Should You Exchange Links?

15 years ago

Great post, David! Some people get so caught up in creating links that they're actually doing a real disservice to themselves.

You're right -- the best way to get good links is through quality content. If you create content that people find interesting and WANT to link to, you won't need to exchange links. Instead, you'll get the quality one-way links that are so highly sought-after.

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Steven Wagenheim 15 years ago

Link exchanges with the proper sites are great.

They're also a long winded process to get anywhere with. The reason?

What's in it for me?

You have a PR 1 site. You want to exchange links with a relevant site in
your niche and that site has a PR of 6.

Good luck with that.

You need to start with sites that have your own level of popularity. Naturally,
this means that your rise up the ladder is going to be slow. You need to wait
until your PR is higher to get an exchange with the bigger boys.

It's a catch 22.

The alternative? Well, I don't recommend it because if you're found out,
Google can sandbox you into hell. I'm talking about buying links.

Do it at your own risk.

I don't personally bother with link exchanges because of the big catch 22.

I'd rather spend my time doing things that will get me immediate traffic to
my sites. Link exchanges are a long winded way of getting there.

But yeah, if you can pull off a relevant link exchange with a high PR site,
go for it.

Just don't hold your breath.
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txconx

15 years ago

Good information. I'm tempted to send a link to everyone who e-mails me asking for a link exchange with my PR5 site.

My standard response to them is: We don't do link exchanges, but you're welcome to purchase advertising.

Only a few of the many are stupid enough to write back and tell me they don't have a site that's relevant to the content of my PR5 site.

Exactly. Thank you for noticing.

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dailysextoys

15 years ago

how can you find out if a site has a bad reputation with google?

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David Jackson 15 years ago

Originally Posted by dailysextoys

how can you find out if a site has a bad reputation with google?

That's a great question. Unfortunately, only Google's algorithms know that for certain. However, if another site offers to exchange links, there are certain warning signs you should watch out for:

* The site has no relevancy whatsoever to your site's subject matter.

* The page they're offering to put your link on isn't linked to from any page.

* The page has rows of links to hundreds of sites which aren't organized in any logical manner.

* If a you receive an email from a company guaranteeing you thousands of inbound links, more than likely the links are from a spam site or link farm.

There a lots of warning signs you should watch out for, but these are the most obvious ones.

David Jackson
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TheNewGuy2010

15 years ago

Hey David,

great post.

Can you give a reply to Steven?

I'd like to hear your answer.

Thank.....

Originally Posted by David Jackson

All links are not created equal, and while exchanging links may seem like a good idea, you need to think it through, carefully. For example, if you own a marketing website, how does it possibly benefit you to exchange links with a music oriented website, or a pet supply website?

Answer: It doesn't. There's no relevancy there.

The link has to be relevant to your website's overall theme, otherwise, it will do you no good. Here's something else to consider: If the website you're exchanging links with has a bad reputation with the search engines, that association could negatively affect your website's ranking. Conversely, if a website with a good reputation links to your website, it could have a positive affect on your site's ranking.

If you want quality websites to link to your website, offer relevant, quality content that is useful to their visitors. They will gladly link to you then. And, if you consistently offer value and get honest links, then, the search engines will eventually reward you with a higher ranking.

So am I saying don't exchange links?

No, I'm not. I'm simply saying, exchange links prudently!

David Jackson

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David Jackson 15 years ago

Originally Posted by TheNewGuy2010

Hey David,

great post.

Can you give a reply to Steven?

I'd like to hear your answer.

Thanks, NewGuy. I should have mentioned it in my post, but I rarely, if ever exchange links. So I actually agree with Steven's post. Like Steven, I would prefer to spend my time and energy doing things that generate immediate traffic to my sites.

David Jackson
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- Tina Golden 15 years ago
  
  The link has to be relevant to your website's overall theme, otherwise, it will do you no good.
  
  Absolutely not true. While a relevant link will do you MORE good, any link will do SOME good, as long as it's not from a "bad neighborhood".
  
  Tina
  
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  abgold 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises
  
  Absolutely not true. While a relevant link will do you MORE good, any link will do SOME good, as long as it's not from a "bad neighborhood".
  
  Tina
  
  I agree with Tina statement 100%.
  
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jasonhawk

15 years ago

I'd exchange links if it drove more targeted traffic to my website... I'd do it in a heartbeat. But exchanging links purely for ranking factors is, as you say, not worth the time and effort.

