At present, all over the Web, designers and SEO’s alike have set about drawing their respective lines in the sand. On one side you’ll find one way, high quality links. On the other side you’ll find reciprocal, high quality links. One-wayers claim Recips are meaningless and nullified. Recips, meanwhile, say that if you maintain relevancy, they’re the way to go.

Who is right?

Well, this SEO thinks they both are. And aren’t. Maybe both. Sort of. Sometimes. And for good measure, probably.

Let’s cut through the chase, shall we? The question “should I use reciprocal links?� does rage on in SEO circles. And the answer is a firm, “Maybe.�

First, let’s look at what links are…

Links provide the search engines with an idea of the sites value, based on testimonials. In traditional marketing vehicles, we see testimonials all the time – think before and after photos for the latest diet craze. Written or spoken testimonials are all over the place. When one Web site links to another in an effort to direct their users to additional, high-value content, it is really just a new-fangled testimonial. After all, why would one Webmaster link a site to another unless the content was great? Well, they wouldn’t. So, the concept of backlinks for testimonial rating was born. The more votes (links) you have, the better your rankings.

However, in almost any endeavor, there will be people who will try to exploit a system to make it work to their own advantage, and so various link schemes were born…

“I’ll link to you if you link to me.� (Reciprocal linking)
“You link to Larry, Larry will link to me, and I’ll link to you.� (Link triangle)
“I’ll make sure you get 500 new backlinks in 60 days or your money back.� (Link farms)
“For a $50, I’ll provide backlinks from 4 PR 6 Web pages.� (Non-relevant link buying)

There is no limit to the scope of link schemes that have emerged. Yet after all this, the search engines really only want one thing: A way to quantify the rather subjective quality of a Web site. The problem of course, is that robots are doing this. Robots are not so good at subjectivity and thus, we get link schemes.

What does Google® have to say about reciprocal links? Well, according to the Google® Webmaster Help Center:

“Examples of link schemes can include…Excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging (”Link to me and I’ll link to you.”)â€�

The only problem I have is with the word, “excessive.� Does that mean that you can be penalized after a certain number of reciprocal links? How about if you do it once? Twice? Ten times? Well, we’re not sure.

There is some anecdotal evidence that sites that excessively reciprocate links are filtered or penalized, but it is unclear as to what the real rules are. If you’re looking for something certain, here’s a bit of clarity from Google® regarding decisions you need to make about linking – again from the Webmaster Help Center:

“Before making any single decision, you should ask yourself the question: Is this going to be beneficial for my page’s visitors?�

If the answer is “yes� then I would say, go for it. Just make sure that the link out will provide high value to your site visitors. Remember, you won’t be penalized for who links to you, but you could be for who you link out to.

There is too much evidence to suggest that reciprocal links help ranking to exclude it out of hand and entirely. But if you do so, make sure your adding value. And don’t do it “excessively.�

My line in the sand is squiggley.