Link Exchanges An Element of the Old Internet?

Link Exchanges An Element of the Old Internet?

A link exchange is when one site offers to link to your site if you link to their site. (What I have found is the exchange is usually not of equal importance.)

Many feel that this type of linking request come from newbies that send out generic e-mails requesting exchanges. Possibly, but not always.There are also linking companies that request that you exchange a link with one of their clients, in return, you get a link to, usually another client. Sound professional? I think not.

Why do people go after link exchanges? Many people go after link exchanges because they are trying to find a fast and easy way to drive traffic to their website or blog.

With that being said...not knowing who you are linking to can invariably hurt your online reputation. How? If a loyal reader is taking the time to read your content they have developed a measure of trust in what you say. If, a reader clicks on a link on your site or blog and finds a site full of ads, or the content that doesn't even meet your own content standards - you may end up devaluing your site as well as the other sites that are linking to you.

And, Google, yes Google, hates linking schemes. Google's business model is centered around providing people with quality search, and thus, quality content. If they find that you have participated in any linking schemes, such as excessive link exchanges, expect your site to go down in ranking.

In my view, link exchanges is becoming an element of the "old Internet". The new Internet includes more business rules put in place by search engines, Google and the FTC. Which, I might say, brings an element of legitimacy to the Internet. My view, the one sure way to get a back link is through your own content. If the content is good, someone will link to you to share the information. Granted, it's not the fastest way to get noticed, but it does preserve your online reputation.



And Social Media, makes the likes of Facebook and Twitter extremely relevant to today's marketers and readers. And Google,  is not blind to this fact. That is why Google launched "Caffeine" a web indexing system that crawls blogs, social media sites, commercial sites and user generated content at a faster rate (I believe it to be around 50% faster). What does this mean? It means, fresh content that is readily available for readers.

All this translates into a new way of thinking. What's will increase your readership- networking, social media vehicles that produces fresh content, and most importantly quality content. The other-link exchanges can have one major disadvantage-a site filled with spam-filled links and less than quality content. So, which way do you want to go? I say, in with the new, and out with the old.