One way high quality links are king

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~kev~

15 years ago

Relevant sites might be best - but I'll take any link I can get.

And there is a lot more to exchanging links then just relevancy - if you read through the google webmaster guidelines, it talks about link exchanges as link schemes.

From there, under the topic of "Link Schemes", the google webmaster guidelines goes into detail about who you should and should not exchange links with.

More important then relevance, is the quality of the site that you exchange links with. In other words, do not exchange links with spam sites.

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Zeus66

15 years ago

Link exchanging? How 1999 can you get?

Sorry, couldn't resist. Seriously, all links either do no harm or they help (if you believe the consensus on the subject). But it's a question of how best to use your limited time. And honestly, unless you're going for direct traffic by exchanging with sites in your niche to get some of their traffic (and lose some of yours to them, don't forget), there are so many better ways to spend time building links for improved rankings. Link exchanges are not a good use of your time in that regard.

John

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addykho

15 years ago

For me, link exchange is always troublesome and it may not looks good on your site. I would rather build links from other relevant and quality sites. Easiest way is to have links from article directories, which will always do you good- not only SEO benefit, also intro you more traffics.

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David Jackson 15 years ago

Any link will do SOME good, as long as it's not from a "bad neighborhood"

Absolute, total nonsense! Non-relevant links are useless, and of no benefit to you whatsoever. You should avoid linking to sites that are irrelevant to the overall theme of your website, even if they are from high page rank sites. Conversely, linking to websites with very low PR, even if they are relevant offers very little benefit.

But don't take my word for it. This information is taken directly from the Bing Community website:

Relevance

Frankly, when seeking an endorsement with an external, inbound link, the theme of the site you want to link to yours should be relevant to your site’s theme (or at least relevant to the theme of the page you want linked to). Same goes for those external sites you link to. Relevance is key to lending credibility to both your site and the other site, regardless whether it is an outbound or inbound link.

Instead of you thinking like a webmaster who’s trying hard to manipulate your search engine rank, just for a moment, put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Will they really benefit from clicking on that outbound link? Will they learn something new that is relevant to the current page they are on? To illustrate this point, let’s say your site is all about women’s fashion and you have a page on how to select the right handbag. Linking to relevant pages on sites like Chanel or Jimmy Choo would be a useful strategy. The key point is to enhance the customer experience that starts with a search query, includes finding your site, and then going from there. If your site facilitates that process, that’s good!

Here’s another angle: let’s say a back-alley thug walks up to you in the parking lot of a funeral home and says, in a menacing way, that he knows of a great restaurant that you needed to try. That endorsement seems wildly out of place because of the context. And would you be inclined to respect his recommendation? Probably not (especially after he’s gone!). So this is bad.

Quantity vs. quality

This is a leading misconception among many webmasters. They naturally assume that if one inbound link is good, ten are great, and 47,500 must be fantastic! All things being equal, that might be true, but it is very rare that all things are indeed equal. Just go and try to find 47,500 high quality sites that are relevant to yours. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Instead of making the mistake of focusing on quantity, you’ll be far more successful if you focus instead on quality. A small number of highly relevant, inbound links from sites with solid reputations can do more for you than a ton of junk links. Attempting to boost the quantity of inbound links by artificial means, such as link exchanges, is old-school thinking. That’s bad.

Relevance is the word today, and that helps distinguish the quality of links. If you run a local restaurant and you get an inbound link from a site that sells Internet marketing services, do you really believe that will influence potential customers to dine at your restaurant? Probably not. But what if you got a link from a well-respected foodie blog or restaurant review columnist? Now that will likely make a lot of folks sit up and take notice. That’s really good! Search engines understand this and take this into account in their rankings.

David Jackson
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- Tina Golden 15 years ago
  
  I'm glad you optimize for Bing. Most of us worry about Google since it has oh, maybe ten times the searchers than Bing? Maybe more?
  
  Each search engine is different. I should have specified in my reply that I was referring to Google. Then again, I guess you should have specified that you were referring to Bing.
  
  One more thing, David, if you are going to use a source to back up what you are saying, you probably should make sure that it actually says that? This simply says what anyone reasonably proficient in SEO can tell you - relevant links are more valuable. It does NOT say that irrelevant links are useless, however.
  
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  David Jackson 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises
  
  Most of us worry about Google since it has oh, maybe ten times the searchers than Bing? Maybe more?
  
