What Is Reciprocal Link in SEO
«You place my link, and I will place your link»: this strategy seems to be a solution to linkbuilding issues or rather to the issue where to find a resource to place links. Now, you understand what reciprocal links are.
However, what do search engines think about reciprocal links SEO? Do they like or hate them? Let us check in details.
What Is Reciprocal Link in SEO and Whether It Is Permitted
It might seem that the practice of getting reciprocal link in SEO is something very nice. However, Google is against it. Now, we will explain to you why so.
- Such linking way can lead to spamming on the website;
- The website owner might just remove your links when he/she gets the return;
- Building links reciprocally is not the same as getting natural links.
Now, when you know what is reciprocal link in SEO and why it is not welcomed by search engines, you might think that they are just bad. However, not everything is that simple, as it the case with links.
There are no proofs that reciprocal links are efficient or not for optimization purposes. But there are certain criteria that matter for effective linkbuilding. If your links comply with them, even if they are reciprocal, your website ranking will be improved.
Relevant Links Are Important
Now, the matter is not in what is a reciprocal link and what isn’t. If your link leads to valuable relevant content, it will be never, most likely, removed, and search engines will not mind it.
For instance, if you are posting a link in a blog or on a website, and its content doesn’t have anything in common with your niche, it is clear that something is wrong. However, if your link comes with relevant content, nobody really cares how you got it.
Thus, if you have a website that is about trips, you shall contact for reciprocal links the owners of websites or blogs that are about transportation, maybe hotels, or some related topics. They might be interested in letting their readers know about your products and services as long as they are related to something they do.
Links Shall Lead to Updated Content
Nobody will ever link you and nobody will follow your link if it leads to the content that is 100 years old. Make sure all your content is up-to-date and update it constantly. It shall be interesting and relevant to the audience of the resource where you are placing your link. Then only, they will click on it and stay for a while on your site.
Otherwise, even if you get a couple of reciprocal links, they will be removed soon. Even if not, users will be leaving your site immediately after opening it. It is detected by search engines, too, and alarms them that something wrong is going on.
SEO Metrics Matters
If somebody agrees to place your link in exchange for the same favor from your side, checking their SEO metric might seem odd. Even though it might be not a priority but you should check it though. When building your campaign, you will deal with hundreds if not thousands of websites. That’s why you might want to know which of them are the priority and which can wait until you are ready with more urgent things.
Monitor Backlinks will help you to find out all the details about the links of your competitors and the ranking of the resources that are linked to them. They might be interested in posting your links, too, as long as they are in the same niche.
This tool will provide you with one more kind of information. It can detect for you broken links. If you are interested in posting your link on the resource, you can contact the webmaster and offer him/her to replace the broken link with yours. It is beneficial for both parties, thus, in the majority of cases, your offer will be accepted gladly.
How to Get Reciprocal Links
Now when the question «What is reciprocal link?» is clear, you might be wondering how to get reciprocal links. Of course, the most evident way is to get in touch with some of your friends who have a website or a blog and offer them a deal. They place your links, and you, in return, place their links. Will that work though? We have explained already that if their sites are relevant to your niche and if your links provide some value to their readers, those will be just normal links. They are good for both you and your friend, and thus, why not offering your friend a deal?
However, to make your website visible, you need to be linked to thousands of websites. We doubt you have thousands of friends to exchange links with them. Hence, a different strategy is needed. We want to warn you from the very start: never contact a website owner with a deal offer like you would do with your friend. To start with, reciprocal linking is forbidden by Google, so, it is better to avoid being too direct about it.
You can get your valuable links in a different way. Look for reputable websites in your niche and start placing links to them in your content. With time, the owners of those websites will notice that. If your content is relevant and valuable to them, you might start getting links to your site, too. This strategy requires time and effort. But in the long run, links acquired in such a way, will serve you longer and will influence the ranking of your site positively.
Final Thoughts
Reciprocal linking is still a very controversial topic. On one side, it is forbidden by Google. On the other side, everything depends on many other factors. For instance, if your link has been placed on a reputable resource in a response to your linking to the resource, can it be considered reciprocal? If your links provide value to the site owner and boost the other person`s site ranking, it is a good way to get some benefits, too. The conclusions are as follows: your reciprocal linking can bring you the maximum and boost your site ranking only if your links comply with a number of other requirements.