7 replies to this topic

[Plum]

We have a linking program through our SEO company whereby they say that they can get high ranking sites to link to us if we link to them in return. Is this spam? I have noticed that in December, we finally got ranked in Google and I figured it was due to all the linking that the SEO company was doing in the backend. Do reciprocal links hurt your rankings in the long run?

[JamesDean]

Reciprocal links are good if the site you are trading with is related to yours and would be of some benefit to your users. Just a quick note, myself I have not traded links in a very long time and I will simply delete emails for link request trades. There are to many other ways to get your website ranked higher in the serps like creating good content that others would like to link to.

[Jill]

We have a linking program through our SEO company whereby they say that they can get high ranking sites to link to us if we link to them in return. Is this spam?

It is spam if you're linking to sites you really aren't recommending to your visitors. Never, ever add a link to a site that you haven't checked out and decided your visitors might like.

And once you do decide they'll like it, don't just link to it, but tell your visitors why you like it and why they should click through to it.

[bill lee]

I think related site is helpful to your site, otherwise no need to exchange and it can't give your traffic.

[krystof]

Reciprical links are a cliche, and you don't need an SEO company. Just Google for the same keyphrases that you want your site to be listed. Maybe add the word "links" or "directory." Spend a day or two surfing. You will find sites that have directories that you can submit to. You will also learn a thing or two about other sites covering the same theme as yours. Just make sure:

--They have 'some' Google ranking on the home page, proving they are not blacklisted.
--They look to you like a reputable and meaningful site for your own visitors.

Serious SEO pros may pooh-pooh this. Certainly not everything for advanced SEO. Certainly a bit tacky. But it works. An easy, quick, sure way for beginners to 'get started' that search engines will notice your new site. And certainly more 'reputable' than paying $300 to an SEO company to do the same...and probably not as well...

[adybee]

Spend a day or two surfing

Assuming you have time to do this. Many businesses don't have the time or resources to do this and therfore farm it out to SEO's.

Just Google for the same keyphrases that you want your site to be listed

This will give you no idea of how competitive the market is for the terms that you are looking at and it will give you no idea of how many people are actually searching for these terms. Also no idea of how hard it will be to rank successfully for a particular term. If the terms you want to be found for are highly competitive you need to develop a sound strategy that will help you to get found for other relevant terms in the meantime.

Krystof - the methods you mentioned will certainly get you found in the SE's but I'm not convinced that it will get you ranked effectively. I can see a lot of people being disappointed after spending time [url=http://www.highrankings.com/forum/index.php?showforum=21]Submitting to Directories[/url] that add little or no value.

Link dev is a long (often tortuous process) and people pay $300+ to SEO companies because they have the experience, knowledge and more importantly the time to help improve a website's position in the SE's.

[Tazmaniandevil]

We have a linking program through our SEO company whereby they say that they can get high ranking sites to link to us if we link to them in return. Is this spam? I have noticed that in December, we finally got ranked in Google and I figured it was due to all the linking that the SEO company was doing in the backend. Do reciprocal links hurt your rankings in the long run?

I think it's just normal situation in Link Exchange. You were ask for a favor
and you are just returning the favor. Though, the site you have requested
for LE should be of relevant category.

[Interleads]

One aspect of link exchanges that people seem to forget is the actual traffic you get from the links. The goal of being at the top of the search engines is that you get more traffic. If you have 1000 high quality relevant sites linking back to you each giving you 100 visitors per month that is 100,000 free targeted visitors to your site even if your site cannot be found in the search engines! My most profitable site is a PR0 site! (Not PR0 because of link exchanges Google just hates that specific niche even though I have thousands of PAID members) Traffic is king not SEO. Traffic is the goal of SEO but if you can get it other ways great!