  Tina, prove it. Show us where Google or any other search engine says it will give your website credit for non-relevant links. Prove it.
  
  David Jackson
  
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  Zeus66 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by David Jackson
  
  Tina, prove it. Show us where Google or any other search engine says it will give your website credit for non-relevant links.
  
  David Jackson
  
  Asked, answered: Google
  
  Matt Cutts works for Google. He has said over and over that a link is a link is a link.
  
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  David Jackson 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Zeus66
  
  Asked, answered: Google
  
  Matt Cutts works for Google. He has said over and over that a link is a link is a link.
  
  Sometimes, as marketers, we have to question if what we're being told, actually makes sense. This is one of those times. With all due respect to Matt Cutts, it makes no sense that a link is a link is a link. I mean, think about that for a second. If a link is a link, why reward relevancy? Really, what's the point?
  
  And make no mistake, Google rewards relevancy. So obviously, in Google's own mind, a link is definitely not a link. Google is saying one thing and doing another. And since actions speak louder than words, in this instance, I'm going to believe what I see, not what Google says. And what I see is Google rewarding relevancy.
  
  As far as I'm concerned, by rewarding relevant links, Google's actions speak volumes. And I think we all agree, Google does reward relevant links. So there really is no debate.
  
  David Jackson
  
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  Tina Golden 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by David Jackson
  
  And I think we all agree, Google does reward relevant links. So there really is no debate.
  
  David Jackson
  
  Of course Google rewards relevant links - we all know that. Your blanket absolute statement that a non-relevant link is worthless is what we were disagreeing with. All links are somehow weighted in the algorithm, that only makes sense. But just because a non-relevant link has a lower value, does not mean it has NO value.
  
  Tina
  
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  licketysplit 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by David Jackson
  
  Tina, prove it. Show us where Google or any other search engine says it will give your website credit for non-relevant links. Prove it.
  
  David Jackson
  
  Do you really believe that a machine can determine whether something is relevant to something else? Google and the other search engines would have to develop bona fide artificial intelligence for something like that to even be remotely feasible...
  
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  Steven Wagenheim 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by David Jackson
  
  Tina, prove it. Show us where Google or any other search engine says it will give your website credit for non-relevant links. Prove it.
  
  David Jackson
  
  (Note to self...Steven, behave)
  
  David, let me ask you a question.
  
  Let's, for argument sake, say that there is a site that specializes in rare,
  hard to find video games and let's assume that there are a good number
  of searches for that keyword phrase each month.
  
  Okay, whole bunch of regular dudes (not marketers) love this site because
  they can find all these rare games and they not only rave about the site
  on their blogs but link to it as well.
  
  But...all these regular Joe's who only have blogs for fun and couldn't care
  less about relevancy or whatever, are blogging about the following
  subjects:
  
  gardening
  home repair
  marbles
  
  You get the picture. I won't bore you with the list of inane things that
  these people are blogging about.
  
  The number of links total in the 10s of thousands because this site is so
  awesome...but only a handful of the incoming links are from actual video
  game sites.
  
  Why?
  
  Because the LAST thing that the people who actually SELL video games
  want is to give relevancy to THEIR competition.
  
  So tell me David. All these links coming in from all these inane, non relevant
  sites...are they relevant or aren't they?
  
  If the site in question is number 1 on Google, you'd have to be a total
  lunatic to believe that THOSE links didn't mean squat.
  
  I'm sorry, but your logic is so flawed that I don't even know where you
  come up with this stuff.
  
  You asked Tina to prove irrelevant links DO count.
  
  I challenge you to prove that they DON'T.
  
  Utter nonsense.
  
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  David Jackson 15 years ago
  
  Steven, your argument is so convoluted, so flawed, it doesn't even deserve a response.
  
  David Jackson
  
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  Tina Golden 15 years ago
  
  Steven, your argument is so flawed, it doesn't even deserve a response.
  
  It's okay, David. We'll give you time to think of something.
  
  Tina
  
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  Steven Wagenheim 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by David Jackson
  
  Steven, your argument is so convoluted, so flawed, it doesn't even deserve a response.
  
  David Jackson
  
  The only thing flawed is your ability to admit when you're wrong.
  
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Istvan Horvath

15 years ago

I will also give a non-IM example because I was making websites and had a blog way before I discovered IM and this forum.

For the record: I was blogging for fun. A hobby, if you want. Didn't give a sh*t about SEO and similar crazy things. I just simply didn't care...

