Reciprocal links: Are they harmful?

Reciprocal links.



You know. Link trading with other bloggers.



Swapping links is an old practice, used by all bloggers, since the idea of blogs were new. Bloggers like to share their visitor traffic with one another.



Recently, however, the concept of reciprocal links has come under attack. Some search engine optimization (SEO) experts claim that traded links do your blog harm in the search engines.



I think they are wrong.



SEO professionals might have a point, regarding links between sites, where there is absolutely no relationship whatsoever. Those are generally entirely commercial sites, however.



Blogs are very different.



Bloggers link to one another in many more ways than simply exchanging links on a blogroll. Most blogs link to other blog posts, within the body of their own entries. Often the receiving blog will make note of that fact in another later post.



The beat goes on.



The real isue here is relevance. Bloggers who link to, or exchange links with other bloggers who write about the same topics, are doing one another a favour.



Blogs with posts on the same themes benefit one another in more ways than one.



First of all, each blog shares a small portion of the other blogger's regular visitor traffic. That is always nice. I like to find new readers visiting my blog, and I always try to visit the sending blog, especially if it's brand new to me.



Some great blog discoveries are made that way. Many of those brand new findings are listed as regulars on my Resources list. I'm sure you have done the same thing.



Related theme blog links help one another in the search engines. Because each blog involved in the link exchange is relevant to the other, they both get some added link popularity boost in the search engines.



For example, two political blogs or two legal blogs crosslinking, help one another.



In fact, it's very easy to make your blog themed and relevant for any incoming link.



Even if the traded link had nothing to do with your blog, that can be changed in an instant. Simply write a blog post or two about the topic of the formerly unrelated blog. Just like that, both of your blog traded links are themed for one another. Relevance is born.



Don't let anyone discourage you from sharing and exchanging links with other blogs.



Everyone benefits, especially from the chance to visit an entirely new blog.



You can't beat that.



Don't worry about reciprocal links.



They work for blogs.