A link exchange is an agreement in which sites place links to each other because the other side agreed to do the same. It ranges from a simple two-way swap to organized groups that trade links among dozens of members, and three-way schemes meant to hide the reciprocity. Google's spam policies name excessive link exchanges as link spam.
Forms it takes
The common versions are listed below. The underlying deal is always the same: a link is the price of a link.
- Direct swap: I link to you, you link to me
- Three-way or ABC exchange: site A links to site B, and site B's owner links to site A from a different site C
- Swap groups and spreadsheets shared among marketers
- Guest post swaps where each side publishes the other's article
Where it differs from reciprocal links
Reciprocal links describe the outcome: two sites happen to link to each other. A link exchange describes the arrangement. Plenty of reciprocal links are natural. An exchange starts with the trade, which is why the policy concern applies to exchanges done at volume or purely for ranking purposes.
Why marketers still get pitched
Exchanges look cheap because no money changes hands. But a traded link is still a link given for something of value, and the outbound links you place in return sit on your own site where they can affect how your pages look to readers and to search engines.
Example
A swap spreadsheet
A content marketer at an illustrative customer success platform, Brightquay, is invited to a Slack group where members list articles and request links in return for links. Each member logs their "credits". Brightquay's team declines, because the group exists to trade links and the outbound links would sit on its own blog posts.
Common mistakes
Thinking three-way swaps are invisible
Hiding the pattern changes the shape of the trade, not what it is.
Adding traded links to old posts
Inserting unrelated links into existing content to settle a trade degrades the post for readers.
Questions
If each side publishes the other mainly to get the link, yes. If both pieces stand on their own and serve each audience, it is closer to normal collaboration, but keep anchors natural.
