Sharing backlinks with each other

[cpon]

I've seen a thread where members share Twitter handles with each other so that both benefit from following each other.

Perhaps we could share backlinks to each other also.

I run[removed at op request] and it's got a page rank of 3, which is pretty good.

Would be happy to add a "sponsors" page to my site and link to yours if you could do the same in return.

Cheers!

 

[Alan]

Really?

"Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site's ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site."

"If you see a site that is participating in link schemes intended to manipulate PageRank, let us know. We'll use your information to improve our algorithmic detection of such links."

 

[fisicx]

Noooo!

Link swapping was slapped down by Google many years ago. Never ever ever do this unless there is a really good reason for the links to exist.

And a page rank of 3 means diddly squat.

 

[cpon]

OK cheers, was just a thought! Thanks for the feedback.

 

[MASSEY]

OK cheers, was just a thought! Thanks for the feedback.

Just a bit more advice, it is best that you don't speak about link manipulation in public, or if you do, don't mention the site or company, i made the mistake and learned the hard way, manual penalties are a nasty piece of work.

 

[sambarnes90]

It's called recipricol linking - if you can get one from the BBC, New York Times or any other 'super' site - then do so.

Anyone else ... don't bother.

Also don't worry about PageRank any more.

Check on Domain Authority from Moz or TrustFlow from Majestic.

 

[StevePoster]

Sharing backlinks is a well known method for link scheming and Google are aware of it. Quality links are earned not just by sharing links.

 

[chris424uk]

Probably not a good idea... if it seems unnatural to Google, then it'll be flagged eventually.

 

[Rob-B]

Sharing back links, that is so old, why not just write a blog post or something useful

 

[Danielfoley]

You should not share links or even think about trying to acquire links manually. Instead, you should be focusing on creating engaging content that naturally acquires links.

Through 2016, Google's automated algorithmic learning will be rolled out through a series of new updates and search tweaks. Things to consider will be increasing click through rates by writing high quality titles and descriptions, and then, increasing engagement when visitors land on your website.

Move away from the traditional aspects of SEO, they are being phased out bit by bit

 

[uk22]

Reciprocal or exchanging of links if a big red flag to google.

There are other forms of manual link building that still work and work well if you know what you are doing.

Penguin has made it more difficult, but that is what makes SEO pay so well.

Majestic's topical trust flow is where it is at.

 

[Danielfoley]

Reciprocal links is not a big red flag, many businesses exchange links for a valid purpose (to provide useful resource to their website visitors). It's only a big red flag if businesses sharing links have no synergy and do so in mass proportions.

As for majestic topical trust flow, a link is only as good as the reputation of the domain that it comes from.

Google in 2016 will be reducing link weight evaluation by a long way, important usability metrics will become mainstream, what better way then to evaluate how people are using the website to see if it is a good quality website.

INTENT + LONG CLICKS + LOW BOUNCE + ENGAGEMENT + UX + FAST / RESPONSIVE WEBSITE

those are the things to focus on moving forward.

Links are great, but, as an experience SEO specialist I have seen many websites outrank competitors with little or no links but excellent quality content, engagement, social metrics etc.

 

[uk22]

Bounce rates and engagement are all part of your on page which done correctly along with a fast load speeds will in some instances beat down a competitor with a poorly structured low in quality content site that is relying on backlinks to rank.

So how will Google determine the number one place when both have their on page spot on, both sites are loading fast and have comparable bounce rate?

It will be down to backlinks!

 

[Danielfoley]

Backlinks are just 1 of many metrics. The problem is that links have been so abused that Google is easily suspicious and manual reviews are easy to flag up (which often leads to a penalty).

It's not just the link quality, its the link pattern, i.e. 95%+ of the links point to the domain route with little anchor diversity.

Links do work, but, only when they have synergy and come from reputable / relevant resources.

