Can link exchange be dangerous?

[pocketnut]

I have a couple of link exchange request. And am just wanting to know What to be looking for as far as scams or spammers. I guess my question is, Are there dangers with link exchange, and if there are what are they? The sites seem to be quality sites but what should I be looking for. I hope im making sense..oh by the way i am a newbie affiliate.

thanks

THE POCKETNUT

[davenewgates]

Link exchange can be dangerous if you will not do it carefully. You may unknowingly link to a website banned by search engines or what they called "bad neighborhood sites". Thus, the search engines may consider your website as "one of them".

If you think that you do not need backlinks from link exchange, you can just ignore the requests sent to you. But if you really want to engage in link exchanges, you have to be careful in choosing your link partners. If you think that the websites are quality sites, check their traffic. One good tool to use is Alexa rankings. Another is their PR. Beware that there are lots of sites having fake PR. Thus, you have to verify their site's PR if it is valid.

And the most important thing to take note is that you should check whether the website's niche and contents are somewhat relevant to yours. But though it is not relevant, better to make sure that it is a quality website.

In avoiding spammer websites, the most common characteristics of them, according to what I had encountered before, are as follows:
- too much grammatical and spelling errors (if the site is English)
- poor website structure
- domains made just for exchanging links
- spun contents
- lots of outbound links
- fake PR
- low traffic
- domain name not matching the contents (probably just some purchased domains)

[pocketnut]

thanks davenewgates. at the risk of sounding to needy. Do you mind if I pm you the links to these sites. And if you don't mind giving me your opinion .. This way I have a template to go by , good or bad.

[thepokerkeep]

A good rule of thumb is to ignore link requests that come in your email. If you don't know the person offering to exchange links, don't get involved. These requests are usually made by professional link traders and the quality of the inbound links tend to be very low. Some are outright scammers and remove or "no follow" your links once the trade is complete.

A safer, more reliable way to trade links is to work with reputable webmasters who have a history of doing business fairly and honestly. Looking through the link exchange threads here will give you some leads. Look for posters who have been here a while and participate in threads other than just link exchanges. Private members are usually trustworthy.

[clearlyportals]

davenewgates & thepokerkeep about sums up how to do link building!

If I link build, i'd rather link build with sites that I can see the person is dedicated with said site, and not just some crappy site set up so that they can link to you and you can link to their 'better' site.

[universal4]

I disagree with Terry on ignoring all link exhcnage requests that come by email....

I do approach other webmasters in this manner occassionally since I never seem to do enough exchanges here at the GPWA....

I do try to vet the sites a bit that I approach, and I do know that a certain percenmtage will not even respond, but I still use that method occassionally....

I agree that exchanging here, at the GIA or GAP is easier and I trust that method more....

Rick
Universal4

[pocketnut]

You all make very good points and have opened my eyes. I Have a link exchange page on my site with instructions to link to me before i will link to them. The site in question just ignored that step. That should be my first clue. If someone has good intentions then follow the steps the site owner has layed out..IMO.Thanks guys. This dog was just taught some new tricks.


THE POCKETNUT

[universal4]

I agree, for standard plain jane link exchanges, if you have a directions page on your site and is easily found from your homepage or links pages, then the other persopn should follow those instructions for the exchange and contact you....

I personally like the more personal approach and making contact here or at one of th eother forums like GAP, AGD or the GIA.

That allows you each to crerate specific exchangees, and makes it easier to make arrangements to get a handful of incoming links to various deep pages and offer your partner and your visitors themed links from your inner pages that link to appropriate content on other sites....

Any links that would be good for your visitors shopuld be good for your site overall....traditional link exchanges although helping in the overall grand scheme of ranking can help...but not as powerful as more better planned links....

Rick
Universal4

[pocketnut]

I agree, for standard plain jane link exchanges, if you have a directions page on your site and is easily found from your homepage or links pages, then the other persopn should follow those instructions for the exchange and contact you....

I personally like the more personal approach and making contact here or at one of th eother forums like GAP, AGD or the GIA.

That allows you each to crerate specific exchangees, and makes it easier to make arrangements to get a handful of incoming links to various deep pages and offer your partner and your visitors themed links from your inner pages that link to appropriate content on other sites....

Any links that would be good for your visitors shopuld be good for your site overall....traditional link exchanges although helping in the overall grand scheme of ranking can help...but not as powerful as more better planned links....

Rick
Universal4

So if i had an article on on the No Deposit bonus and how to redeem them and in that article I mentioned that casinos had different withdrawal methods and I new some one who's sites focused on casino banking. I could link the phrase "withdrawal method's" to the banking site and they would do the same? Is that what you mean by specific exchangees?

[universal4]

Yes that is one way it could be done and that would be an in-content exchange.

I do similar things only I often do plain anchor text link exchanges n the pages along the lines of what you mentioned.

In either case this should be a good exchange because it matches tyhe theme of the page and is therfore an appropriate link for the reader.

Rick
Universal4

[pocketnut]

Yes that is one way it could be done and that would be an in-content exchange.

I do similar things only I often do plain anchor text link exchanges n the pages along the lines of what you mentioned.

In either case this should be a good exchange because it matches tyhe theme of the page and is therfore an appropriate link for the reader.

Rick
Universal4

Thanks Universal4, I'm in the process of restructuring my site. And adding pages. I'm about to pop my cherry and post my site here for some constructive criticism. To match the advice I get with what I think needs to be fixed. I want to make sure I'm on the right track. I'm looking forward to reading what you think.