Reciprocal Links: Do They Help or Hurt Your SEO?

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Reciprocal links are still used to increase SEO and site authority, but they can also do negative. Here’s what you must believe before exchanging links.

Utilizing reciprocal links – in some cases alluded to as “exchanged” or “traded” joins – was a well-known strategy for third-party referencing in the mid-2000s, however, it has diminished in prevalence as of late.

Reciprocal links are as yet a somewhat normal event. They’re a natural side-effect of claiming a site, all things considered.

Nonetheless, how complementary connections show up in locales today is not quite the same as a long time back.


A link exchange appears when an agreement is made between two brands to trade links to increase SEO and site authority by basically saying, “you link to me, and I’ll link to you.”

Are Reciprocal Links Good for SEO?

If you want to increase your authority and rankings (and reduce the risk of fines from search engines), the key is to concentrate on less risky methods and tactics.

Rather than concentrating on SERP rankings and your website’s link profile, focus on delivering something important to your readers and consumers by producing high-quality content.

Including external links on your site can be beneficial to SEO, but they aren’t the driving strength behind your site’s ranking.


How to Use Reciprocal Links to Help Your SEO?

Linking to quality sites that are appropriate to your content improves your reader’s overall understanding of your website.

Content is king, and always providing authentic and helpful information to your readers will earn your site a place on the throne.

When you link to high-value content, you can select your site as an authorized source of knowledge. In this case, if the other site reciprocates the link, consider it a bonus – the content concerns first.

If you’re going to request reciprocation, check the site’s SEO metrics to assure that you’re swapping links with a high-authority website.

When reciprocal links happen naturally between citation sites, both sites may benefit.

Here are a few things to believe before you follow a link exchange:

  • Could the external site potentially enhance your site’s traffic?
  • Does the site produce content and share knowledge related to your niche?
  • Is the brand or business a direct competitor?

4 Ways Links Can Hurt Your SEO

There are some advantages to naturally arising reciprocal links, but when you don’t use common sense, exchanging links can harm your site’s authority and rankings. Here are 4 ways that link strength really hurts your SEO:

1. Site Penalization (Manual Action)

Only put, reciprocal links are against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If your site is abusing backlinks – if you’re endeavoring to manipulate search results by exchanging links – your website operates a high risk of being punished by Google.

2 . Decrease in Site Authority & Rankings

If you’re connecting to external sites that aren’t appropriate to your content, your page might experience a decrease in site authority or SERP rankings.

Before linking, assure that the content is appropriate, and check the site’s Alexa ranking.

In some cases, it’s OK to link back to low-authority sites, but overly linking to these sites will not enhance your own website’s authority.

3 . Boosting SEO for Direct Competition

When connecting to sites with the same target keywords and phrases as your website, your probabilities of having that link reciprocated are low.

As a result, you’re only increasing your competition’s SEO, not your own.

Link exchanges or reciprocated links should be between sites with similar content and themes, and not between instantly competing sites.

4 . Loss of Trust

You never like to lose your belief in search engines. But reciprocal links can cause this to ensue in two ways:

  • Your site has a ridiculously high number of 1-to-1 links
  • Your link’s anchor text is always suspicious, or irrelevant to your content.

Expanding Relationships Is Key

Building connections in your industry is a critical piece of any successful third-party referencing procedure.

Connecting to important, believed assets is a superb method for building trust and authority and fostering associations with brands in your specialty.

By connecting to power destinations, your site has a higher possibility of being seen by those site proprietors, which could prompt connections from them later on.

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