Is Reciprocal Linking Worth It?
The short answer: no one really knows.
Sorry, I don’t have a copy of Google’s algorithms…do you?
Let’s think about it…
How about a “for instance”? Let’s suppose that I link to a really interesting and relevant blogpost or article. The author sees that I’ve linked to them, decides to read my blog, happens to be writing about a related topic as one of my posts, and links to it. While this is not a reciprocal link, it is a mutual link. In other words, these links provide benefits for both bloggers’ readers.
The issue is that we don’t know whether Google can tell the difference between mutual and reciprocal linking. And how would they? There are no “code footprints” to say whether two people got together and decided to give each other links or whether it happened naturally.
Google can, however, tell if you bought a link or through a link farm. There are often bits of code associated with these exchanges that will serve as a tell tale sign to search engines that you purchased the link.
What’s important to remember
At the end of the day, links are meant to be helpful for your viewers. I’ve talked about the importance of anchor text and how it should be keyword rich. Equally as important is the site that you’re linking to and how relevant it is to the topic at hand.
While there are ways to buy links without looking spammy, I think your best bet is to simply link naturally. You could also ask for links; both would result in more organic backlinks.
Yet, the question remains: what weight (or PageRank) does Google give mutual links vs. reciprocal links vs. paid links?
Tags: buying links, Google, Link Building, mutual links, PageRank, reciprocal links