Thread: Link exchanges with other real estate sites

Link Exchange is a good strategy if;

- you know where you SHOULD only be linking to (relevant sites only)
- you know WHAT to link to them
- and you know WHY you are linking to them

Some link exchange also depends on the TLD of sites. If it is possible to link to a (for example) a .gov or .edu doamins, that would be very helpful and weighs heavier than other sites.

Link exchange is a waste of your time. The search engines know what to look for and link pages are discounted. Plus, most of the people who request link exchanges will eventually take your link down off of their site so you end up giving them a one way link. Been there did that. Link exchange died out years ago.

Originally Posted by Greg

The search engines know what to look for and link pages are discounted.

Do you have evidence for that please? As far as I can see Google only warns against "excessive" link exchanges?

Originally Posted by Greg

Plus, most of the people who request link exchanges will eventually take your link down off of their site so you end up giving them a one way link.

Although it's true that can happen, providing link exchange isn't done excessively it isn't difficult to monitor which ones are live and which are not.

Originally Posted by Greg

Been there did that. Link exchange died out years ago.

With respect, just because you don't engage in it any more doesn't mean it has died out.

Originally Posted by Greg

Link exchange is a waste of your time. The search engines know what to look for and link pages are discounted. Plus, most of the people who request link exchanges will eventually take your link down off of their site so you end up giving them a one way link. Been there did that. Link exchange died out years ago.

I still like providing real estate links in other areas to visitors to my site halsheeler.com. Regardless of what effect they have on search engines, they can provide useful information.
Hal Sheeler
Century 21 Energy Shield Realty

Originally Posted by Altinkum Homes

Do you have evidence for that please? As far as I can see Google only warns against "excessive" link exchanges?



Although it's true that can happen, providing link exchange isn't done excessively it isn't difficult to monitor which ones are live and which are not.



With respect, just because you don't engage in it any more doesn't mean it has died out.

As I mentioned in response to previous post, I still find that they provide useful information for visitors to my site halsheeler.com
Hal Sheeler
Century 21 Energy Shield Realty
Lebanon, New Hampshire

Originally Posted by Altinkum Homes

Do you have evidence for that please? As far as I can see Google only warns against "excessive" link exchanges?

This is old news. If you search the archives of forums that deal exclusively with seo you will find many instances of sites getting penalized for link exchange. How much is excessive? From the look of the links page on your site you will find out first hand and it may not be your fault but the fault of someone you link to.

Originally Posted by Altinkum Homes

I was just posting a comment on another thread regarding relevant backlinks, and had a thought that as presumably everyone here is involved in real estate and has a website, could we compile a list of those who would be interested in exchanging links?
Obviously link exchanges are only part of a link building strategy but it is a good way of getting relevant ones.
I can start the ball rolling by giving my links page, where there is a form for anyone who wants to exchange.

I can provide you three way link exchange. Do let me know if you are interested. I never support one way link exchange. It can create detrimental effects

Originally Posted by Altinkum Homes

I was just posting a comment on another thread regarding relevant backlinks, and had a thought that as presumably everyone here is involved in real estate and has a website, could we compile a list of those who would be interested in exchanging links?
Obviously link exchanges are only part of a link building strategy but it is a good way of getting relevant ones.
I can start the ball rolling by giving my links page, where there is a form for anyone who wants to exchange.

I have a link exchange page on my New Hampshire and Vermont website halsheeler.com
Hal Sheeler
Century 21 Energy Shield Realty
Lebanon, New Hampshire

Originally Posted by Greg

This is old news. If you search the archives of forums that deal exclusively with seo you will find many instances of sites getting penalized for link exchange. How much is excessive? From the look of the links page on your site you will find out first hand and it may not be your fault but the fault of someone you link to.

I have 85 exchange links on my links page, they are well organized and amount to less than 2% of my total backlinks. That cannot be excessive by any definition and I don't believe is at all what Google would be looking to penalize. I am not going to search the archives of forums but if you have and have evidence of penalization that is relevant to my situation I would be grateful to see it.


I don't just accept link exchanges that are offered, I check the sites first and would estimate that I reject 95% of the requests I receive for one reason or another. So I am careful who I exchange with.


Will I find out as you suggest I will? My site has been going for about 8 months now, it is PR4 and when I checked my SERP earlier today, of my 30 keywords, 19 are on page 1, 4 on page 2 and 4 on page 3 of Google (of the 19 on page 1, 10 are high comp, 5 medium, 4 low).
Compared to a couple of weeks ago, 22 have risen, 5 fallen, and 3 stayed the same.
Has Google made a mistake then in progressively improving the ranking of my site? Is this an oversight that has lasted 8 months? I don't think so.