Do reciprocal links hurt?

[Kloans]

Do reciprocal links hurt? I have found it very difficult to get reciprocal links compared to when I had a site back in 2004. Are search engines, specifically google, penalizing reciprocal links?

[wige]

Penalizing? No. Some reciprocal linking is natural and expected. If site A decides site B is relevant enough for it's customers to put a link on their site, it is reasonable to expect that site B may also have determined that site A would be of value to their customers and have their own link. Unless a considerable portion of your link profile consists of reciprocal links (which may be seen as spammy by the bots; oh, and for the definition of "considerable" in this context, you would have to ask Google) your site wouldn't be penalized.

However, the benefit obtained from reciprocal links is almost nil. To the spiders, those reciprocal links basically cancel each other out, in effect penalizing the link itself, if you want to look at it that way. Google is looking for "outside sources" that are linking to you. Sites that are not so close that you have linked to them, but which think of you as enough of a resource to link to you.

[Kloans]

That makes a lot of sense.

[freetraff]

No bad stigma on reciprocal linking.

Just make sure that reciprocal links must be nicely messed with one way links to your as well. Then the site's links growth will look more natural with Google.

And about problems with getting reciprocal link partners.

The market changed a little, one way linking offered a new model which is very popular and effective. But even despite less attention to reciprocal link building, today people care more about their pages very nicely. That is why in reciprocal link do not hope to get loads of high PR backlinks. Most of the partners who agree to exchange links are on the same level. But you still gets extra backlinks with necessary anchor text. And extra is always great.

Summary: though reciprocal linking is not such effective as one way linking, still they improve your SEO value in the eyes of search engines.

[martty]

Originally Posted by freetraff

Summary: though reciprocal linking is not such effective as one way linking, still they improve your SEO value in the eyes of search engines.

You have a vested interest in saying that, based on the site in your signature.

Reciprocal linking as a strategy is dead. Move on.

[fernimac]

I think reciprocal linking does not add to you SEO strategy as much as before. It is true that it does not penalize your site because, as said, it is natural that some sites link to each other. But if you want to improve your pagerank, it is better if you invest your efforts in getting good inbound links. Article distribution is our strategy of choice.

[Tubby]

My opinion.

I think reciprocal linking is excellent and should be steadily pursued on a continuing basis.

I think attempting to outguess what search engines might 'Value' in 12 months time is silly thinking.

[Webnauts]

And what happens if the site I would be linking to is a bad neighborhood? Lets say banned from SE because i.e they violated their guidelines?

[bobitza]

Originally Posted by Webnauts

And what happens if the site I would be linking to is a bad neighborhood? Lets say banned from SE because i.e they violated their guidelines?

you get penalized too ... not banned, but penalized in trust, pagerank, serp, etc levels.

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by bobitza

you get penalized too ... not banned, but penalized in trust, pagerank, serp, etc levels.

I am aware of that. And that was the question of the original poster. I just wanted to make sure that he understands the situation.

[WDC]

reciprocal linking ins not dead neither doesn't cause any harm to a website if you are doing quality reciprocal linking.

[Kloans]

Originally Posted by Webnauts

And what happens if the site I would be linking to is a bad neighborhood? Lets say banned from SE because i.e they violated their guidelines?

You write some interesting questions, very funny, which you already know the answers to. Although, as soon as I read your question I looked to see if any of my outbound links were banned by google.

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by Kloans

You write some interesting questions, very funny, which you already know the answers to. Although, as soon as I read your question I looked to see if any of my outbound links were banned by google.

As an IT Trainer I find this method more effective.

[Noise-Barrier]

didn't a bunch of real estate sites get penalized last summer for excessive reciprocal linking? much like paid links, they go against Google Webmaster Guidelines.

"Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's ranking or PageRank.

• Links intended to manipulate PageRank

• Links to web spammers or bad neighborhoods on the web

• Excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging ("Link to me and I'll link to you.")"

some reciprocal links are fine when they are natural as mentioned above but to include an entire links section of reciprocal links especially with a "Link Exchange Building Script" is dangerous.

[uberanimal]

what about reciprocal linking vs. one way linking. How does it fair up against doing one way links on high PR sites without the general return link? i hear that is were google is moving more too???

[camerasngifts]

Where do you go to check if inbound links are banned??
sorry for going off topic.

Pam

[Kloans]

I don't have that many outbound links so I just checked google. I think there is a tool for this.

[chowell]

Reciprocal links work great, as long as they are relevant to your website/service. The more off-topic you go, the more questionable the links. Quantity (per page) can also be an issue, so be sure to organize them in an effective manner.

The only way reciprocal links can hurt your site, to my knowledge, is if your outgoing links point to sites in "bad neighborhoods" or sites that are penalized.

[Webnauts]

To check bad neighborhoods you can try this tool: Bad Neighborhood - Link Exchange Tool

To check if a site is a banned from Google you can try this tool: Check Google ban tool - check if your site is banned by google

[playingthegame]

In my experience they have little weight with the search engines but help to drive traffic to your site from the link, if the links are on a quaility site. ie relevant sites with good content and not just link farms.

They dont hurt it any way. Unless you link to naughty sites of course

[mryang]

I have a site with loads of outbound but totally relevant links and it does very well.

If it were the case that sites were penalised for having links from certain other sites then unscrupulos competitors would be submitting links to my site to those banned sites and hurting me.

[mit]

Originally Posted by Kloans

Do reciprocal links hurt? I have found it very difficult to get reciprocal links compared to when I had a site back in 2004. Are search engines, specifically google, penalizing reciprocal links?

