It’s Time to Go Out and Get Some Links

I’ve been working in recent weeks to develop some more backlinks to my websites - something that has evolved into a lot of research about link exchanges and link development. After all, everything you read says that Google gets excited by backlinks from high quality sites. So, it’s time to start putting some extra effort into creating and managing the links that I get.

What’s a Link Exchange?

Link exchanges are interesting because at one point, they were a hugely popular way to get traffic to your site. They worked like a charm. Then, Google decided they were deceptive and the concept dropped off considerably. Now, the formal link exchange where websites swap links freely is less viable. But, the idea lives on in a more advanced, direct fashion.

Instead of finding random sites that you know nothing about to swap links with, you go out and develop a relationship with a specific website - one that you actually link and offer a link exchange. Google has no problem with this approach because you’re exchanging valuable information.

But, there are some things to keep in mind with any link exchange. Here are some tips:

• Content Similarity - Google tracks things like unrelated links. If you write about Christian home business and the site you link to is about raising purebred horses, the link not only won’t have much value; it might hurt your site.
• Anchor Text - When another site links to your website, there are a few ways they can do it. If it’s a blog, you may end up in a blogroll. If it is a marketing site, they might put up a small banner. However, if you can get your way, try and get a link using anchor text that matches your favorite primary keyword. If that keyword was "purebred horse farm", they would link whatever your URL was to the text "purebred horse farm". You would of course return the favor and there is your link exchange.
• Don’t Over Do It- The thing about exchanging links is that the more links you send out to other sites, the closer Google begins to scrutinize them. Your own link gets weakened on other sites if they have too many links as well. Keep it light to reduce that watering down effect.
• Links are great for your website - They boost your overall performance in Google and can help get direct traffic. If you have a website, blog, or even just a Squidoo lens, go out and farm some links to get a bit better rankings in Google. Trust me, it’s a fantastic way to increase your traffic.

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