A question about reciprocal linking

by 13 replies
15
Warriors,

I've always focussed on One way linking in all my SEO projects. never done any reciprocal linking before.

However, I've recently had a few reciprocal link requests. I'd like to know if Google frowns on this.. and whether I should go ahead with it.

Another scenario:
Assuming I nofollow my link to that website (because I have more leverage here) .. but the opposite person gives me a dofollow link. Will this still count as a reciprocal link?
#search engine optimization #linking #question #reciprocal
  • I'm not sure if it will count as a reciprocal but it is a dirty trick. Why not be honest and give them a dofollow link?
  • No.. i didn't mean it that way.

    When I said I have leverage, I meant:
    I have a ton of visitors to my blog. they will be getting visitors by being placed on my blogroll. I'll only be getting a "dofollow" link from them since their blog has a small following. They know what they're agreeing to.
    I don't believe something like that is unethical in any sense. They will probably benefit more since they will get targeted referral traffic.
    • [1] reply
    • Ahhh, sorry than. I thought you were a guy who waits a month and then nofollows your link but if they are going to be getting lots of traffic from your site that completely makes sense.
  • I'm assuming that the person would know you were giving them a nofollow link, correct? (since you said you have more leverage, and it sounds like they would be happy just to have any kind of link).

    Is there any kind of 3 way deal you could work out? My understanding is that these hold a lot more weight than reciprical.

    Matt
  • yeah the person would know that they're getting a Nofollow link.

    Three way linking looks like a long shot since these are just normal niche bloggers. Very unlikely that they'll have other blogs to offer. Similarly, I can't offer another blog since I only have one in that niche.

    I'll give the link a go then.. lets see what happens. Hopefully it'll look (to Google) as if I've recieved a One way link.
  • Another option is to do a guest article on their blog (and them on yours). Make a link to the feature article the sitewide link, if you really want a sitewide link.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Google has no problem with responsible reciprocal linking.

    The "nofollow" attribute basically says that even though you are linking to another site, you do not have full trust in the quality of that site. It may make sense to you because your site is larger and has more traffic, but it's more of a lopsided reciprocal link.

    Even though it is a smaller site, it will still pass on some benefit to your site page. It's kinda like a "having your cake and eating it too" thing.

    The real questions are "what do you feel you will lose by giving them a dofollow link?" and "why do you feel you should limit their benefits as a result of a normal reciprocal linking agreement?"
    • [2] replies
    • Reciprocal linking works when done correctly but it should be a fair trade.

      There is no incentive to provide a do follow link to someone in exchange for a no-follow. Recip linking is an agreement between site owners - quite different from profile spamming, etc.
    • That is not even close to what nofollow means. All it does is not
      pass PR from your site to the link. That's it. Has absolutely nothing
      to do with how you trust it. The nofollow is so abused and misunderstood,
      I wish google would kill the thing.

      Reciprocal linking is 1990's.

      It's a technique that was used before SEO became fashion.

      However, neither hurts, and may help.

      How many of us link our sites together?

      All of my top domains, 5 of them, all have sidebar links to
      each other. So if if reciprocal linking hurt, I'd be out of luck.

      And google has no idea if you traded links.

      It is, however, useless to have a whole bunch of links on a page
      of friend links. I remember how these were real popular as well
      12 years ago.

      I have one reciprocal link at the moment. A high PR site would
      give you a link of you put a link on your site. I bit and it's worked
      out great.

      Paul
      • [2] replies
  • If you want to do reciprocal linking don't be too much.

    And in reciprocal linking the must be dofollow because it is useless if the links are nofollow.
  • Reciprocal should be the last thing that you're building.

    Why waste your time trying to find Reciprocal links when you could be promoting your site through one way links?

    By the time you find a Reciprocal linking place, I'll have a full seeded article complete and ready to send out to hundreds of 1-way-link directories.
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