Reciprocal Linking - is this bad?

[HoosierBuff]

I have had the habit of telling my clients to "go and ask friends with websites to link back to you". They never do, but, it's always worth a shot.

One client asked today "can I tell them to link to me, and I will link to them". . . and I wasn't sure what to think.

But, lets say this happens, and we have a realtor with no other outside links, that suddenly links to a plumber, and that plumber, with no other links, links back to the realtor.

I suppose they could do this in a more sophisticated way, and link to several other businesses, to make it look not so shady. . . but, even if they don't, do you think Google would have a problem?

 

[djbaxter]

Reciprocal linking in itself is not a bad thing. It happens frequently in "natural linking" and is perfectly normal and acceptable.

Reciprocal linking is only a red flag when

• most or all of your incoming and/or outgoing links are reciprocal: red flag
• one party or the other is paying for the link: manual penalty
• anything else that suggests the reciprocal links have been manipulated

In your scenario, both parties have no other links, so that is a red flag, but it's not likely that Google or anyone else is going to object to or care about a single link. And of course that single link is not going to have any real positive influence on how either site ranks. Get them to work on creating a more balanced portfolio of links.

 

[HoosierBuff]

Thanks for the insight

And of course that single link is not going to have any real positive influence on how either site ranks. Get them to work on creating a more balanced portfolio of links.

I'm not focused on linkbuilding, but, I'm surprised by this. When I look at most local businesses and their link profiles (using semrush), I see so few real links at all. . . a ton of directory, or other random links, but, so few actual links from local businesses. My thinking is, in a world where there are so few links, just one or two from another real local business has to help. Is this wrong?

 

[djbaxter]

That depends entirely on the business and the real value of that link.