Reciprocal Links and SEO

SEOs used to advocate reciprocal linking as a way to boost performance.  Search engine algorithms were rewarding links of all shapes and sizes and it made a lot of sense to trade links with other sites.  Entire networks were built around the idea of massive link-sharing.

And then the search engines wised up a little bit.  Today, link swaps don’t work exactly the same way they once did.  Links are still the currency of SEO, but the old “do reciprocals” model isn’t what it used to be.  Here’s why.

First, Google, et. al., have become increasingly concerned with efforts designed to intentionally manipulate rankings.  Their job is to deliver good search results, not to reward link traders.  They’ve tweaked their analysis to look for SEO-motivated trades and can spot a big ol’ reciprocal link exchange program (even a three-way system) a mile away.

Second, old school reciprocal swaps often involved dumping links on a “links” or “resources” page.  While those links still have some value, the search engines recognize them for the reciprocal landfills that they are.  If a page has two paragraphs of legit content and 500 outbound links, Google isn’t going to be particularly impressed with it.

Third, smart SEOs know that they can secure non-reciprocal inbound links just as easily as they can go after reciprocals.  And they don’t have to risk leaving an ugly footprint or bleeding a site’s PageRank with gobs of outbound links to do it.  It’s just not the most efficient method of getting those links.

You don’t want fistful after fistful of reciprocal links to boost your site.  What you do want are high-quality, thematically related links.

As reciprocal linking has fallen out of favor, some people have grown to believe that the practice can actually damage SEO efforts.  If you’re wondering if reciprocals are now the enemy, you can relax.  Reciprocal links often come about naturally–it’s only logical that two sites in the same sector may link to one another, after all.  The problem with reciprocal linking isn’t the fact that the links are reciprocal.  The problem is in the way people hopped on the reciprocal bandwagon, using tools and methods that were obviously efforts to court search engine favor.

Links are links, reciprocal or not.  They’re judged on their merits not on whether or not their reciprocated.  It just so happens that it’s more efficient to stay away from intentional link exchanges and to focus on building non-reciprocal inbound links today.  That also allows you to completely avoid the “excessive” reciprocation that has had a negative SEO impact on many of the sites who used to wade neck deep in the reciprocal link exchange game.