Link building is a powerful way to get your website higher up the search engines. A solid link popularity can literally make or break a site with the search engines.

What is "link popularity"?
In very real and simple terms, link popularity refers to the number and quality of the incoming links that are pointing to your website. These other sites consider your site important enough to link to. So, in the engine's view, your site is considered important as well.

Building link popularity is one of the most difficult and time consuming aspects of search engine optimisation and we at Aknown deploy different techniques to gather links for your websites. This one job alone is the biggest project on its own and its as important, if not less as compared to writing quality content for your websites.

Link exchanges are usually between two websites that complement each other to such a degree that exchanging links enhances the user experience of both websites.

Since links became essential to rank well in Google and other search engines link exchange software and consultancy firms have flooded the market.

Link Exchange software usually query search engines under target keywords, finds a list of high ranking website that appear in Google’s first two Search Engine Results (SER) pages and then sends automated link exchange request e-mails to the Whois or Alexa contact.

Sounds very clever … but how do you think Google will respond to the new Link Exchange frenzy?

Link exchanges are not working! Not a very popular statement, but it has been our experience. Many Search Engine Optimisation companies (SEO’s) still charge their clients a small fortune for link building consulting or link building campaigns that focus primarily on link exchanges.

Now that Link Exchanging has become a major focus in the SEO industry, it should come as no surprise that reciprocal linking has lost the effect that it used to have. We believe that when an inbound link has been detected from another site to yours, but an exchanged link has also been detected, that link will not be awarded its usual value or not even be counted as an inbound link.

It makes sense for Google to take this approach, since so many have jumped on the band wagon of link exchange, without improving relevance or usability for end users.

Link Exchange

With millions of websites exchanging links simply to improve rankings, these links tend to be free, irrelevant, only with search engines in mind and tucked away on pages stuffed with link exchange partner links.

It hasn't taken Google long to identify these tactics and move towards countering them.

One Way Inbound Link Building

To find a website that will link to your site without an exchanged link back to theirs is almost an impossible art.

One way links act as a vote of popularity and usually point to a relevant resource of information, product or service.

One-way inbound links (even when paid for) are typically carefully placed, not used by the internet masses, difficult to find and not software or bulk e-mail driven. In fact to find a website that will link to your site without an exchanged link back to theirs is almost an impossible art.

Link Exchange Conclusion

Inbound Links + Link Exchange OR Inbound Links no Link Exchange?

In contrast to link exchange, one way link building is without doubt a more effective vehicle for building high ranking. Since the October 2005 update, feel very strongly that link exchanging has become a total waste of time, make sure that you don’t pay money for any link exchange consulting, it will waste your money.