Myth or Reality?
As we all know, lately has been believed that we need to eliminate our "Reciprocal Links" page for good. The argument was that Google would see that as a spam, an abuse and violation of their guidelines... I found this page on Google's site Linking Schemes and is a guide line in how we should handle the Links page.
Here's what Google says you shouldn't do:
" ...some webmasters engage in link exchange schemes and build partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking, disregarding the quality of the links, the sources, and the long-term impact it will have on their sites. This is in violation of Google's webmaster guidelines and can negatively impact your site's ranking in search results. Examples of link schemes can include:
- Links intended to manipulate PageRank
- Links to web spammers or bad neighborhoods on the web
- Excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging ("Link to me and I'll link to you.")
- Buying or selling links ..."
I think that's pretty clear - by stressing excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging, Google is ruling out you basing your link campaign on link exchange or plugging into link farms or other kind of mass reciprocal link generating scheme.
Before making any single decision, you should ask yourself the question: Is this going to be beneficial for my page's visitors?
It is not only the number of links you have pointing to your site that matters, but also the quality and relevance of those links. Creating good content pays off: Lately we came along with "Referral Directory", "Relocation Directory" "Articles Exchange" but all are about the same. Creating a good content and relevant links to your website. In addition, submit your site to relevant directories such as the Open Directory Project and Yahoo!, as well as to other industry-specific expert sites.
So, you can call it anyhing you like but just create a page(s) with good contend, relevant links and no more than 20-30 links per page.
Howdy Arina
Thank you very much for some good advice and taking the time to post it for every one.
Have a good one
Donna: If you read my latest post, What is a PageRank? How to find the PR of any web page... Gadgets! you'll get the information you need to check your PR on any web page, including yours.
As far as the Google (or any other engine's) placement of your website (pages) you should go to Google search and type in, one by one, your "Keywords" and you'll find where your website is placed.
Hey Arina...I've heard these ideas before, and of course it makes perfect sense. Here's what doesn't make sense...it seems that the websites that practice keyword and link spamming still get better page rank than those that follow the rules. The google gods must be crazy!
By the way...you are up way too late.