‘Nuff of the speculation. Here’s the proof.

Google do not like reciprocal link directories and they can sniff a single out a mile off. There was (notice the use of the past tense right here) a link directory on my website till not too long ago, but I have now removed it, due to the fact it had become as useful as a chocolate teapot.

Whilst the major front page of the internet site has retained it’s Google PageRank of PR5, in 1 of their last updates, Google relegated that directory, which had also previously had a PR5, to a PR .

Meanwhile, I had not altered my linking structure that pointed to it. I had not altered my policies either: I did not link TO any PR0 sites, kept the number of links per page down to a minimum and there had been even text descriptions for each entry listed.

Google could tell what it was and acted as they saw fit.

There is no point questioning or whining about it. They can and they are undertaking so in order to provide better outcomes to searchers. You can like it or lump it, but if you want them to give you decent listings, ranks or send you any visitors, their guidelines count.

My suggestions: forget *artificial* reciprocal linking entirely. The time taken to sustain the directory, approve/disaprove submissions (mainly the latter, simply because the only individuals nevertheless asking for links are crappy PR0 sites and spammers) can be much far better spent.

When you want to exchange links with other web sites, make positive you do so in an all-natural way, by which I mean write about the other internet site in some way and place natural links inside the body text.

And contemplate just giving to get. By which I mean, link out to valuable issues for the edification or entertainment of your guests giving no consideration to the instant usefulness of that link to you.

What goes around will come around. When you are observed as useful, other individuals will link to you. You do then get your links “reciprocated”, but it may not be from the same folks to whom you linked.

That is the natural way of linking that Google desires to see.

Do not, below any circumstances, preserve something (other than internal navigation) that could look like merely a list of links / link farm, since Google will locate it, will not like it and will penalize it.

Reciprocal linking, in the form of lists or directories merely designed for that extremely objective cannot do anything to support you with Google (quite the opposite, in reality) and for that reason, est mortuus. [RIP]

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