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Link Exchange Programs
by Brian Turner of britecorp.
As part of a wider link-building program, setting up a link exchange either through a single page or an installed directory can be a good idea.
However, of all the link-building tactics this is possibly the weakest.
On the one hand, you can build up a wide linkage with other sites. In terms of theme or topic-associated ranking, this can have clear advantages – presuming that the sites you exchange links with are of a related nature by topic.
The big weakness is that the primary aim of a link-building program is to build a greater number of In Bound Links (IBL's). And with a link exchange program you are offsetting the number of links coming in with an equal number of links going out.
Of course, you can always try and sabotage the OutBound Links (OBL's) with a robots.txt file, javascript, sessions IDs or modifying the URLs. However, that hardly going to encourage people to link to you – and thus the entire reason for the policy in the first place becomes flawed.
There is another insidious weakness, though.
Link exchange programs lead to a very unnatural pattern of linkage. It should be well within the capabilities of modern search engines to spot this unnatural pattern, and deal with it accordingly. Perhaps some do, but if not, like the Sword of Damocles, the very real threat of devaluation of link exchange programs could be hanging just above.
The point is (excuse the pun) not to put too much faith in link exchange programs in themselves, and most certainly do not put too much emphasis on automated link exchange programs such as Link Builder. Although these programs can be a great way to exchange links quickly and effortlessly, you can be pretty sure that they are also quickly creating a very noticeable anomaly in the pattern of how sites link.
Search Engines are fussy architects – you really don't want them viewing your site as a carbuncle.
Link-exchange programs do have advantages in terms of gaining links from related themed sites, which may be especially relevant with an expert system. However, you shouldn't put too much emphasis on link exchanges alone precisely because of its weaknesses.
There are some good tips for webmasters on building a links-exhange page here.
However, at the end of the day, remember that links are the currency of SEO. If you link exchange, you give away as much as you earn. You need to concentrate on ways to amass that currency so that you can keep hold on to it.
You need to look at building your own Independent Back Linking Network.
Next >> Independent Back Linking Networks
