Links

Reciprocal Links

Links from other websites TO your website. Google uses these to assist with ranking your own website. Their logic is that if there are many links to your website, then it must be important and should be awarded additional promotion.

That's the theory. The practice is very different and the herd mentality takes over. We get requests both as website designers and from our clients for such links. In most cases, the requesting web site is not in any way connected with your business. Even worse are businesses punting paid inbound links. 'Increase the Traffic to your Website!', 'We Guarantee 5,000 Reciprocal links!'.

Google spotted this and it is clear that not all inbound links are created equal. If such a practice is identified, the website will be removed from Google. Inbound links have to be related to the website. Because government and educational establishments do not readily link to other websites, such links carry more weight than others.

If you do decide to exchange links, that's fine but many such websites have a habit of ditching their link to you after a couple of months - and not telling you, so they get the advantage.

The Link Description

The link text is important. A link to your website labelled 'Safaris' is nowhere near as good as 'Budget Safaris and Game Viewing in the Okavango'. Even better is a link to your website that occurs in a body of text that is related to your business.