Google frowns on reciprocal linking

This is a subject that everyone seems to be arguing about at
the moment. Everyone trying to second-guess Google's actions
- which they will NEVER do - and wondering whether
reciprocal linking is dead, dying or if it is something
worth carrying on.

'Nuff of the speculation. Here's the proof.

Google do not like reciprocal link directories and they can
sniff one out a mile off. There was (notice the use of the
past tense here) a link directory on my site until recently,
but I have now removed it, because it had become as useful
as a chocolate teapot.

Whilst the main front page of the site has retained it's
Google PageRank of PR5, in one of their last updates, Google
relegated that directory, which had also previously had a
PR5, to a PR 0.

Meanwhile, I had not altered my linking structure that
pointed to it. I had not altered my policies either: I did
not link TO any PR0 sites, kept the number of links per page
down to a minimum and there were even text descriptions for
each entry listed.

Google could tell what it was and acted as they saw fit.

There is no point wondering or whining about it. They can
and they are doing so in order to provide better results to
searchers. You can like it or lump it, but if you want them
to give you decent listings, ranks or send you any traffic,
their rules count.

My advice: forget *artificial* reciprocal linking
completely. The time taken to maintain the directory,
approve/disaprove submissions (mostly the latter, because
the only people still asking for links are crappy PR0 sites
and spammers) can be much better spent.

When you want to exchange links with other sites, make sure
you do so in a natural way, by which I mean write about the
other site in some way and place natural links within the
body text.

And consider just giving to get. By which I mean, link out
to useful things for the edification or entertainment of
your visitors giving no consideration to the immediate
usefulness of that link to you.

What goes around will come around. Once you are seen as
useful, others will link to you. You do then get your links
"reciprocated", but it may not be from the same people to
whom you linked.

That is the natural way of linking that Google wants to see.

Do not, under any circumstances, maintain anything (other
than internal navigation) that could look like merely a list
of links / link farm, because Google will find it, won't
like it and will penalize it.

Reciprocal linking, in the form of lists or directories
merely created for that very purpose cannot do anything to
help you with Google (quite the opposite, in fact) and
therefore, est mortuus. [RIP]


Former accountant & journalist, Pamela Heywood, has been
working online since 1997 and from her home for even longer.
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