What is Link Exchange? Everything You Need to Know for SEO

As everyone knows, here at Saynine, we’re always exploring new ways to help websites grow.

One thing that has worked well for us is link exchange.

It’s a simple idea━two websites agree to link to each other, helping to share audiences, build credibility, and improve search rankings over time.

In this article, I’ll speak about what link swapping involves, why they can be valuable, and some tips I’ve picked up along the way.

If you’re looking to expand your link building game, this approach might just be a great fit.

So, let’s start.

What is Link Exchange?

Link exchange (also called link swapping) is when two websites agree to exchange links by linking to each other’s pages.

In general, it’s like saying, “I’ll mention your website if you mention mine.” This mutually beneficial exchange helps both websites gain new visitors and often see improved rankings in search results.

Link Exchange SEO Benefits

Based on our experience, link swapping can provide real SEO value when done correctly.

By swapping links with other relevant websites, yours will rank higher in search results. This can lead to more organic traffic, better website performance, and more competitiveness.

As shown in the screenshot, after providing a client with backlinks, we saw their traffic increase significantly!

Alright, let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits you can expect when you get into backlinks exchanges.

Further readings:

1. Link Building for SEO: Easy Guide for Beginners [Part 1]
2. Link Building Strategies: Outreach Secrets Revealed [Part 2]

Referral Traffic

Backlink exchanges can lead to significant referral traffic for SaaS companies. 

For instance, if a project management tool partners with a popular productivity blog, that blog can include a link to the tool in a relevant article. Readers interested in improving their project management skills may click on that link, driving them to the SaaS website and potentially converting them. 

This is particularly effective when the linking website has an audience that aligns well with the SaaS product. 

And let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want a little extra traffic from link building in SEO? It’s like getting a free pass to more visitors!

So, what’s the next benefit?

Improved Brand Visibility

Brand visibility is the next essential advantage.

Imagine if an email marketing software is linked to from a well-known marketing website.

Visitors who trust that website are likely to check out the tool, just because they saw it linked.

If a big brand like HubSpot highlights your service, it can really increase your website visibility and credibility in the market!

So, imagine how being featured on a well-known website can suddenly make your brand seem much more trustworthy.

Improved DR

Link swapping also improves your website’s Domain Rating (DR), which is a measure of your website’s overall authority. 

We said that the more relevant backlinks you get from trusted sources, the higher your DR can go. 

For example, if your website’s DR increases from 30 to 45 over a few months, you might see a corresponding rise in organic traffic, especially if your backlinks come from relevant sources. Tools like Ahrefs can help track this progress. 

However, keep an eye on other link building metrics as well—just having a high DR isn’t enough if your organic traffic isn’t growing steadily.

Take a look at this screenshot to see how backlinks helped boost our client’s Domain Rating (DR) from 41 to 53.

So, it’s an great way to boost your website’s SEO.

Increased Number of Backlinks

Backlinks are like votes of confidence for your website.

The more backlinks you have, the better your website can perform in search results.

Imagine you run a small bakery and create a blog post about “The Best Tips for Baking Perfect Croissants.” 

If a well-known food blogger writes a post about baking and includes a link to your blog, that’s a backlink. As you grow your network and build relationships with partner websites, you’ll naturally increase the number of backlinks, boosting your bakery’s credibility and improving your chances of ranking higher in search results.

As the number of these backlinks increases, search engines see your bakery as more reputable and relevant, which can help your website show up higher in search results when people search for baking tips or local bakeries. 

Pretty cool, right?

So, we recommend considering backlink exchanges in SEO as part of your overall strategy to make your website stand out online.

Is Link Exchange a Legit Strategy?

Well, it’s not that simple.

Link exchange has long been a popular method for boosting a website’s authority, and while Google’s rules have evolved, it still remains a valuable strategy when used correctly.

Now, link builders are focusing on better ways to build links that Google will actually value.

What Google Thinks About Link Swapping

To be short and honest Google doesn’t mind link swapping, as long as it makes sense. 

If you’re exchanging links with relevant and reliable websites, it can actually improve your website’s credibility. 

But if the links seem forced or irrelevant, Google might not be so happy and could penalize you. 

John Mueller, who is Google’s Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst, answered quickly and clearly.

He said:

So… a link exchange where both sides are kind of like you link to me and therefore I will link back to you, kind of thing, that is essentially against our webmaster guidelines. So that’s something where our algorithms would look at that and try to understand what is happening here and try to ignore those links. And if the web spam team were to look at it they would also say this is not okay. And if this is the majority of the links to your website like this then they might apply manual action. So that’s something I would avoid.

Quote source

Now, let’s move on to the different types of link swaps.

Link Exchange Options You Should Know

To make the most of backlink exchanges, it’s helpful to understand the different types available.

