That may sound like a silly question since many people either freely exchange links or simply refuse to. However, is it okay to do those link exchanges?

Before considering or agreeing to a link exchange, ask yourself these three questions:

1. What’s in it for me?
2. What’s in it for them?
3. Why do I want to do a link exchange?

Taking the last first. If your primary reason is to build inbound links, forget it. The reality is, for links to have a major effect you need hundreds. If you do link exchanges by the hundreds then you are really becoming nothing more than a link farm.

So what is in it for you? If your answer is exposure and traffic then you’re on the right track. If the site complements your own – so much the better. The fact that you may be getting a quality link is a bonus.

What’s in it for them? That is their problem really. However they should have the same approach as yourself. Exposure and quality traffic from a related site with an optimized link as a bonus.

Link building should have a focus on providing value for your visitors; delivering quality traffic to your own site; and as a bonus, a well optimized link. Search engines like Google like to see links leaving a web site particularly if that link is to a related site. Exchanging links can be a valuable part of your link building program – just don’t rely on it to get a rankings boost.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 at 8:05 am and is filed under Link Building. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.