Nothing like that. A relevant backlink from a quality website is always a beneficial deal.

[ctabuk]

If the site is of an 'authoritive' nature ie a .gov then frankly I would expect Google to view a reciprocal link as being complimentry to both sites. If, however the sites were willy nilly and not topic related then I would expect Google to penalise the site if for nothing else than time wasting - Googlebots need feeding and Mummy gets concerned if they are out late

One last point - no one has stated one little point - link every page - not just the homepage.

[camerasngifts]

Thanks Webnauts for the great resource's

i used it this morning great tools THANKS AGAIN

PAM

[ThomasSchulzMS]

In the 90s, reciprocal linking was heavily used simply as a way to share visitors between sites.... But times change

Anyways, limited use now and then with relevant websites won't penalize you.

[fernimac]

Originally Posted by ThomasSchulzMS

In the 90s, reciprocal linking was heavily used simply as a way to share visitors between sites.... But times change

Anyways, limited use now and then with relevant websites won't penalize you.

It is absolutely normal that some sites will have reciprocal links with others. For instance, I could have a link to my hosting company as we reccomend to host the sites we design in that company. It is absolutely normal if they include a link to my site in theirs reccomending our SEO services. Reciprocal linking to a certain degree reflects the usual relations of a company.

[enicola]

Reciprocal links are ok as long as they are relevant to your website & industry. The more authority the site has linking back the better (i.e. PR). One way the best though.

[ignitionmedia]

Reciprocal linking is my #1 method of gaining ranking position.

A recent example is that I have an accommodation website. I wanted to concentrate on ranking higher for the term "sunshine coast accommodation" - I think i was at #11, I spent 5 hour doing reciprocal links with the anchor text as "sunshine coast accommodation" 1-2 weeks later I am now #2 for this term.

I do however think that if you use the same anchor text for a long period of time it can be harmful and you will drop rankings - this has happened with other sites.

So as long as the anchor text used in your linking varies you should see great results and benefits.

[redspace]

why should google penalized reciprocal linking. what you should be aware off is where are pointing your outbound link. is it to the bad territory?

[uberanimal]

low RP reciprocal linking is not all that great i hear. If you have a PR of 5 and the other site has 0/10 and you put your link on a bunch of 0/10 PR sites wont that hurt?

[wige]

Originally Posted by uberanimal

low RP reciprocal linking is not all that great i hear. If you have a PR of 5 and the other site has 0/10 and you put your link on a bunch of 0/10 PR sites wont that hurt?

Not really. Every site has a PR, between 1 and (total pages in Google's index) which is then mapped out on a weighted 10 point scale. Every link that is not penalized or filtered will give a benefit, but the lower the PR of the linking page, the less benefit you receive.

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by wige

Not really. Every site has a PR, between 1 and (total pages in Google's index) which is then mapped out on a weighted 10 point scale. Every link that is not penalized or filtered will give a benefit, but the lower the PR of the linking page, the less benefit you receive.

I would like to add here that only the toolbar scale is mapped on a 10 point scale. Internally the point scale is 8.

[scanmonkey]

Originally Posted by Tubby

My opinion.

I think reciprocal linking is excellent and should be steadily pursued on a continuing basis.

I think attempting to outguess what search engines might 'Value' in 12 months time is silly thinking.

I agree with Tubby. Who knows what search engines will value a year from now. Look at the whole and build a balanced link profile.

Reciprocal links are a great way to drive traffic and add to link popularity. But don't over do them.

[Peter (IMC)]

How important are you if the only people that promote you are your friends and family? Reciprocal links you get from friends and family only. Sure, somebody that you don't know but owns a website related to yours has a link page and links to you because you agreed with him or her to link back. That's not your friend or family of course. But as far as a search engine is concerned, that's a friend of yours.

So when 95% of your backlinks come from reciprocals, you´re not really that important.

If I were you I would delete all the links in your link page(s) that you only linked to because you wanted to exchange links. Just leave those links there you really put there for your visitors. That means you'd put them there regardless of a reciprocal link.

Added advantage: Some may delete their link, but many links will remain,..


Added: PS. this may (or not) result in some changes in your rankings, maybe even dropping positions, but if you continue to find other ways to promote your site online, you'll eventually get much better results.

[camerasngifts]

Question

I have been submitting to directories half of them want a reciprocal link so right now i have a half dozen or more directory links is this going to hurt my camera store.

I also have other related links however I belive these directory links are getting to be a bit much and i still have 200 more to go on my list.

Pam

[scanmonkey]

If you go back and clean up your reciprocals you'll probably find 50% are no longer linking back. Just by attrition you will eleminate a good portion of your reciprocals.

[camerasngifts]

Thanks for your reply

I will do as you have sugested

Pam

[sheena]

It is better to do a one way link than reciprocal link. You don't need to eliminate your reciprocals but retain only the related link that will give benefit to your site.

Originally Posted by scanmonkey

If you go back and clean up your reciprocals you'll probably find 50% are no longer linking back. Just by attrition you will eleminate a good portion of your reciprocals.

[ushuiah]

Originally Posted by Webnauts

And what happens if the site I would be linking to is a bad neighborhood? Lets say banned from SE because i.e they violated their guidelines?

Linking to a bad neighboorhood will end-up your site to penalization.

[maemae]

If you trade links with quality websites in your TARGET market it can be a great way to boost traffic.
Maemae

[szazdi40]

Getting a reciprocal link is just based on understanding of the two sites. Its of no harm.