Reciprocal Backlinks

Reciprocal linking is when two websites agree to link to each other. 

This works well when the websites are related and the links are helpful to visitors.

But how to get reciprocal links?

For example, a fitness blog might link to a healthy recipe website, and the recipe website could link back. This makes sense because both websites share the same audience.

Here, Google is okay with reciprocal links in SEO when they happen naturally and make sense. In fact, many successful websites use this strategy.

But, be careful. Google doesn’t like it if websites swap too many links just to trick search rankings. 

So, reciprocal links in SEO can be effective, but it’s best to keep it natural and useful.

Three-Way or A-B-C Link Exchange

So, you want to swap links but don’t want Google to think you’re being too obvious? 

The three-way link exchange is the best one for it. It’s like passing notes in class but pretending you didn’t pass them.

Here’s the trick: 

Website A links to Website B, and Website B links to Website C. That way, both Website A and Website C get a backlink, but no one’s linking directly to each other. Great, right?

For this to work, the websites involved have to be relevant. 

We use A-B-C link exchanges to create powerful backlinks that won’t get you into trouble with Google. 

Because, honestly, who’s got time for penalties?

For a full understanding of the process, read further—I’ll outline each step clearly.

Link Exchange Red Flags: What to Avoid?

Building backlinks can seem like an easy way to improve your website’s SEO, but it’s not always simple. 

If not done correctly, you risk getting bad links, which can harm your website’s reputation in search engine results. 

So, let’s walk you through how to do backlink exchanges the right way.

Direct exchanges

Direct exchanges can be tricky, because they might look suspicious to search engines. From our experience, we recommend avoiding direct link exchanges because they can raise red flags with search engines. 

While trading links might seem like an easy way, it can actually lead to problems. 

Search engines can notice these links and might penalize your website, which can lower your ranking. It’s also hard to find partners who have content that fits well with yours, so you might end up with links that don’t really help. 

Instead, we suggest focusing on getting relevant backlinks from trusted websites. 

This helps you build real relationships and improves your website’s reputation, which is better for your search ranking in the long run.

So, when considering a link swap, always think about whether the partnership will benefit your audience.

Using fake names

If someone reaches out to you for a backlinks exchange and their name sounds suspicious, like “Harry Potter,” it’s definitely a red flag. 

In our experience, we’ve seen some unusual names pop up when people want to connect. While it was fun, we knew to check if this was a real business or just someone trying to trick us.

Here are some funny examples I thought you’d enjoy!

Here’s an example from Harry Potter. He reached out asking for a link building collaboration, can you believe it?

Another example of a suspicious person. Jennifer Lopez reached out to one of our link builders. Sounds funny, right?

So, before you agree to any backlink exchange, always check who you’re dealing with. Look at their website—does it seem professional? Are there real contact details? 

If you can’t find any info or if everything looks off, it’s best to walk away.

Paid-Backlink Exchange

We’ve found that a genuine link swap should never involve payment. 

For instance, we once partnered with another SaaS company that offered complementary services. Instead of paying for a link, we agreed to share links to each other’s content that would benefit our audiences. This way, we both gained exposure without any financial exchange.

If someone is asking for money in return for a link, it’s usually more like a paid advertisement than a true exchange.

Here’s the message we got, where they wanted to charge for a link. We chose not to go for it since it didn’t feel like a real partnership or add value.

So, always look for partners who want to grow together, not just make quick money, through buying links.

Further reading; Buying Links: What Should You Consider In 2024

Problematic websites

Not all links are created equal, so it’s important to be careful about where you’re getting them from. Some links can do more harm than good. Here are a few types to avoid:

• News magazine websites: These websites often have tons of links, which can water down your impact. Also, with so many outgoing links, it’s harder for yours to stand out.
• Forums: While forums are good for discussions, links from them don’t usually carry much SEO weight. They often lack authority and won’t give you a real boost in search rankings.
• Websites with a bad reputation: Avoid websites known for AI generated or spammy content. Linking to or from these websites can hurt your own website’s credibility in the eyes of search engines.

So, keep an eye out and choose links that are relevant and valuable to your audience.

Keep these tips in your mind from us. 

Let’s talk about the risks.

Backlink Exchange Risks

We know the importance of staying safe when exchanging backlinks.

So, let’s break down some specific risks we’ve seen, along with tips on how to handle them.

Links May Not Go Live

Sometimes, despite clear agreements and expectations, partners might not add the links as promised.

For example, we once partnered with a well-known blog to exchange links, and after several follow-ups, we found that the links had never been added to their website.

This left our efforts feeling wasted and could have negatively impacted our client’s SEO strategy.

To prevent this from happening, we recommend always keeping open lines of communication.

It’s essential to set clear deadlines for when links should be live, and follow up if they aren’t.