Then one day I made a WP theme, sometime in 2005 maybe, and gave it away for free. There was a link in the footer pointing to my blog, but in the readme file I told them in plain English: you don't have to keep it there.

Hundreds of people downloaded the theme and started using it. Even more, it made its way even into several "sign up for a free blog" WP MU sites. And most of them left the link there!

Now, you can imagine that all those blogs - free and self-hosted - had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in common with my hobby blog. Nothing. No relevancy, if you wish.

Regardless, it got high ranking and for many keywords even today comes up on page #1 in Google SERP... although it hasn't been updated for more than a year.

Anybody has a theory about it

?

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lexilexi

15 years ago

I agree that all links may not be created equal, but I too have "experimented" with irrelevant links, and they have boosted my rankings. It's proven as far as I am concerned.

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David Jackson

15 years ago

Relevant vs. non-relevant backlinks is a much-debated topic amongst SEOs. In other words, even the experts don't agree. I do know this; relevant links offer far greater benefit. No, that's not an opinion or theory. It's Google's own words:

"By combining overall importance and query-specific relevance, we're able to put the most relevant and reliable results first.

We also analyze the content of neighboring web pages to ensure the results returned are the most relevant to a user's query."

Relevancy, relevancy, revelancy. It's all about relevancy. Now If you want continue arguing against the importance of relevancy, be my guest. But know this...you're not arguing against me, you're arguing against Google.

Good luck winning that argument!

David Jackson

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Tina Golden

15 years ago

I'm beginning to wonder if you have some sort of reading comprehension problem.

No one said that relevant links aren't BETTER.

YOU said that non-relevant links "will do you no good".

That is the statement that is being argued with because, to put it simply, you are wrong.

Is it really so difficult for you to admit when you are wrong?

Tina

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David Jackson

15 years ago

Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises

I'm beginning to wonder if you have some sort of reading comprehension problem.

That's typical of you, Tina. Your argument can't stand on facts, so you resort to childish insults. I won't reciprocate the insult. You're waaaay to easy a target!

David Jackson

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Bryan Zimmerman

15 years ago

Originally Posted by David Jackson

That's typical of you, Tina. Your argument can't stand on facts, so you resort to childish insults. I won't reciprocate the insult. You're waaaay to easy a target!

David Jackson

You know David, I've sat here and watched you act like an a-hole to a lot of people on this forum. People who make good contributions on this forum and have done so since I've been here. Where is your head at man?

You were called out for being rude once and you apologized to everyone. I was just going to stay out of it, but over the last couple weeks, I've seen you talk to people like you are so far above them that they need a fire truck ladder to look you in the eye. Some of the stuff I've seen you say to people I GUARANTEE you wouldn't have the stones to say to their face.

You were such a #$@ before you got yourself kicked off another forum, then you come here and start the same sh#t. Then you want to say people are "teaming up" on you and targeting you? Man look at your posts, the attitude that you display in them. You bring ALL of it on yourself.

I can show you quite a few pages that rank quite nicely that have not many relevant links at all but a ton of what you call garbage links. So traffic coming in and money in my account are all the "proof" I or anyone else needs.

Here's my thoughts on what I've seen from you in the last year that I've had the pleasure of being on the same forums as you. I don't think you make squat online. I think you run around with your cocky attitude and because of it, people think you might make some. So why don't you show some proof that you do and then MAYBE it will justify a tiny bit of your attitude.

How many hyphens can you have in a domain by the way? I think your pushing it with the one in your signature

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shaktimaan

15 years ago

Originally Posted by David Jackson

Relevant vs. non-relevant backlinks is a much-debated topic amongst SEOs. In other words, even the experts don't agree. I do know this; relevant links offer far greater benefit. No, that's not an opinion or theory. It's Google's own words:

"By combining overall importance and query-specific relevance, we're able to put the most relevant and reliable results first.

We also analyze the content of neighboring web pages to ensure the results returned are the most relevant to a user's query."

Relevancy, relevancy, revelancy. It's all about relevancy. Now If you want continue arguing against the importance of relevancy, be my guest. But know this...you're not arguing against me, you're arguing against Google.

Good luck winning that argument!

David Jackson

It is about how relevant a page is. I agree relevancy is very much important but It does not say anything about relevant or irrelevant links.