As I am a new poster I cannot post any links, but, if you Google Rand Fishkins Moz Slides and look at his recent one which shows Google using ML (machine learning) you will see that links are about to take a knock down.

For too long Google has relied on links for trust, now, people just buy their trust (link building and buying) - this has created a marketplace for poxy guestbloggers who are charging a fortune and businesses paying it to gain link trust.

I'm not disputing links work, just disputing that people are still fixated on them when Google is quickly evolving thanks to a 7 billion + page index and advanced machine learning.

I'd play it safe and focus on content quality and engagement, 2 websites competing for a top position will not be merited on just links, there will be hundreds of other factors, believe me.

 

[uk22]

You have an interesting argument and I think you missed the point where I actually agreed with you, but there is a point where links come into it and will be the determining factor when all other things are equal.

I don't suppose you would care to remove or disavow your "seo agency" sitewide links and see if you stay at number 2 - just for fun

 

[fisicx]

Reciprocal or exchanging of links if a big red flag to google.

Wrong. If done right it can be very beneficial.

Majestic's topical trust flow is where it is at.

No it's not.

 

[boring-friday]

Backlinks are just 1 of many metrics. The problem is that links have been so abused that Google is easily suspicious and manual reviews are easy to flag up (which often leads to a penalty).

I don't think its that easy to flag up a manual review. If it was penguin would of got you ages ago for your over optimization on the anchor texts, but as they're stupid they can only tell if you did 'seo agency' loads of times, you should be ok with the way you've been switching it between 'local seo','seo london','seo companies' etc though. Or were those natural links from writing super special engaging content?

 

[uk22]

uk22 said: ↑
Reciprocal or exchanging of links if a big red flag to google.
Wrong. If done right it can be very beneficial.
uk22 said: ↑
Majestic's topical trust flow is where it is at.
No it's not.

Sorry could not get the quotes to work properly

I'm glad you backed that up with a well thought out statement.

Could you tell me why when you have your finger so firmly on the SEO pulse does your business website (can not link) does not rank for a single keyword worth having and is not in the top 3 for Effective Website Design.

How can you offer "free Help, consultation and advice for your website - " when your own site does not rank 1 for your own business name!!

 

[fisicx]

Could you tell me why when you have your finger so firmly on the SEO pulse does your business website (can not link) does not rank for a single keyword worth having and is not in the top 3 for Effective Website Design.

As you have no idea what my target keywords are or how I market my services your derisory statement has no value.

I stand by my statement that link exchanges or reciprocal linking if done right are beneficial and are not a red flag to google, most of the academic community relies on reciprocal linking and it hasn't done them any harm. And as Google isn't the slightest bit interested in Majestic's topical trust flow it can never be regarded as being 'where it is at'.

 

[uk22]

Sorry my comment was not meant to be derisory.

Your correct I do not know what you are targeting on other websites but I do know all about the site in you sig as there are plenty of tools that show me your traffic, keywords, backlinks, etc etc etc.

But your game site fisicx (dot)com is not doing any better is it? and what happened to EWD on test blog.

I am sure you mean well but if you sharing the "knowledge" that has built aerin co uk makes me shudder.

Anyway it has been far to exciting for me on my first day here, I need a pint

 

[fisicx]

But your game site fisicx (dot)com is not doing any better is it? and what happened to EWD on test blog.

I have no idea where you are getting your information but it's wrong. fisicx is doing very well and earns me a good income from google. And testblog is where I do all my testing so I couldn't care less where or how it ranks. I'm sure you have lots of tools but these are not the droids you are looking for. Enjoy your pint.

 

[MASSEY]

You have an interesting argument and I think you missed the point where I actually agreed with you, but there is a point where links come into it and will be the determining factor when all other things are equal.

I don't suppose you would care to remove or disavow your "seo agency" sitewide links and see if you stay at number 2 - just for fun

Yes, but if all things are equal, even on the link front, it could all come down to one site having a key word in bold???

