Are link exchanges bad for SEO these days? Also, is adding my site to free yet relevent directory sites a bad idea?
-
I operate a computer services company in Eugene, Oregon called "Eugene Computer Geeks". We do a lot of web design, and need incoming links to my site very badly.
Lately I've been asking clients if they would link to me, but they almost always ask for a link in return.
If we exchange links, does Google penalize my site? Would the incoming link be better for SEO if I'm not linking back to the other site?
ALSO
Is it possible that manually submitting my site to free, yet relevant web directories would hurt my rankings? It's not a big deal to me if it doesn't help my rankings, as I see a benefit to having my site listed, but wanted to make sure there wasn't a chance that it would hurt my rankings. As far as I know all the directories are free from SPAM, porn, warez, or anything like that.
Thanks!
-
A couple of clarifications here. Links from .edu (as well as .gov and .mil) are often thought to have more value because not everyone can register those domains, though there is debate as to whether they do have more value or not. Anyone can obtain a .org domain, no matter what its purpose.
Here's a good post from Cyrus on the SEOmoz blog about building links with directories:
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/seo-link-directory-best-practices
-
Cameron, You have services to offer, so you should also consider writing press releases about your company and your services. There are many free press release sites as well as paid ones. Most allow a link back to your site. Most allow you to use link text. Localize your releases and you should get visitors from them. make your releases interesting. Structure them well and they will help you These are one-way links.
-
Thanks so much! Such a well-written and helpful response. I will stop with the link exchanges and save up for Yahoo Directory. Really appreciate it!
-
Thanks so much for your response! Very helpful. I wasn't sure about getting into Yahoo directory, but will save up and do it. I'll stop with the link exchanges.
I posted on craigslist for professional writers and have had a ton of responses. I want to get really good articles on my site so that people will want to link to me.
-
Hi Cameron, First of all Link exchanges are programs in which one site offers to link to another site in return for a reciprocal link.The key component of a link exchange is the _requirement _for a reciprocal link.
Link exachange is good when the page to which your linking has a high authority, trust, meaning it ranks high in search engines, which will add value to your site as well. Usually sites having the domain extension ".edu"&".org"are considered to provide high value links. However links from authoritative sites are not easy to obtain.
Link exchange is good for incoming links as it bring lots of traffics towards your website and it does helps to navigate from one site to other to find valuable content.
Link exchange and reciprocal links are natural to some extent. On the other hand, obvious and massive link exchange schemes or networks can be detected algorithmically, so you end up penalised sooner or later.
Please check Google's policy on Link Schemes ( http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=66356 ) express that excessive link exchange is bad.)
I feel that
Limited link exchange is good.
Aggressive link exchange is not good.I think that submitting your website on free directories & not on relevant web directories would hurt you because If you are not on the same niche directories it will affects in your visibility & overall ranking as well. So keep in mind that keep submitting your website to all free directories & as well as same niche web directories.
-
First, I would think about changing the approach with clients. We do a lot of web design here, too and we rarely put ourselves in as a link to our site. It must have a reason beyond getting our company a link.
Will you be penalized for doing reciprocal links. I do not believe so unless you are doing it on a big scale. My belief is that you won't help yourself either. Why, well you need anchor text in the eyes of Google, etc. So, you have to do a bit more work. I do not know if this will help you or encourage you, but I really liked this post by Wil Reynolds of SEER: On Google Making Liars out of the Good Guys.
I personally would say if you do a few manual submissions it may help, but another place you can rock your own world is Local SEO: Google Places, Bing Bus. Portal, Yahoo Local, Citation sites like Yelp, Citysearch, etc. Here is a good list I was turned on to by Miriam Ellis of Solas Web Design: http://searchengineland.com/top-50-citation-sources-for-uk-us-local-businesses-104938
If you do the citation sites correctly, verify your listings on the engines, and maybe consider shelling out the $295 for Yahoo Directory, it would likely help you a ton.
Best
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Are these links to my site bad?
I am the owner of two diffrent ecommerce sites. Lets call them A and B. Site A is a larg site with ower 5000 pages. In the footer off site A there is a link to site B. Is it bad for site B to get 5000 links (to homepage) from site A? Should i remove these types off links? Thanks for your help!
Link Building | | Spletnafuzija0 -
Local SEO - Directory Submissions Not Counting Towards External Links
I'm trying to raise the authority of a clients website. It's a local business so I'm submitting it to various applicable high authority business directories to earn more external links. I've submitted it to about 15 directories so far; however when I run Moz's Open Site Explorer, it doesn't state that any of these directories are linking. It's been about 3 weeks now so I assume that's enough time for the directory submissions to be indexed by Google. Has anyone else run into this problem, and if so how did you solve this so these links are counted?
Link Building | | reidsteven750 -
Multiple Links from High Ranking Site Vs. Links from Multiple Domains - What's More Important?
I understand it is important to get links from many quality domains. Currently, I do have links from top domains (PR, Trust) and it I can get more from (high rank) pages on these same domains. Would it be better to focus on expanding my reach (find additional domains to link from) or to continue to build links from the current domains I have a connection with? What is weighted more? I realize doing both is important, but trying to figure out how to best use my time. Thanks! David
Link Building | | DWill0 -
Linking to a site in the US from a site in the UK - Good, bad or not important?
Would linking to a site in the US from the UK do harm or good if the site being linked to is industry related? i.e. a UK web design company linking to a US web design career site.
Link Building | | Tone_Agency0 -
Guest Posts on Sites With Irrelevant Outbound Links
Suppose you came across a website in your niche with solid domain authority that accepts guest posts. However you notice some of the guest posts are linking out to somewhat off-topic sites. If you already have an article that you think would be accepted easily and all you have to do is spend 10 minutes to craft an email pitch, would you do it? Why?
Link Building | | ProjectLabs0 -
LINK BUILDING - Does it really matter if the link is not relevant?
Hi guys, I have just done a lot of link buillding and I thought I am just going to link build and I am not going to go after RELVANT links. I have property/real esate website and I have been any kind of link builidng and I have noteced some good increases in rankings.. So my questions is; Does it really matter if the link is relvant to property or real estate if I have got ranking increases? Or will it later harm my site?? Thanks Gareth
Link Building | | GAZ091 -
1 million links can harm your site?
I have a client that bought a link for his site on a non related site with the anchor text for main KW. That site brought over 1 million links to my client's site. Now what should i do? Should i let the link there? Or should i remove it? The age of the link is more than 1 year, and the link is placed in top menu, under the header.
Link Building | | maldiniii0 -
New ways to get links (excluding on site link bait)?
Fellow SEOs, I’m looking for a new way to reach out to bloggers and site owners for links. There are quite a few link bait techniques to lure bloggers thanks to = amazing content, infographics,...but there are not so many articles on ways to contact bloggers/webmasters and ask for links... We all know that contacting site owners directly and politely asking then to place a link on their home page is as useful as a comb in Bruce willis’s hand. Link exchange is as dead as the Dodo and business partner links are usefull and easier to get but opportunities are often limited. I have been organizing contests for bloggers recently and it has been quite successful up to now, but I always like to have a spare trick up my sleeve. So if any of you have a decent method to reach out to bloggers/webmaster and get decent links please let me know, I will be forever thankful ; ) Cheers
Link Building | | ref.price0