Link exchanges count among the most convenient and popular ways of building link popularity and ranking high on the search engines. In launching a link building campaign, the value of link exchanges cannot be discounted.

A link exchange refers to either a) the practice of exchanging or trading links with other website owners or b) the confederation of websites where site owners exchange links. A link exchange operates much like a web ring with all member sites registering under a central organization. In a link exchange, unlike the web ring where only navigational hyperlinks are traded, HTML code containing banner advertisements are swapped and participating sites display this on their web page.

Link exchanges are an easy way of creating link popularity, defined as the quantity and quality of the inbound links pointing to your site. By swapping links with other site owners, you increase the potential targeted readership of your site, thereby giving it more exposure. Since getting noticed by the search engines require the quantity and relevancy of incoming links leading to your site, a link building campaign must incorporate link exchange as one of the methods used for gaining link popularity. However, like all off-page optimization strategies, there are pros and cons, and points to consider when leveraging the power of link exchange to boost your link popularity and search engine rankings.

What can be expected from link exchanges?

A big advantage from link exchanges is highly targeted readership, a pivotal factor in building link popularity. By focusing on exchanges with relevant links or doing thematic exchanges with other sites, you can attract a large, quality and highly targeted traffic your way, increasing exposure for your web site. If you can get an authority website that enjoys huge traffic to link to your site, some of that traffic will undoubtedly come your way.

Link exchange remains an important part of the link building process because it still is a leading factor in improving search engine placements. It is the easiest way to increase your site’s link popularity, which leads to higher traffic, and ultimately, a better position in the rankings.

What are the types of link exchanges?

There are several forms of exchanging links: one-way, reciprocal, and three-way.

One-way link exchange. This is the most favorable type of link exchange that enhances link popularity because major search engines place great importance on inbound links when evaluating page rankings. When performing this type of link, the output link becomes: Mysite1 -> Mysite2

Reciprocal link exchange. This is a mutual link performed by two websites aimed at generating mutual traffic. Reciprocal links create permanent back links for partner sites. SEO experts typically frown at reciprocal links in general but recommend doing so-called relevant linking, which is a derivative of reciprocal linking that links only to relevant and quality sites. The Output Reciprocal link here is: Mysite1 <-> Mysite2

Three Way link exchange. This is a variation of reciprocal linking that is advantageous to all parties and attempts to replicate organic link building for the search engine rankings. The Output Three way link becomes: Mysite1-> Mysite2 -> Mysite3 -> Mysite1

Pointers for performing link exchanges

If done properly, link exchanges can deliver excellent results for your link building campaign. Here are a few pointers:

• When exchanging links, always consider the Google mantra: “quantity, quality, and relevance of links count towards your rating.” Delimit your exchanges to links that are relevant and high quality.
• Stay away from link farms and link trading hubs or networks because the possibility of exchanging links with off-topic link partners will prove disastrous to your link popularity and your rankings.
• Search for relevant websites on search engines. Use Yahoo or Google and search your targeted keyword/s. Target the sites on the upper part of the search results. Visit these pages and ask the owner to link to your site, but do not assume that everyone will say yes. If you succeed, you get inbound links from pages that rank well in the eyes of the search engines, a very advantageous thing for your link popularity. If simply asking for a link does not work, you can offer incentives such as commissions or free advertising.

Link exchange is the most popular method to acquire link popularity, but for large web-based promotional campaigns, exchanging links can be very tedious. Fortunately, you always have the option of hiring a link building company to handle your link exchanges or your link building campaign for that matter.