undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • Case Studies
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    What is your Brand Authority?
    Moz

    What is your Brand Authority?

    Check yours now
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • SEO Q&A

      Insights & discussions from an SEO community of 500,000+.

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • Case Studies

      Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. Link Building
  4. Trading Backlinks a good idea?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

Trading Backlinks a good idea?

Link Building
7
9
4.7k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • asa-php
    asa-php last edited by Apr 11, 2013, 5:57 PM

    New to the "backlinking" party. Wondering if its 'good practice' to trade links with other websites within a like-industry.

    We've been receiving a lot of emails from other websites asking us to trade links.  Is this a good link building practice anymore?

    Thanks!

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • gfiedel
      gfiedel @Branagan last edited by Apr 12, 2013, 10:52 AM Apr 12, 2013, 10:50 AM

      Thanks, Branagan. This is what I meant by "..a little knowledge being dangerous..." I've been reading a lot here and there (plenty here in SEOMoz)  about the dangers of link exchanging and taking it as a hard and fast rule to never exchange links that is rather new due to recent Penguin updates. What I was missing was "excessive" or unnatural and that if it makes sense, is approached wisely and isn't done in bulk, it's still ok.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Houses
        Houses last edited by Apr 12, 2013, 5:50 AM Apr 12, 2013, 5:50 AM

        Might be worth checking that if they say they are going to link to you that they actually do so and that they leave it up. Hopefully if they are decent enough sites they wouldn't do that though...

        As others have said, definitely only link with decent sites and only if it would make sense from a human point of view to do so.

        Might be worth checking in GA to see if the site then refers you good traffic. It may help you decide which ones to link with in the future.

        I wouldn't go mad with exchanges though.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • Branagan
          Branagan @gfiedel last edited by Apr 11, 2013, 11:54 PM Apr 11, 2013, 11:54 PM

          Hi Gina, If it isn't clear enough in the comments, check the first video I posted and the sixth point in this one:

          10 Myths That Scare SEOs But Shouldn't

          Cheers!

           

          gfiedel 1 Reply Last reply Apr 12, 2013, 10:50 AM Reply Quote 1
          • gfiedel
            gfiedel last edited by Apr 11, 2013, 9:48 PM Apr 11, 2013, 9:48 PM

            Jumping in here with some confusion and probably an example of a little bit of knowledge being dangerous. Can someone please explain this to me? I thought that complimentary link exchanging has become a no- no. What am I misunderstanding?

            Branagan 1 Reply Last reply Apr 11, 2013, 11:54 PM Reply Quote 0
            • jesse-landry
              jesse-landry last edited by Apr 25, 2013, 4:33 PM Apr 11, 2013, 7:13 PM

              If it makes sense to put their link on your site, then go for it. If it fits naturally and isn't out of place, then yes. Otherwise, no.

              Basically just use your common sense. If it looks spammy on your site, don't use it.

              Also, avoid having a page full of links. That's a huge red flag and could end up hurting you. And if they are putting your link on a similar page, you are better off without it.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
              • Francisco_Meza
                Francisco_Meza last edited by Apr 11, 2013, 6:49 PM Apr 11, 2013, 6:49 PM

                I never really do link exchanges unless they are part of a blog post. Also, I don't link to sub-par websites or unrelated websites. It's okay to link to another site and they link to you. One example is I have my BBB Membership page point to my site and I point many links from my site to that single BBB Page.

                Look at the site you are going to link to and ask yourself, "Can this potentially cause a problem in the future? What's the risk?" I have turned down MANY sites wanting to link exchange, but if they are willing to write a high quality guest blog post, then I'm fine with it whether I get a back link from their site or not.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • TakeshiYoung
                  TakeshiYoung last edited by Apr 11, 2013, 6:17 PM Apr 11, 2013, 6:17 PM

                  Trading links with other quality sites in your niche is a great way to get links. Just make sure the sites you're linking to are high quality (not spammy, have pagerank, aren't using shady link tactics). A quick backlink check of the sites using OSE or Majestic is probably a good idea.

                  I usually like to put together a "Partners" or "Resources" page where I add all the links from people I trade with:

                  http://www.salsabythebay.com/resources/

                  Hopefully you can use the initial link exchange to begin a relationship with some of the other players in your niche, so you can collaborate on other projects too, like guest posting, interviews, etc.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • Branagan
                    Branagan last edited by Apr 11, 2013, 6:06 PM Apr 11, 2013, 6:05 PM

                    If you exchange links with quality sites, relevant to your niche and in a useful manner from the user point of view, you should be on the safe side and could probably benefit from it.

