Are you an emerging business looking to grow your website traffic? Or are you a passionate cook who would love to get more eyes on your mouth-watering recipes? But the problem is- your site does not have enough visitors. Infuriating as it may be, there are many factors that you can control to boost your website rank in search pages and grow organic traffic. One of them is LINK BUILDING.
Link Building – a controversial yet popular strategy that works for sure. Yes. Despite what anyone says, link building is a powerful strategy to grow your site. This blog is a complete guide on what link building and link exchange actually is. It tells you how you go on exchanging links and how you can actually start getting links for your website.
What is Link Exchange?
There are hundreds of ways to get links for your website. Link exchange is one of them. Link exchange is a common practice among many website owners. A link exchange (or reciprocal linking/link swapping) simply means two or more websites linking to one another to reap mutual benefits. These include increasing website traffic, and of course improving rankings in SERPs.
Despite what anyone has to say, link exchanges are fairly common and do the work for you. There are many ways to exchange links. Guest posts, paid links, collaboration, and so many more strategies. If you exchange links rightly with relevant websites, you can see a substantial improvement in your SEO ranks.
However, there’s a bit of controversy that surrounds link exchange. For one, excessive link exchange that seems spammy goes against Google’s Webmaster guidelines. That’s why it’s important to build links but build them strategically- so that you and your business reaps benefits without any penalty.
But how do you hit a sweet spot when it comes to link exchanges? And how do you figure out the best link exchange strategies? Let’s find out as we delve into the depths of link exchange.
Is Link Exchange Safe?
Let’s address the elephant in the room. Link exchange is a fairly common phenomena and most of the websites are doing it already. In 2020, Ahrefs, an influential company operating in the field of link building and SEO published a revolutionary study to highlight the prevalence of link building. The study first developed a database of around 140,000 high-ranking websites (10k+ visits/month from Google ) and worked to find sites which linked to each other, i.e. site A linking to site B and site B linking back to site A. The aim of the research was not just to understand how commonplace reciprocal links (a fairly common link exchange strategy) are but also to find out if reciprocal links attracted any penalty from Google. Shockingly, the study revealed that over 73% of the websites had reciprocal links.
The study may have had a survivorship bias, meaning that these must have been sites that somehow escaped being penalized. However, the study goes on to prove one thing right: Reciprocal links are out there, happening all around, whether or not Google approves of them.
In fact, Ahrefs also ran another study to discover the prevalence of reciprocal links in the top 10 Google search results. The study concluded that a whopping 43.7% of the links surveyed had some form of reciprocal links. Before we proceed further, let’s understand why Google may create trouble for those engaging in large-scale reciprocal links.
A revolutionary blog by ViperChill on Private Influencer Network also deserves mention. In that blog, ViperChill highlighted how certain popular companies formed what may be called a Private Influencer Network, regularly passing backlinks to each other. They did this through a complex strategy involving indirect link exchanges (where more than one site links to one another). This way, they were able to grow along with one another.
What Google Says
Google has actually released several updates to penalize and catch bad players. Google’s Webmaster Guidelines today clearly go against any forced link building practices, including excessive link exchange, reciprocal linking and paid links. According to Google:
“Any links that are intended to manipulate rankings in Google Search results may be considered link spam. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site. The following are examples of link spam:
Buying or selling links for ranking purposes. This includes:
- Exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links
- Exchanging goods or services for links
- Sending someone a product in exchange for them writing about it and including a link
- Excessive link exchanges (“Link to me and I’ll link to you”) or partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking
Google’s stance makes it clear that manipulative link exchange can invite trouble.This is because link exchange done without the purview of providing relevance and value to users is not a good idea.
What’s up then with so many pages showing reciprocal links in the Ahrefs studies? Turns out that despite what Google has to say, not all sites are penalized for exchanging links. This also, does not mean that you can exchange site-wide links and get away. The key to exchanging links is to do them relevantly and in moderation. In fact, there are certain link exchange strategies that perform better than others.
The Catchphrase ‘Excessive’
The catchphrase here is “excessive”. If you think reciprocal linking causes problems, you’re right to think so. Even Ahrefs mentions that their study might have suffered a survivorship bias, meaning they could only survey those sites that somehow ranked despite reciprocal linking,
However, remember that exchanging a link or two with a related website cannot put you into trouble. Your focus must always be on relevancy & quality. Remember, backlinks from high domain authority websites matter. The key is moderation. And using the right link exchange tactics.
What’s Your Best Bet with Link Exchange?
In an interview with Garrett French, Eric Ward, a veteran link builder puts forward a rather interesting observation. “Would this link be helpful to me if there were no search engines?” This statement offers food for thought for any link builder looking to rank websites higher. John Mueller, another Google rep, went so far as to say, “doing this systematically then we think that’s a bad idea because from our point of view those are not natural links to your website.”
If reciprocal links occur naturally in content, landing you to relevant web pages, it is often not a problem. The key is to get into link exchange relationships with only those websites that are actually relevant to your business. And then, Google is not always able to find out you’ve been exchanging links (whether paid or free) unless you do it in a frequency that is bizarre.
Clever webmasters deploy complicated link exchange strategies to exchange links. Before we get into the details of what not to do when exchanging links, let’s learn about the different types of link exchange.
Types of Link Exchange
An idea of the different kinds of link exchange practices can help you discover the right link exchange strategy. Here’s a quick look at the different kinds of link exchanges:
Reciprocal Links (A-B Link Exchange):
In a reciprocal link exchange, two websites swap links with each other. Many times, reciprocal links may occur naturally without an agreement. However, excessive reciprocal link exchange must be avoided as it could lead to penalization.
