Link Exchanging, Best Practice or Old News?

Once upon a time, reciprocal links were the best way to build links to your business website. Now it’s thought that inbound links are king and the practice of reciprocal linking is dead - but that’s not true. Although link exchanges don’t really boost your site’s SEO, they will likely still bring some traffic to your site if the link is housed on a relevant and quality webpage. And for small businesses, referral traffic from other sites that have you listed as a preferred vendor, a recommended partner or the like, can increase your sales.

If you decide that exchanging links is for you, there are a few best practices that you should take note of. When reciprocating links with other small businesses, keep these simple tips in mind:

1. Only link to related businesses. There are a few problems with links from unrelated sites, some obvious and some less so:

• They’re less likely to get clicked. If I’m on a site looking for handmade candles, I probably won’t click on an unrelated recommended product. It’s really as simple as that - and leads me to the next point...
• They give both sites a bad reputation. Unrelated links give your new potential customer a bad impression. When you link to unrelated products and services, it screams spam, and that is not a word you want linked with your brand.
• You might be penalized for linking to low-quality sites. In April, Google announced the Penguin update, which penalizes websites that are loaded with low-quality links. You’ll also want to check periodically for broken links with a free link checking tool.

2. Make sure you can vouch for products and services. When you run a small business, recommendations that are posted on your business website are as good as recommendations from you. Before you link to another site and list them as a partner just to get links to your site out on the web, try out the product or ask to see work samples if you’re linking to a service. I’ve been in a situation where I recommended a service to a friend and it didn’t go well. Although the friend wasn’t upset with me, he very well could have been (and this situation could easily happen to someone who isn’t a friend, and will be upset).

3. Triple-check content on other sites that mentions you. I know firsthand how it is to run a small business and be (extremely) strapped for time. However, when your partners offer to link to your page, you should always have final say on what they write. If there is a blurb that describes your business, you should write it to keep your brand voice consistent. And don’t be afraid to ask for edits; the only way you’ll get traffic is with well-written content that describes your company.

The verdict on link exchanging? Go ahead and do it, but be careful. Remember that building backlinks to your site surrounded by content (like getting mentioned in a blog or article) is always best, but all quality links are good links. Have any questions or comments? Contact me at jackie@jackiesteinmetz.com or leave a comment below.



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