Tips on finding the best link exchanges
To publicize a Web page, it’s always a difficult task and one of the first steps you can do is to ensure that popular search engines index your website properly. One way to do this for people who have more time than money is by exchanging links with related websites. Although the practice has been frowned on to a degree by search engines, the one reason webmasters to continue to exchange links is because link exchanges have their roots in the earliest days of the internet.
In this article I will discuss some useful tips for selecting the most appropriate links for exchange and I’ll also tell you how to avoid doing link exchanges with websites that may up end having a negative affect on your rankings.
All great link exchanges start with analysis
To find good links always analyze the following issues before accepting or soliciting a link exchange.
1. Look for sites with similar content to create a synergistic affect between your websites. If humans would benefit from the exchange, which happens when two quality resources share links, then you’re probably traveling on the right track. This issue has been debated hotly in webmaster circles for years, but if you do things that benefit your visitors and not just yourself, you’re generally adding value to your website. Tightly related link exchanges may be of benefit to website visitors.
2. Avoid exchanges with pages that have an excessive number of outbound links. The rule is simple: Importance of the page / number of links = importance of the link. Therefore, the less outgoing links that exist, the greater importance that link will have to the search engine.
3. Please check the number of incoming links to your proposed partner’s websites. A large number of incoming links is a good sign. The more incoming links the site has, the higher the value the link to you should be.
4. Also check how many pages the website has has indexed. A greater number of pages indexed in Google generally means the website is adding value to the Google index. This should also mean your link exchange should be considered to have decent value.
5. Verify the positioning for keywords in the page. If the results are good, this means that the person responsible for the SEM on that website is doing a good job.
6. Avoid exchanges with pages that link to pages in “bad neighborhoods” that could be penalized or hurt your site in the future.
7. Check the code of the web page where your link will reside. If it includes hidden links or other foul discounted methods that violate Google’s terms of service, steer clear.
8. Other data that you can review are the number of visits and Page Rank. The higher the better in the case of both metrics.
9. Do not accept links or that are run through redirects, nofollowed, stuffed into frames, funnels or any similar tactics. Search engines do not follow these links so it does not serve to help you achieve any search engine marketing goals.
Following the tricks described above can get you better links for your exchange. Remember that quantity is not synonymous with quality. Limit your exchanges to a reasonable number. Twenty links are more than enough for an optimized exchanged.
Be forewarned that excessive link exchanges have already been devalued in Google and an over-reliance on this method can be detrimental to your long term goals. Only engage in link exchanges if your other methods of link acquisition have slowed down or stopped.