I currently have a reciprocal link exchange program on my site. However, I am wondering if this program is actually hurting my page rank. I am thinking about either removing it or just having links specifically relevant to my site. Any opinions on reciprocal link exchange programs and whether they should be included on sites? Thanks.

All depends on where and why you have one.

http://webmaster-talk.eu/en/articles...ng-good-or-bad

And is that PageRank as in SGB PR or page rank as in where the URL ranks in a particular SERP?

Thank you for your response. My primary purpose for having a link exchange program was for increasing pagerank.

Totally wrong reason, and "increasing pagerank" should NOT be goal of any work on your site.

So the answer is forget the link exchange idea.

Hello Mark,

I don't have a reciprocal link exchange program on my sites, but I do have reciprocal and relevant links, and very selective as to who I am linked to.

My answer to you would be to forget the page rank and concentrate on your business with reciprocal and relevant links of your choosing.

Thank you for your response. I have quite a few relevant links on my links page. Would you recommend that I delete the irrelevant links keeping the relevant ones or discontinue the link exchanges all together? Thanks.

I have irrelevant links along with reciprocal and relevant, but am choosy also with the irrelevant links. This is my opinion, personally I would keep the links, but only you can make the decision what is best for you and your business.

Relevant, irrelevant, why does it matter?

If the links are not there because you at one time thought or currently think they would be of interest or useful to your real visitors they have no place on your pages.

That is the very simple criteria to judge link swapping by.

Originally Posted by chrishirst

Relevant, irrelevant, why does it matter?

If the links are not there because you at one time thought or currently think they would be of interest or useful to your real visitors they have no place on your pages.

That is the very simple criteria to judge link swapping by.

There's the perfect answer Mark, of interest or useful to your visitors and potential clients/customers. Again, only you can make that decision what's best for your website.

I think at times webmasters forget the simple things such as the consumer, what would they like, what would interest them so they do come back besides the product or service you are selling.......

Link exchange is nearly always a waste of time.

Think about the mathematics of it.
Most sites have a "links" page stuck somewhere at the back of their site
that itself has little or no PageRank (SEO value).
When a person links to you from that page, they are taking something
with almost zero value and then diluting it even further between the 20 or so other pages they are linking to from the same page.
End benefit to you - practically zero.

If you are going to employ an active "link hunting" strategy, you need to find relevant pages with reasonable PageRank and few outgoing links. Then SOMEHOW persuade those site owners to put a link to you on their high value page.
Not easy, but I've managed to do it a few times.

Originally Posted by TWD

Link exchange is nearly always a waste of time.

Completely wrong. I've seen both parties benefit from a link exchange... your opinion is not universal for everyone.

Originally Posted by TWD

Think about the mathematics of it.
Most sites have a "links" page stuck somewhere at the back of their site
that itself has little or no PageRank (SEO value).

There is no "SEO value" at all with these links. Period.

Originally Posted by TWD

When a person links to you from that page, they are taking something
with almost zero value and then diluting it even further between the 20 or so other pages they are linking to from the same page.
End benefit to you - practically zero.

For what? Ranking purposes? Do you not remember you can get direct traffic?

What happens when two webmasters, who are friends, link to each other? Is it some super bad taboo that should instantly be looked at or both sites should be taken down? Absolutely not, don't be silly.

Originally Posted by TWD

If you are going to employ an active "link hunting" strategy, you need to find relevant pages with reasonable PageRank and few outgoing links. Then SOMEHOW persuade those site owners to put a link to you on their high value page.
Not easy, but I've managed to do it a few times.

It doesn't have to be relevant. This is an "online business" forum, but I can link to a muscle car site and still see a impact with direct traffic and possibly page ranking (if that even matters!)

Link exchange is nearly always a waste of time.

Think about the mathematics of it.
Most sites have a "links" page stuck somewhere at the back of their site
that itself has little or no PageRank (SEO value).
When a person links to you from that page, they are taking something
with almost zero value and then diluting it even further between the 20 or so other pages they are linking to from the same page.
End benefit to you - practically zero.

That is because you are "exchanging" links for TOTALLY the WRONG REASONS.

SGB PR is NOT, NOT, NOT and NEVER, NEVER, EVER will be a worthwhile "goal" of link "building"

Links have this other "Secret Life" that not too many people seem to be aware of.

Good advice on the last two posts!

I'm going to add to the discussion on linking and the benefits.

You're a Florist and have a website, an old colleague of yours is a Professor teaching Botany who has written several interesting educational papers on the subject online. You have linked up to these papers, now you have relevant educational links for your visitors.

Last year you attended the Florist Convention, met up with some interesting people and exchanged reciprocal relevant links with some of them, one of these friends sells fancy ceramic flower pots.

As a Florist your interest is in Chess and Art, you have placed some irrelevant links now. You are also taking flying lessons, so you now have a reciprocal irrelevant link to the aviation page, mainly because they have great music and humor links. There is no end or possibilities to what one can do with the linking, if you so desire.

The object here is to make your webpages fun, stimulating, interesting, exciting, and educational as much as possible, so the potential customer/client comes back and spreads the word.

What happens when two webmasters, who are friends, link to each other? Is it some super bad taboo that should instantly be looked at or both sites should be taken down? Absolutely not, don't be silly.

Nobody said that.
Simply that it is a waste of time.

Originally Posted by TWD

Nobody said that.
Simply that it is a waste of time.

You're the one saying that.

Did you not read the post 3 above this?! Or the link that talks about exchanging links? It's not a waste of time.

Thank you so much for your responses. This issue is now resolved!