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voth12

15 years ago

Here's some data for you all to ponder: Does Google Really Care about Content? | The Internet Marketing Blueprint

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kelly32

15 years ago

Recently read something from Matt Cutt that link exchange is not working anymore. even this strategy can get problem to your website promotion!

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seoforu

15 years ago

Actually link exchange does work.I support Tina ..any links would count as long as it is not from a bad neighborhood and therefore building links and exchanging links is important.One thing which we must keep in mind while exchanging links is that we should not link to bad websites.

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Ken Leatherman

15 years ago

David,

Originally Posted by David Jackson

Absolute, total nonsense! Non-relevant links are useless, and of no benefit to you whatsoever. You should avoid linking to sites that are irrelevant to the overall theme of your website, even if they are from high page rank sites. Conversely, linking to websites with very low PR, even if they are relevant offers very little benefit.

David Jackson

Everybody knows I'm no expert on SEO or for that matter that I'm no expert on much of anything. However, I have been around since dirt was discovered and have learned a little about a lot of things. And one of those things is backlinking.

My knowledge comes from real world experience, as mentioned above, not theory. And my proof comes from the hard, cold cash I have put in my bank account, thanks to non-relevant backlinks and yes very few relevant backlinks to my money sites. My Google stats prove where the traffic is coming from.

More proof comes from the rankings my money sites are on Google, which includes page 1 position 1 in some very competitive niches. Until the non-relevant links were picked up by Google, Yahoo and yes Bing, you could not find the sites.

Now I'm asking you to put up your proof about non-relevant links being useless or shut up. You are dispensing incorrect information.

Ken Leatherman

The Old Geezer

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Rache

15 years ago

Many people believe that Google and Yahoo have already started penalising web sites that does link exchange in a large scale but we do not know the extend of it.

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Crew Chief

15 years ago

Pay attention when you read this and don't SKIM through it.

Just so that EVERYONE is clear on this extremely crucial point, when the OP referred to and quoted this statement from Google...

Originally Posted by David Jackson

It's Google's own words:

"By combining overall importance and query-specific relevance, we're able to put the most relevant and reliable results first.

We also analyze the content of neighboring web pages to ensure the results returned are the most relevant to a user's query."

Relevancy, relevancy, revelancy. It's all about relevancy. Now If you want continue arguing against the importance of relevancy, be my guest. But know this...you're not arguing against me, you're arguing against Google.

Good luck winning that argument!

...the OP somehow attributed that Google was referring to backlinks BUT, the Big G was referring to rendering "Search Results in the SERPs. Hence the statement, "we're able to put the most relevant and reliable results first."

Just to make sure EVERYONE is crystal clear; Google was not referring to the relevancy of backlinks or to backlinks at all for that matter.

They were referring to when you perform a search, their goal is to render the most relevant results to that search term or keyword phrase.

How this statement/comment made by Google got rolled, pressed and twisted into the relevancy of backlinks discussion is truly an unmistakable case of being convoluted.

Does EVERYONE see that?

Or is their ANYONE who still asserts or argues that this statement is referring to the relevancy of backlinks?

That being said, no one is arguing against this statement which is made by Google. Possibly with the exception of one person.

Ok, now that we cleared that up, carry on...

Giles, the Crew Chief

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drewman2010

15 years ago

This is great advice! - Thanks

Originally Posted by Crew Chief

Pay attention when you read this and don't SKIM through it.

Just so that EVERYONE is clear on this extremely crucial point, when the OP referred to and quoted this statement from Google...

...the OP somehow attributed that Google was referring to backlinks BUT, the Big G was referring to rendering "Search Results in the SERPs. Hence the statement, "we're able to put the most relevant and reliable results first."

Just to make sure EVERYONE is crystal clear; Google was not referring to the relevancy of backlinks or to backlinks at all for that matter.

They were referring to when you perform a search, their goal is to render the most relevant results to that search term or keyword phrase.

How this statement/comment made by Google got rolled, pressed and twisted into the relevancy of backlinks discussion is truly an unmistakable case of being convoluted.

Does EVERYONE see that?

Or is their ANYONE who still asserts or argues that this statement is referring to the relevancy of backlinks?

That being said, no one is arguing against this statement which is made by Google. Possibly with the exception of one person.

Ok, now that we cleared that up, carry on...

Giles, the Crew Chief

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Kay King

15 years ago

David -

You ask a question - and then postulate and argue with answer. What's the point?

I see people post here that exchanging links (reciprocal linking) is "1999" and I have to laugh. Says who? Exchanging links does still work - but the process is somewhat different today.

