Reciprocal links

[Ron10]

I've heard that reciprocal links don't count anymore.  If i stop linking to a person that links to me, will that link to my website start counting?

Do reciprocal links count at all in google? Anchor text?  anything?

Thanks in advance!

Ron

[donford]

Hi Ron,

I think you know this but for others I'll explain it a little. A reciprocal link is basically a link trade (you link to me I'll link to you). Google has cracked down on the link farms, token rings, etc. because really when you think about, participating in wide sweeping link exchanges is done only for the purpose gaining search engine ranking.

But reciprocal links when used appropriately are okay. For example I could link to a paintball gun site that links to my paintball blog. There is no problem with this, we are both in the same industry working together.

To answer your question, removing your link to the website really doesn't mean much. The only criteria I would be evaluating for doing this would be is "is this site worth linking to? do my users need to know about this site? If the link adds value to your users leave it there, if not remove it.

And the second question, yes reciprocal links count in Google and anchor text.

I hope this helps,

[jjgonza]

I have always stayed away from having too many reciprocal links on our sites. It is my understanding the effectiveness of such links are not as effective as they once were and too many such links can be damaging. The reciprocal links we do have are few but very relevant to our product. I think the key word is relevant. I would certainly like to hear more on this subject from some of the more experienced community.

Good Luck and thanks

James G

[donford]

Yes, this is correct. Actively pursuing reciprocal links should be discouraged. Using them in moderation when it makes sense, is okay. If used excessively Google may penalize you for un-natural linking.

[Marcus_Miller]

This is a solid explanation and really, we just have to exercise common sense.

If you are exchanging links to the site as it provides value to visitors of both sites visitor then great, if you are exchanging links to somehow manipulate the search results, well, not so great.

Ultimately, if you are doing this for search engines, that is definately not going to help and it could certainly hurt now or down the road if Google gets even more antsy regarding link based SERP manipulation.