It is worth noting that its bad reputation in certain industries is due to the misuse some professionals have made of it, and that, with good practices, it can nevertheless be effective.
In this Growwer article we are going to tell you what link exchanges are, how to do them and whether they really work. This way, you will know how to use this technique the right way and the benefits it can bring to a company or a digital site.
What is a link exchange?
Collaborations between companies or professionals in the same industry are nothing new, nor were they born with the digital era. These connections have existed in business from the very beginning and have been replicated online in different ways. One of the most interesting in the online world is link exchange, something that, if done correctly, can be viewed very favorably by Google.
A link exchange is an agreement made with another related website through which the parties involved place a link to each other on their own domain. This encourages user traffic between both pages, which may appeal to the same target audience, so everyone involved wins.
This exchange is beneficial if it is carried out in this genuine, agreed-upon way. Penalties and bad practices appear when that is not the case: when it is done in a way that search engines consider spam, or when the owner of a domain builds an exchange structure with themselves across their own websites.
What are link exchanges for?
If link exchange is done correctly, it can be positive for all the websites involved, since they will gain reach and build a solid community. The main benefits of this method are the following:
- Reaching potential customers who are interested in this topic, those who share specific characteristics or interests.
- Greater reach for the website. It will appear on more sites in a natural way and will support better rankings on Google.
- Strengthening professional and business ties that can open doors to joint projects in the future.
- Appearing in spaces where the competition is not present.
Since it is an agreement between two websites in which everyone follows the same rule, placing the other's link, there is no financial investment involved. In a way, this lets you get free advertising and rank organically in search engines.
How to do a link exchange correctly: step by step
Doing a link exchange and making it pay off takes technique, since it must be done the right way and without falling into behavior that Google finds suspicious. These are the steps to follow to achieve the goal:
The home page
Avoid link building on main, home or front pages. Ideally, the most relevant spaces should be kept for the brand itself, and external links should be placed in the background, for example, naturally within a blog article on the website.
Timing
Take your time strategically. Bombarding is not positive and is quickly detected as spam, so it is a good idea to wait a while, and for the right moment, to place the links on other pages, letting it look natural.
Placement
In the exact spot. Besides timing, space matters, since the link will fit better if it is placed in context and makes sense. Placing it in a forced way will not be appealing either for rankings or for the reader.
Link lists
Link lists are not a recommended option. Websites that work this way include a large number of different links, and this sets off Google's alarms. Moreover, it does not look trustworthy to users either.
Topics
Related websites that are not competitors are good allies. It is always worth looking for pages with topics that may interest the same audience in order to build alliances. For this, it is not necessary (or advisable) to turn to the competition; the best option is to go for the one that provides a complementary service.
Tips to avoid a Google penalty in a link exchange
To carry out a link exchange without Google penalizing the strategy, and to get the most out of it, it is important to know certain tricks that help you follow good practices. The first step is to analyze the real potential of the brand and the page, and to avoid copying the exact steps of other competing brands. This can end up backfiring or be detected by search engines because of the behavior pattern.
Another useful move is to control the number of links spreading across the web. Keeping a level that is low but enough to carry out the strategy can be the most effective approach, since an excess of links on different pages looks suspicious. On your own site you can include up to 15% external links without it being harmful.
When the links are placed on blogs, digital media outlets or niche websites, naturalness and original content will matter more than ever. Placing links in blatantly promotional articles or in duplicate texts can have the opposite effect to the one you want. And beyond a Google penalty, it can also make the reader lose interest.
Is link exchange black hat SEO?
Black hat link building is any practice that ranks a website with somewhat deceptive strategies or that breaks the guidelines Google sets for operating on the web. Is link exchange black hat SEO? Well, the answer will depend on how this strategy is carried out.
One of the most common is creating a network of blogs or websites to exchange links with each other. This is fraudulent link building, since there is no real partnership between different domains, and it is easily detected by Google's mechanisms.
The same happens when a single website gets a striking number of mentions on other sites, since Google suspects that this is not a collaboration between individuals but a purchase of space in other media. In fact, you will come across this alternative on various occasions and it is not advisable, since it quickly comes to light and penalizes your strategy.
Besides these offers, it is common to come across sellers of spam content, texts that are copied in hundreds of places and serve to fill space and place links of interest. This is again considered a black hat SEO practice, since original work by domain owners will always be favored, while duplicate articles that lack value for users will be penalized.
