David
02-07-2006, 02:53 PM
There was one a time when directories were very popular as "link exchange directories" or "reciprocal link directories" or even "three way link" directories. That was a fad that lasted for a few years. People were successful in increasing their rankings with Google through link exchange. As a result the fad picked up steam and more and more people wanted to take advantage of this method.
Soon you started seeing sites with literally thousands of links that had been exchanged. If they didn't have a directory script, they would have something like link-page-1, link-page-2, etc; something there hundreds of pages. And for some phpLD was a great tool to organize the link exchanged.
I still think the occasional link exchange with a site where you hold something in common can be a good way to share information and traffic when the users would benefit, but taken to extremes, it doesn't serve the user, and may even land you in the google penalty box.
So be careful when you hear people requesting link exchanges, or getting involved in massive reciprocal link exchange networks. It could hurt you on google (even though in the past it helped).
Soon you started seeing sites with literally thousands of links that had been exchanged. If they didn't have a directory script, they would have something like link-page-1, link-page-2, etc; something there hundreds of pages. And for some phpLD was a great tool to organize the link exchanged.
I still think the occasional link exchange with a site where you hold something in common can be a good way to share information and traffic when the users would benefit, but taken to extremes, it doesn't serve the user, and may even land you in the google penalty box.
So be careful when you hear people requesting link exchanges, or getting involved in massive reciprocal link exchange networks. It could hurt you on google (even though in the past it helped).