A few days ago, I wrote about SEO and some of the ways to help make your URL more search engine friendly. I also talked about the other ways of improving your SEO by getting other sites to link to you. Remember that there is essentially 2 main types of links:

1) One-Way Links 2) Reciprocal Links

(Yes, I know there are circular links, three-way links, etc, but these can technically be included in the "one-way" links categories...we will discuss that in a second). First, a reciprocal link is one where you are offering links one-for-one with another website: "If you put my URL on your website, I will place your link on my website." This is the foundation of what people refer to as a "link exchange." Mind you, a link exchange can be more than just an eye for an eye. This can include: "If you put my site on your site, I will link back to yours from another one of my websites". Also, some people swap URLs in circular manners. This is a follow-on of the last thing I talked about. Let's take a step back for a second and review the two:

Reciprocal Link: site A site B Three-Way Link: URL A -> URL B -> URL C So the Circular link is as follows: Circular Link: URL A -> URL B -> URL C -> site A

Now the big issue is: Does it matter?, there is a lot of concern on whether reciprocal links are really worth anything? Do they cancel each other out? Secondly, what is the difference between the Three-Way link, the Circular link and is that a concern?

Basically, there is really no answer to any of these questions. What I do know is this:

1) One-Way links are better than Reciprocal Links 2) Three-Way links are superior than Circular Links. There is some belief that Google, for example, is smart enough to realize the full circle of links. 3) Any link that is directed to your website (reciprocal or not) is a good backlink.

You will not be penalized for who links to YOU. However, who you link TO needs to be given some consideration. Remember, you are GIVING your PageRank with whomever you are linking to. Further, if you are linking to not related, obsolete, or removed websites, Google may punish you for it.

But at the end of the day, getting links pointing to your website is always a good thing. I will go over some great ways of getting one-way links in upcoming articles. Until then...

- Matthew Bredel