as anchor text on sites about webdesign and linking back to a real estate website, what will that do to the SEO? It's also important to consider one other detail. I have determined through link building in real estate related fields that it's really hard to find good domains/page rank when compared to the fields above. I could get a dozen great links in 10 minutes on the above subjets AND be legitimately engaging in conversation with my name, not keywords... Does the invention of "author rank" make this more viable?
Link Building | | JML11790 -
Backlinks on Facebook
Has anyone seen the benefits of adding backlinks back to their main site on their facebook page? Also, what about uploading a bunch of pictures of your products onto facebook, and on each picture putting the link directly to that specific product? Anyone know if there is any benefit in doing this? Thanks...
Link Building | | Prime850 -
Links Through Banners are good for SEO?
Hi, I am planning to get to an agreement with some blogs to have my banner that link to my site. My question: Is this Good for SEO, Bad or Neutral? Thanks in advance, Maria Jesus
Link Building | | goperformancelabs0