Link Exchange Pages - Good or Bad?

[Hazo]

I have always looked upon link pages as spammy because in most cases they are designed to just link between sites. Yes of course sometimes they could be of value to visitors, but I haven't found them particularly helpful when I've stumbled across them.

I'm not sure on the SEO aspect of them either. People always seem to only want to do exchanges on links pages.

Anyone like to chime in here and give their thoughts on them?

[Josh]

I used to think they are absolutely worthless. Lately though I have been adding them to some of my web sites. I don't do many exchanges and will probably stop once I get 10 or so. I consider them to be somewhat useful seo wise. People who focus on link exchanges or any kind as their #1 means of seo'ing a web site are wasting their time imo.

I think when done right a links/resource page trade will be beneficial. Most web masters don't want to give up contextual links so this is a solid alternative. On two of my big sites I've done 6-7 resource page trades and 3-4 contextual trades on inner pages. Thats pretty much all I will do unless something really good comes around. Both sites rank very well so it hasn't hurt me.

[OPC]

I have always looked upon link pages as spammy because in most cases they are designed to just link between sites. Yes of course sometimes they could be of value to visitors, but I haven't found them particularly helpful when I've stumbled across them.

I'm not sure on the SEO aspect of them either. People always seem to only want to do exchanges on links pages.

Anyone like to chime in here and give their thoughts on them?

I think if you have it catigorized, and limit the number - it isn't bad... I also think trying to "look not spammy" is the new spammy... lol

[GregW]

I have the same thoughts as OPB.

If you go down the route of using a links page as a method for getting as many reciprocal links as possible, I don't think that it is going to be too beneficial. I think it will be more valuable of you keep your visitors in mind and create more of a handy directory with links to informative sites. You don't have to reserve it for reciprocal links either, link to sites that you find genuinely useful even if they do not link back.

I see links pages (or directory pages as I like to call them) as part of a well balanced site when it comes to SEO.

I don't think you need to strictly limit your linking to XX amount of sites with your directory either. I know of one or two genuinely useful links pages/directory sites that link to numerous websites and rank exceptionally well as a whole. As long as you're linking to good sites, I don't think there is a need limit your exchanges.

[xYassassinYx]

i agree with pokerbank on this.

its not about how many sites you link to, oits about the quality of that site

[Randy Ray]

Link pages are great provided you show significant amounts of editorial discretion. It's not a question of how many links you put on the page. It's a matter of how good the sites are that you're linking to.

[pipeline]

If you look at most link pages, even ones with good editorial practices you'll see a lot of them are grey barred and are in the supplementals.

I'd prefer to just do a quality in-content link exchanges that provides usefulness for visitors to both sites, and in return helps you with google.

[Michael Martinez]

Link pages don't work if they are not well-supported by the sites hosting them. A lot of people are happy to accept links but they only grudgingly give them, and they try to hide or bury their link pages.

It should come as no surprise that the search engines treat those pages poorly.

If you want to exchange links with people, find partners who take the process seriously and who treat their linking partners with respect.

But don't base your entire linking strategy on link exchanges. You want links from diverse sources and techniques. The more natural your link profile the better.