A great way people do A-B link exchange is through guest post swaps, wherein two contributors link to each other’s sites via guest posts. Guest posts remain a popular method of link exchange even today. Contributing original, high-quality articles also helps with relevance and popularity.
In fact, there are multiple ways of exchanging links through this way. A free strategy is a free guest blog that involves publishing high-quality blogs on each other’s websites for links. In this method, one gives content in exchange for links. For those ready to shell out money, you can actually buy links to your website. So you exchange money for links.
Three Way Link Exchanges (A-B-C Link Exchange)
Three way link exchanges can be a great way to boost SERPs rankings with lesser risk of attracting penalties. Herein, three websites link to one another. Site A links to site B, and site B can then link to site C.
If reciprocal links occur naturally in content, landing you to relevant web pages, it is often not a problem. The key is to get into link exchange relationships with only those websites that are actually relevant to your business.This method is less noticeable as compared to reciprocal links, and is used by several businesses to boost their backlink profiles.
The Dos and Don’ts of Link Exchange
Doing link exchanges the right way may help you boost your SEO score. On the contrary, it is recommended you avoid link swapping as the only strategy to boost SEO. Remember, great links come from quality content. Probably, the best thing to take care of is to ensure your website constantly churns out high-quality content that focuses on providing real value.
Be Cautious with Reciprocal Links
It is important to remain low-key when it comes to reciprocal link exchanges. If you exchange links too often with another website, Google can notice it and may penalize your site. Opt for methods like the three-way link exchange and ensure the sites you link to are relevant.
Exchange With the Right Websites
It is crucial to exchange links with the right kinds of websites that connect well with your industry. Ensure that you link to:
- Websites that are related to your business domain
- Have a solid domain authority
- Are old, relevant and up-to-date
- Have considerable organic traffic
Remember, selecting the right websites that actually hold relevance to your readers is the key to engaging in meaningful link exchanges. There are many ways to reach out to the right website, such as networking, emailing or joining online discussions. Whatever you do, make sure it’s ethical and not desperate.
Follow Indirect Link Exchange Methods
There are many methods you can use to exchange links indirectly. What this means is to have a rather meandering way of exchanging links. For instance, one page on your website can link to a page on the other. Now, instead of this same page linking back to you, you can have another webpage link back to a fourth page on your own site.
Another indirect linking strategy is using a three-way linking scheme which involves a third site C that helps link Site A with Site B. Linkly can be one of your go-to places when it comes to link building opportunities. It is a community of over 1700 link builders, where you can access several indirect link exchange opportunities.
Use Guest posts
Guest posts are still a great way to successful link exchange in 2023. Many guest bloggers write on different target websites, and help build links between two websites. As with all content pages, make sure those guest blogs follow all quality standards.
Take Time
What happens if there is a huge surge in pages with outbound links to your website in a short period of time? Of course, this would make for spam. It is crucial to time your link exchanges right. For instance, if you link to site A today you can wait some time before site B links back to you. This can simply be one of your safeguards against being penalized by search engines.
How do you start with Link Exchange?
There are so many ways to start with a successsful link exchange strategy. However, remember that link exchange is a long, time taking strategy that can take its own sweet time to show results.
If you’re new to the world of link exchange, here’s how you can start.
Find other relevant websites
Find relevant websites in your niche. Invest in tools like Ahrefs or SemRush to find where your competitor’s get their links from by analysing their backlink profiles. Figure out what you think worked right from them.
Develop link-worthy content
A great way to earn backlinks from great businesses and powerful websites could be to create breakthrough content that is actually linkable. Some guides may even ask to create controversial content. Yes, you can do it as long as you know what you’re doing.
Build an outreach program
Find contact details of the websites you may want to get links from. There are many software solutions available in the market that help you to not only get the emails and contacts of the right people to reach out to but also interactive dashboards to track your emails through their compelling presets.
Collaborate with other businesses
There might be many local businesses that can help you grow. You can not only build great connections with them but also collaborate on several ways to help your business grow, link exchange being one of them.
Use Facebook, X and other social platforms
Platforms like Facebook, Reddit or X are full of people curious about and into link exchange. These platforms can provide you with tons of opportunities to connect with like-minded people and acquire many link building opportunities.
Problems with link exchange
Link exchange is a long, tiring process that requires some serious time, effort and dedication to show real results. The biggest hassle in link exchange is finding the right people to connect with and then converting them to actual leads. Although you can hope to gain some success with guest posts, even they can be challenging as they require expertise and may require considerable effort to get them accepted.
How can Linkly help?
Linkly is a place where link builders connect. With a network of 1700+ link builders, you can leverage opportunities such as A-B-C link exchange, guest blogs, with 5x lesser effort & time. With tons of listed companies on many different niches, you can filter and select ones that you think matter most. You can connect with them instantly, decide a price, negotiate and ultimately GET YOUR LINK. Linkly makes link exchange a piece of cake because it gives you a ready-made, action-ready database of sites willing to grow just like yours.
Linkly is a constantly evolving platform that aims to make link exchange a cakewalk. It is constantly adding new features. Soon, you would be able to submit your request and get personalized solutions to them, in a matter of some time.
Conclusion
When it comes to link exchanges, you cannot always be sure. Despite your best attempts and intentions, there is no guarantee that your site rank won’t be affected. Consider link exchange a mini battle between building traffic to your website and Google’s web crawlers.
That’s why it is important to always be cautious when it comes to swapping links. As discussed above, authenticity, informativeness and quality must always be at the top of your list when it comes to link exchange.
Even the best of sites engage in some sort of link exchange. You could, too. But never excessively and never at the cost of utility to those who visit your website.