[SEO Dictionary] Link Exchange

A link exchange is a reciprocal linking scheme that can harm your website’s ranking. Unfortunately, many law firm websites participated in link exchanges when they were a still viable search engine optimization strategy – and they’re still trying to recover.

Examples of link exchanges include directory websites that allow users to submit links and sites that require you to put a link on your website in order to get a link from them.

Other examples of link schemes include:

• Buying or selling links that pass “link juice” or authority
• Guest posts and article marketing strategies that rely on keyword-rich anchor text links
• Using automated programs to create links

Any link that Google considers to be part of a link scheme can result in a penalty.

It’s important to note that link exchanges are not the same as high-quality backlinks that increase your website’s standing in the search engines.

Because link exchanges used to increase a page’s ranking on the search engine results pages, or SERPs, many lawyers paid for services that advertised numerous backlinks. Many of those law firm sites are still trying to bounce back after Google’s search engine algorithm updates began penalizing low-quality links.