When you are going for "backlinks" - one way links - relevance is relative. That's why people spam profiles and blogs with their links - just for any and all backlinks they can get.

Reciprocal linking should be targeted to similar sites and to sites with similar ranking - because THOSE are the links you can get.

I've started new sites and exchanged links carefully with other site owners with equally unranked sites. I look for sites that are well built, well written and appear to be owned by people who care about the site and will keep working on it.

The sites grow together - my rank begins to increase and the other sites' ranking does the same. Before long I have links exchanged from my own PR3 or PR4 site with other webmasters PR3 and PR4 sites - and some of them may be PR5 by then.

There are many ways to exchange links - it's not just a page of links any longer. You mention my site with a link on your blog - and I do the same. You quote my site or publish one of my articles on your site - and I do the same on a third site with a link to you.

When you are reading some of the high end sites and blogs that are well ranked in their category - you are seeing some reciprocal links and don't know it.

kay

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Crew Chief

15 years ago

The OP has made some statements about backlinks that we can all learn a valuable lesson from. Here's one of his emphatic statements...

Originally Posted by David Jackson

The link has to be relevant to your website's overall theme, otherwise, it will do you no good.

Any true SEOer knows that's not a true statement but he continues onward pontificating his opinion.

Originally Posted by David Jackson

Absolute, total nonsense! Non-relevant links are useless, and of no benefit to you whatsoever. You should avoid linking to sites that are irrelevant to the overall theme of your website, even if they are from high page rank sites.

Ok, let's be honest here. I don't care and it doesn't matter where a high PR links come from; they PASS link juice!

Again, this is Off Page SEO 101!

Even the average noob knows this.

Originally Posted by David Jackson

Tina, prove it. Show us where Google or any other search engine says it will give your website credit for non-relevant links. Prove it.

You want proof?

Here's just one of many cases in point that I could show you.

Does everyone remember top IMer Corey Rudy who started IMC? You probably also remember that he passed in a tragic car accident a while back? One of the sites he owned: carsecretsrevealed.com amazingly expired and was picked up by a savvy SEOer.

He then appears to have cached the BLs, thus salvaging the PR and then used the PR to pass off link juice to other sites that...

wait for it...

wait for it...

wait for it...

...have got absolutely nothing (no relevancy) to do with cars.

That guy knows his SEO!

Originally Posted by David Jackson

Sometimes, as marketers, we have to question if what we're being told...

Yep, this is a true statement and a lot of WF members are seriously questioning your pontifications, arguments, statements, threads, responses and motives.

Originally Posted by Ken Leatherman

David, Now I'm asking you to put up your proof about non-relevant links being useless or shut up. You are dispensing incorrect information.

That's what it pretty much boils down to.

Many of us do this for a living and if the market dictated that irrelevant links were worthless, we would agree with the OP and adjust our marketing strategies and tactics accordingly!

Three things...

(1). To make such an emphatic statement that is easily proven to be incorrect shows a level of SEO immaturity that, thankfully can be corrected.

(2). Or, making such a incorrect statement and trying argue the point to IMers who know better reveals something worse and we all know what that is because we've seen it on the WF more times than we care to remember.

(3). If you are a noob or if you have been in IM for a while and are trying to learn the business, make sure you do your homework and know your stuff before using a bullhorn to shout your opinions from a mountaintop.

Giles, the Crew Chief

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Steven Wagenheim

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Crew Chief

The OP has made some statements about backlinks that we can all learn a valuable lesson from. Here's one of his emphatic statements...

.
.
.

(3). If you are a noob or if you have been in IM for a while and are trying to learn the business, make sure you do your homework and know your stuff before using a bullhorn to shout your opinions from a mountaintop.

Giles, the Crew Chief

Giles, you're my new hero.

Thanks for the dose of sanity.

I'm still shaking my head over the OP's declarations.

Talk about faking it till you make it.

I am NO SEO genius by any stretch of the imagination and even I knew
this was total BS he was dishing out.

Wow...just wow.

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yaniman

15 years ago

I think the discussion turned from reciprocal linking between two relevant websites vs non-relevant sites to get backlinks from relevant sites vs non-relevant websites

Reciprocal linking between non-relevant site do only harm to the ranking as it is clearly telling Google "We are here to manipulate your results".

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~kev~

15 years ago

Regardless of what anyone's "opinion" is on link exchanges, here are the facts.