                    Check out this video for more info: Whiteboard Friday - Sitewide, Reciprocal, and Directory Links

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • 1 / 1
                    1 out of 9
                    • First post
                      1/9
                      Last post

                    Got a burning SEO question?

                    Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                    Start my free trial


                    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.

                    • See all categories

                    Related Questions

                    • laurentjb

                      Backlink builder (Professional)

                      backlink profile backlinks

                      If I wanted to hire a professional person to build high quality backlinks for me, where would I look? I'm asking here because I'd rather go on the recommendation of other businesses owners, than a google search. Does anyone have a person that they can recommend? It's for an insurance agency in Texas. Many thanks

                      Link Building | Oct 30, 2024, 10:47 AM | laurentjb
                      2
                    • AliHassanbinali

                      Ahrefs Backlinks VS Moz Backlinks

                      HI Team and members We have website related to jobs in Pakistan and we purchased 5 niche edits backlinks to a specific page " MES Jobs 2021" In ahrefs it show only 2 backlinks to that page but in moz 0 backlinks but in actually there are 5 links. Why this happen in moz? We actually love this tool used for Keywords research for jobs in Pakistan find some cool keywords using moz but we facing backlinks issues in it.

                      Link Building | Apr 15, 2024, 1:03 PM | AliHassanbinali
                      1
                    • p4pakao

                      DA not increased as backlinks generated...

                      Hi,
                       I would like to discuss my issue as my site's some backlinks are generated but DA is still there. Can anyone make me understand the reason?

                      Link Building | Jul 8, 2020, 3:40 PM | p4pakao
                      0
                    • ruddyhapiq

                      Using Schema markup for backlinks

                      Hi, Is there any benefits for using schema markup for backlinks. Using for Article directory submission,Drupal Submission etc.. mUz1umK.png?1

                      Link Building | Sep 10, 2013, 7:35 AM | ruddyhapiq
                      0
                    • faisalnlm

                      Is there a relation between number of backlink and SERP?

                      I want to calculate that how many backlinks i need, in order to get in higher SERPs? is there a way to calculate? One is obvious that check number of backlinks of websites that are ranking in top 5 positions. But i guess it is not true any more... So please help

                      Link Building | Jan 22, 2013, 11:05 AM | faisalnlm
                      0
                    • SirMax

                      URL shortener and backlinks

                      Are there any SEO benefits drawn from creating backlinks with Google url shortener service(especially for the very deep links) or for the do-follow link juice I have to use a complete address?

                      Link Building | Jan 13, 2021, 3:45 PM | SirMax
                      0
                    • BostonWright

                      Building backlinks for a newspaper site?

                      Anyone have tips on building links to a newspaper site? I am looking for a strategy to create links to a news site beyond building one link at a time. We have so much content that is constantly updated that it would be impossible to do this one page at a time.

                      Link Building | Feb 2, 2012, 4:44 PM | BostonWright
                      0
                    • joemas99

                      What is the best way to manage backlinks?

                      What back link management software do you guys use or recommend? Need to manage types of links on each page. Thanks

                      Link Building | May 7, 2011, 5:33 PM | joemas99
                      0

                    Get started with Moz Pro!

                    Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                    Start my free trial
                    Products
                    • Moz Pro
                    • Moz Local
                    • Moz API
                    • Moz Data
                    • STAT
                    • Product Updates
                    Moz Solutions
                    • SMB Solutions
                    • Agency Solutions
                    • Enterprise Solutions
                    Free SEO Tools
                    • Domain Authority Checker
                    • Link Explorer
                    • Keyword Explorer
                    • Competitive Research
                    • Brand Authority Checker
                    • MozBar Extension
                    • MozCast
                    Resources
                    • Blog
                    • SEO Learning Center
                    • Help Hub
                    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                    • How-to Guides
                    • Moz Academy
                    • API Docs
                    About Moz
                    • About
                    • Team
                    • Careers
                    • Contact
                    Why Moz
                    • Case Studies
                    • Testimonials
                    Get Involved
                    • Become an Affiliate
                    • MozCon
                    • Webinars
                    • Practical Marketer Series
                    • MozPod
                    Connect with us

                    Contact the Help team

                    Join our newsletter
                    Moz logo
                    © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                    • Accessibility
                    • Terms of Use
                    • Privacy

                    Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.