He should disavow every link and see if his great content keeps him there

 

[69thelememt]

instead of slamming people down, lets tell them how to do it properly

Link swooping is a fantastic tool, maybe the best in your arsenal, just go the right way about it

First don't advertise it on site "lets swop links" and you don't want to swop your "Site A" with there "SITE A"

what you need to do is get a bit of a private blog network going, by buying a few old domains. Build good links to them, put actual posts on them, 99% should be genuine and the others can be link swops, so you give a link on "BLOG A,B,C all the way to Z" in exchange for a link to your SITE A

SIMPLES!!!!!

 

[boring-friday]

instead of slamming people down, lets tell them how to do it properly

Link swooping is a fantastic tool, maybe the best in your arsenal, just go the right way about it

First don't advertise it on site "lets swop links" and you don't want to swop your "Site A" with there "SITE A"

what you need to do is get a bit of a private blog network going, by buying a few old domains. Build good links to them, put actual posts on them, 99% should be genuine and the others can be link swops, so you give a link on "BLOG A,B,C all the way to Z" in exchange for a link to your SITE A

SIMPLES!!!!!

You'll get called naughty for mentioning a pbn. Theres something about google that makes intelligent people melt and believe everything they say even though they just want to sell their ads.

 

[uk22]

I have no idea where you are getting your information but it's wrong. fisicx is doing very well and earns me a good income from google. And testblog is where I do all my testing so I couldn't care less where or how it ranks. I'm sure you have lots of tools but these are not the droids you are looking for. Enjoy your pint.

I have no wish to get into a slanging match, I spend my days looking at competition in niches take a look at SEMrush there is a free version with restricted results gives a great insight into any website and it's traffic.

For the rest of you here's a very basic tip for finding great links.

Look at the top 10 competitors in your niche, pop the url in ahrefs or majestic look at the back links and try and try to get a link in the same site.

I tend now to only seek links from sites with TF of a least 15 and with the same topical TF -

This is basic but can't be widely know here or the original op would not be looking for a link exchange.

 

[fisicx]

Still confused. How can any tool tell you what the traffic is for a site. It can guesstimate but can never give you exact figure. And even those guesstimates are often wildly wrong. What traffic figure do you get for my games site for example?

And why do you think all link exchanges and reciprocal linking are a red flag to google?

 

[uk22]

OK

Very simply

Stas show how that if your at number 1 in google for a search term then you will get in the region of 31% of the traffic, so if the search volume is 100 you can expect around 30% of searchers clicking through to your site.

And so on

14% for position 2
9% for position 3
and so on

just 3% click on positions 6 - 10

SEM rush has millions and millions of sites in it's database it looks at those sites and the terms they is ranking for and can give a reasonable estimate to traffic. It's not going to be spot on but it gives an accurate figure to a sites stats for competition purposes.

Reciprocal links - if you had 100 referring domain and 1 reciprocal link then no problem, may well hold little value in google eyes but you are not going to get penalised.

If you had 100 links and you have for example 10 reciprocal's, just would not happen in the real world and Google know's it!

You have to be real and if you are not then you will find it difficult.

You have to avoid footprints

** sorry I missed the question re the games site - have to go out but will answer later

 

[fisicx]

And that is why those stats are wrong. Not everyone uses a search to access websites, i f they did advertisers would just pack up and go home. It also misses the bazillions of links on websites that people use everyday. The signatures on this forum generate a huge amount of traffic (as many full members can testify).

Which means the SEM rush estimates are going to be very misleading.

On one site of mine I only 10% of the visitors come from search engines, the other 90% arrive from a variety of sources. And one of my clients doesn't rank for anything useful but get a load of referral traffic which brings in a load of paying clients. Which brings us back to reciprocal links, if done right they can work really well to the benefit of both parties and they don't raise any red flags on google.

 

[Bill1954]

Of course reciprocal links can be good, it just depends on their context. I run a bathroom and heating company so it would be reasonable for a tiler, tile supplier, heating engineer, plumber etc to link to my site and vice versa. A link from a sunglasses site would be useless.