Link schemes - Webmaster Tools Help

Your site's ranking in Google search results is partly based on analysis of those sites that link to you. The quantity, quality, and relevance of links count towards your rating. The sites that link to you can provide context about the subject matter of your site, and can indicate its quality and popularity. However, some webmasters engage in link exchange schemes and build partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking, disregarding the quality of the links, the sources, and the long-term impact it will have on their sites. This is in violation of Google's webmaster guidelines and can negatively impact your site's ranking in search results. Examples of link schemes can include:

* 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.")
* Buying or selling links that pass PageRank

The best way to get other sites to create relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community. The more useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it. Before making any single decision, you should ask yourself the question: Is this going to be beneficial for my page's visitors?

Relevant links are just 1 part of the picture.

When you reach authority site status, and all kinds of sites start linking to you, those links are not going to do any good? That mind set is just plain silly.

Examples of un-related links:

Facebook did not get to page rank 10 by only having social networking sites linking to it.

wikipedia did not become an authority site by other wikis linking to it.

Google did not get a page rank of 10 by other search engines linking to it.

CNN did not become an authority site by only other news sites linking to it.

Foxnews did not reach authority site status by only having other news sites linking to it.

Think about the "only relevant links count" topic - how did facebook get to page rank 10? It was not from only sites like myspace - it was thousands of un-related sites linking back to facebook.

How did google reach page rank of 10? Did yahoo, bing, ask,,,, build so many links that google became PR 10?

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Steven Wagenheim

15 years ago

Originally Posted by ~kev~

Think about the "only relevant links count" topic - how did facebook get to page rank 10? It was not from only sites like myspace - it was thousands of un-related sites linking back to facebook.

How did google reach page rank of 10? Did yahoo, bing, ask,,,, build so many links that google became PR 10?

Thank you. Somebody making sense in an absolutely nonsensical argument.

(shakes head in disbelief)

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Dennis Gaskill

15 years ago

David

There's nothing terribly wrong about being wrong, as long as we can admit it when we are. Admitting we were wrong is but admitting we are smarter today than we were yesterday. Not being able to admit when we are wrong is to be wrong twice, willfully the second time.

"I stand corrected" is a very simple phrase, doesn't taste too bad or hurt too much, and says something much better about us than showing how deep a hole we can dig.

You seem intelligent enough, so think about that. It will serve you well if you let it.

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Crew Chief

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Giles, you're my new hero.

Thanks for the dose of sanity.

I'm still shaking my head over the OP's declarations.

Talk about faking it till you make it.

I am NO SEO genius by any stretch of the imagination and even I knew
this was total BS he was dishing out.

Wow...just wow.

Steven, honestly, nothing surprises me anymore! Even when WF members genuinely reach out to help people get on the right track, some are just hellbent on dogmatically proceeding forward into the train wreck.

Even if it means losing what little reputation and credibility they may have.

You may remember between JAN and APR of this year, we had a WF member, (now banned) that jumped into the WF head first and quickly starting selling everyone on the idea that he was an expert IMer.

His first problem was, he tried to convince seasoned and savvy IMers that he knew what he was talking about, when he "in fact" didn't know. Like you said, he was trying to fake until he made it.

His second problem was, his online footprint, (which he knew nothing about) stuck out like a sore thumb... and easily gave him away. Hilariously, his footprint was bigger than the one left by Sasquatch!

It was so big, I now use him as an example for all of our new IM Team members to understand how easy it is to derail your own IM dreams.

P.S. Steven, if I sent you his profile and told you what has happened to him since his WF departure, you'd probably be shaking your head for another week!

That said, much like the OP, he tenaciously and stubbornly argued with many of the well respected WF members such as yourself, Jeremy, Tina and others over points and issues that we all knew he had missed the boat.

Hopefully, the OP will see the error of his ways and follow Dennis Gaskill's admonition...

Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill

David

There's nothing terribly wrong about being wrong, as long as we can admit it when we are. Admitting we were wrong is but admitting we are smarter today than we were yesterday. Not being able to admit when we are wrong is to be wrong twice.

"I stand corrected" is a very simple phrase, doesn't taste too bad or hurt too much, and says something much better about us than showing how deep a hole we can dig.

You seem intelligent enough, so think about that. It will serve you well.

Great advice Dennis!

Giles, the Crew Chief

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Ronald Nzimora

15 years ago

A nice information. how can one know a good to exchange link?

Thanks

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