Creating an internal link network of clients

[brfieger]

I am working with 9 different clients/websites. The websites can be grouped into 2-3 categories, for example, 3 of the websites are related to "Tattoos", another 3 are related to "Local contracting services"

Would it be beneficial to create a "Sponsors" page for every website where I write a mini-article of each client and link to them? In other words, every website will have a backlink from the other 8. I already spoke to every client and they are willing to do this, as long as the link to the "Sponsors" page is only accessible in the footer nav.

I can't see this hurting the rankings of the sites, but I am not sure if it's better to only include the websites that are categorized the same, or I should include every website.

[RyanPurkey]

The idea of creating links between each site could be a reasonable addition, but under the umbrella of "Sponsors" and in a duplicated format it sounds--and may appear--like paid linking.

If the clients are actively agreeing to endorse each others businesses, you could go about incorporating the links in different ways; for example, say Contractor A got a tattoo with Tattoo Shop B, linking back to Contractor A's site within his testimonial would be fine as you're connecting the sites in a way that's already been done in real life. Similarly, you could create a section on one site that's called, "Business in our neighborhood we recommend" and so on. I'd differentiate per the design and style of the business and be as true to life as possible.

[Red_Spot_Interactive]

I agree with Ryan,

This is essentially a link wheel, and seems like it will have short terms success. Always link with a purpose and have the user experience in mind.