 

[uk22]

Of course reciprocal links can be good, it just depends on their context. I run a bathroom and heating company so it would be reasonable for a tiler, tile supplier, heating engineer, plumber etc to link to my site and vice versa. A link from a sunglasses site would be useless.

And I suppose you will try and argue that this stratagy is earning you a nice living with your bathroom website.

 

[uk22]

And that is why those stats are wrong. Not everyone uses a search to access websites, i f they did advertisers would just pack up and go home. It also misses the bazillions of links on websites that people use everyday. The signatures on this forum generate a huge amount of traffic (as many full members can testify).

Which means the SEM rush estimates are going to be very misleading.

On one site of mine I only 10% of the visitors come from search engines, the other 90% arrive from a variety of sources. And one of my clients doesn't rank for anything useful but get a load of referral traffic which brings in a load of paying clients. Which brings us back to reciprocal links, if done right they can work really well to the benefit of both parties and they don't raise any red flags on google.

Fair enough, I should have qualified my comments with "google organic traffic"

To be fair though if you follow my tip from earlier in the thread then you will enjoy both

 

[Bill1954]

And I suppose you will try and argue that this stratagy is earning you a nice living with your bathroom website.

Nice attitude fella, £4m+ turnover but you probably know best

 

[uk22]

Nice attitude fella, £4m+ turnover but you probably know best

Seem to be rubbing everyone up the wrong way I would be very interested to see your other websites that generate that kind of revenue where you have reciprocal linking.

Obviously the site in your signature being so new it is not that one.

 

[fisicx]

Read Bill's post again. He didn't say anything about revenue generation, all he did was say reciprocal links aren't necessarily the red flag you suggested they are.

 

[Elliottc26]

If reciprocal links are relevant and make sense then they are a useful way of sharing targeted traffic between two businesses, hence why Fisicx is saying what he is.

So, for instance, a Copywriter and a Website Designer in the same city/town may link to each others websites as a way of referring clients to each other and this makes sense - related and relevant.

However, if it's a Plumber linking back to a Web Designer this would cause issues and be a red flag.

But...you always have the rel="nofollow." An example of this is web designers having links back from client's websites in the footer (site-wide), so, you make it a No Follow link - imagine 20 pages per site over 10 sites would mean 200 links, which looks dodgy.

It won't help your ranking, but if you get referring traffic to your site you can look to make sales, so, SERP ranking becomes irrelevant. However, that traffic may see your blog and like and share your content giving you a social presence, which helps ranking.

Get a few popular posts and others may link to your post (natural) as it's helpful and useful. You become a good resource. This then helps your SERP rankings and so on...

 

[Alan]

You'll get called naughty for mentioning a pbn. Theres something about google that makes intelligent people melt and believe everything they say even though they just want to sell their ads.

I build a PBN once. Never did me any good, still got dozens of sites with real content on them. I obviously didn't do it right.


-edit- Actually my best performing site is one that I used for my personal technical notes to my self, which has got lots of random technical stuff. It doesn't have very many backlinks to it, mainly from forums I have been it and have linked back to my solution, notfor the link (and they are probably no follow) but because it helps someone.

 

[Layek Ahmed]

Don't even think about! Google will hit you hard so you better concentrate on content. Content is the king

 

[Ian J]

Don't even think about! Google will hit you hard so you better concentrate on content. Content is the king

I'm not sure that is necessarily true but that's for another thread anyway

 

[uk22]

However, if it's a Plumber linking back to a Web Designer this would cause issues and be a red flag.

I dont a agree, a post on a plumbers website telling his readers what a fantasic job his webdesign company has done would be relevent.

In return the design comany could in theory tell thier readers that this wonderful plumber fixed their leak - this is slightly different from typical "reciprical linking" but I still would not do it.

There are far to many linking opprtunities out there.