There's been a lot of discussion recently about linking to other Realtor websites, as well as some groups set up within the Active Rain community to facilitate linking with each other in hopes of increasing Google rankings.

This is nothing new, and in fact it did work for a while... it just isn't a smart practice any more unless you're a fan of Google Hell!

Click here to see a great article at SOEmoz.org regarding linking realtor-to-realtor. The last item they list in a new realtor's link program (get a site, exchange links, exchange more links, get some better rankings and fall in "link love") is that Matt (Matt Cutts of Google) comes in an ruins this new Realtor's day.

Link exchanges are clearly against Google's guidelines, so then comes the question of whether the link exchanges are valid (as in you really do have a true connection with these other Realtors other than just the link exchange). That's where Google has to start dealing with sheer numbers instead of just the presence of links.

The SEOmoz article implies that having up to 20 link exchanges with your fellow industry members may be ok, but pushing it to 50 or more may spell trouble.

The penalty for being caught with these "spammy" link exchanges is being banned from the search engines altogether. Oh, you may get a link somewhere out there in the wilderness, but once banned, don't expect anyone but your friends to be able to find you by a standard keyword search, and that's only if they're searching for your url or your name.

Thankfully, the folks at SEOmoz have provided a neat roadmap in the form of a flowchart to help you get back on the search engine roadmap once you've been banned. However, as pennace for your prior sins, you do have to remove all link exchanges and promise not to participate in this practice again.

So, I ask once again, is being sent to Google Hell really worth the short-lived thrill you'll have when your site gets temporarily high rankings on the search engines before Matt Cutts finds you and ruins you day? I think not!

It's really quite easy to do a form of a link exchange in a blog format, if you think about it. I can write an article about something going on in my area, and you can relate it to something in your area with a link to my article for more information. Voila! A valid link exchange! And I'm not talking about writing about how great a Realtor site in Timbuktu is, I'm talking real valid content.

For example, I've been writing a lot about eminent domain in my area. If you're facing the same issues in your area, write an article about the local goings-on and then send your readers to my blog for more information on eminent domain issues. In this case, the blog link is very secondary to the content, and thus is valid to the consumer.

Keep your link exchanges clean and write tons of good content. Those are the only sure ways of getting higher search engine rankings!

Linda Slocum, Santa Clarita Realtor
HoneyStartPacking.com
SantaClaritaRealEstateBlog.com