Broken Links

It’s not uncommon for links to break after they’ve been set up.

This can happen for various reasons, such as changes to the website structure, removal of the linked content, or even the website going offline.

For example, we had a situation where a valuable link we exchanged suddenly led to a 404 error because the partner website had updated its content without redirecting the old pages.

In short, keeping an eye on your links is important to avoid disappointing your audience and losing valuable connections.

Link Removals Because of Website Audits

Websites often do audits, and during this process, they might decide to remove links altogether, including those from exchanges.

For example, we once worked with a customer who had several links from a partner website. During an audit, that website decided to remove links that didn’t fit their new content focus. Sadly, our customer’s links were among those removed. This change hurt our customer’s website traffic and rankings on search engines.

So, to avoid surprises, make sure to partner with reputable websites that have a reliable track record.

Additionally, stay informed about their policies regarding link maintenance and removal.

Regularly check in with your partners to ensure they’re still aligned with your mutual goals.

By being aware of these risks and maintaining clear communication with your partners, you can manage backlink exchanges smoothly and securely. 

So, always keep in mind that strong communication is essential for a successful backlink swap!

How We Approach Link Exchange

As I mentioned earlier, we use a proven strategy for effective link swaps, and we’re sharing our approach so you can benefit from it as well. 

So, here’s how we go about it.

Step 1: Find Relevant Websites

First things first—finding the right websites to exchange links with is important. 

We don’t just go for any website; we look for those that match our specific criteria. Here’s what we look for:

• Relevance: The website should be in a similar industry, ideally in the SaaS (Software as a Service) space, to ensure it reaches the right audience.
• Authority: We use Ahrefs to evaluate potential partners. To ensure we’re working with reputable websites, we look for a Domain Rating (DR) of 50 or higher and at least 1,000 organic visitors per month. These criteria help us build links from sites that have strong domain rating and good traffic. 

So, after this, we’re ready to move forward.

What’s the next step?

Step 2: Reach Out to the Right People

Once our data team collects the emails of websites that meet these metrics, they look for key people in their staff, especially in the marketing or link building sphere, who might be involved in the process.

Usually, we target roles like SEO specialists, outreach coordinators, or digital marketing managers, all of whom play a vital role in implementing link building outreach processes to build strong connections.

After identifying the right people, we determine the best way to approach them. We generally use email, LinkedIn, or Slack to reach out. Here’s what we keep in mind:

Email: One of the most effective ways to get in touch. We usually start with a polite and clear email introducing ourselves, explaining why we’re reaching out, and proposing the link exchange.

Here’s an example of the email template we use to initiate a backlink exchange.

LinkedIn: If email addresses aren’t available, LinkedIn can be a great alternative. It’s also an excellent platform to build a professional connection, which can sometimes lead to more than just one-time exchanges.

The screenshot shows how we message potential link partners on LinkedIn.

Slack: For some SaaS companies that use Slack channels for community engagement, Slack messages can work wonders. If they’re active on Slack, it’s a more casual way to initiate a conversation.

To make things easier, we have a template prepared for each platform. However, depending on the situation, we might start with a simple greeting like, “Hello, how are you?” 

So, what’s the next step?

Step 3: Propose the “They Get, We Get” Approach

When it’s time to make our offer, we focus on mutual benefit—what I and all our specialists like to call it is the “They Get, We Get” method. Here’s how it works:

They Get: Partner websites, with whom we do link exchanges.  

We Get: Our clients, for whom we build links for.

To make this process smooth, we’re clear in our proposal:

• Mention Specific Placement: We point out the exact page or post on their partner’s website where their link could be beneficial.
• Offer Reciprocity: We emphasize that we’re offering a similar placement on our website in return. Most website owners appreciate this balanced approach.

In this screenshot, you can see how we explain our link-building approach, which works well. We show exactly where their link will go and offer a similar spot on our website, making it easy and fair for both sides.

In the end, this approach makes sure both sides get something valuable.

Key Takeaways

• Link exchange is a mutual agreement where two websites mention each other’s links to increase traffic, improve search rankings, and reach a larger audience.
• Link swaps can drive targeted traffic, increase brand visibility, and strengthen search rankings, making your website easier for potential users to find.
• Link swaps can work if they’re natural and from trusted websites. Don’t overdo it or use irrelevant links.
• Pick the right backlink exchange method—make sure it’s relevant and natural. 
• Avoid direct link swaps, suspicious names, and paid link offers to ensure your backlinks are genuine and beneficial for your website’s reputation.
• Ensure your link exchange strategy is proactive and long-term, regularly auditing your links and relationships to keep them beneficial.
• Carefully select relevant websites with strong authority, ensuring they meet our domain rating and traffic criteria.

So, what steps will you take to build reliable and beneficial link exchange partnerships?

FAQ About Link Exchange