Link exchange, also known as reciprocal linking, is a common practice in SEO where two websites agree to link to each other’s content. The goal is to improve the visibility of both websites in search engine rankings.
However, it’s essential to engage in link exchange with care and ethics. Excessive link exchange is considered a link scheme and violates Google’s Spam policies. If detected, these links may be devalued algorithmically. Besides, a website may be subject to manual action leading to demotion in search rankings.
That being said, reciprocal links can occur naturally. In fact, our recent study found that around 40% of websites that receive good traffic from Google have reciprocal links.
When done ethically and with the aim of providing value to users, link exchanges can be a beneficial SEO strategy. For instance, if two websites in the same industry or niche link to each other’s content because they believe it would be useful to their respective audiences, it can be a legitimate link exchange that benefits both websites.