Would you delete the links page ?

[Dill]

I have noticed that more and more of my competitors are removing the links page from their sites.  Either that or they are hiding them.

I suppose it makes sense because all the links on my page http://www.kerryblu.co.uk/links-7-w.asp are just links to sites that are linking to me.  Supposedly there is no worth in this but I'm just worried that I will lose a lot of links if I delete this page and this may effect my currently crappy rankings for the worse.

What do you think?  Keep the links page or delete it ?

[danrawk]

hi -

it looks like the links you have on there are relevant to your website. that's good.

have you review the links you have there in open site explorer? are they QUALITY websites?

furthermore, are these websites linking back to you?

if the answer to the above 2 are both no, you may want to reconsider linking.  there's nothing wrong with indicating you are a part of a community  and link to relevant content, the the key is that it is actually relevant. if those sites are low in quality and don't reciprocate links, you may want to reevaluate.

work on getting more external links from relevant websites in your field. that will have a much higher impact that a page of links on your site. :>)

[Hansen-Buildings]

It looks like a lot of your links shown on this page are directory listings or sites offering to do link swaps. I would say these links have very little value and may in fact negatively impact your site. As Danrawk pointed out the key is linking to relevant content and high in quality.

Stick to building relevant content that is valuable to your customers to earn links from other influential people and sites in your industry rather than participating in quick link swaps or adding your business to a low ranked directory.

[MarieHaynes]

My most recent client for unnatural links penalty removal is one that was penalized because of reciprocal linking, mostly on links and resource pages.

Doing a couple of link exchanges via a links page is not going to get you a penalty.  But, the Webmaster Guidelines say that you can be penalized for doing excessive link exchange "You link to me and I'll link to you".  They don't say what is considered excessive though.

Does this mean you have to get rid of your links page completely?  Not necessarily.  But you have to be careful.  Make sure your links are all relevant.  For example, if a real estate site has a resources page that includes links to flower shops, pet shops and casinos, then this is a red flag for a page that is existing just for the purpose of linking out.  Similarly, if you are getting links back from sites that are totally not related to you then this can be a red flag.

It is ok to have a resource page (or to be mentioned on one) when it makes sense and when there aren't LOADS of links on the page. A healthy resource page will not be completely made up of reciprocal links but will also include links to government sites and authority sites in your niche.

A better option, though, when trying to exchange links is to exchange guest posts.  Be careful to provide and publish only good quality stuff though....something that your readers will appreciate.  If you have your own blog and provide content for your readers then, when you want to exchange links, ask a partner to write an article for your blog and in return you can do the same.  Be careful not to produce patterns.  For example, don't end every single guest post with the same author bio and anchor texted keywords.  If possible, try to get a link back to your site within the body of the post and not in an author bio.  And again, be careful with your anchor text.