h2Links – the official currency of SEO-land /h2 pIn this article I often use the words credibility, authority, confidence, reputation, etc. I may be inconsistent with my use of words, but they all refer to the same thing - this abstract currency that flows among sites that link to each other./p p/p pWhen page A links to page B, page A gives page B a fraction of its authority. If page A has too many outgoing links, it will end up with little authority. Similarly, if page B has few links but receives many links, it will end up with a great deal of authority. Keep this concept in mind when you read the new few sections of this article./ph2Incoming Links /h2 pThe value of an incoming link depends on:/p ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc" liThe content of the linking page /li liThe link text /li liThe content immediately around the link /li liThe number of links on the page /li liThe position of the link within the content (header, footer, main body?)/li liHow well the content of the linking page compares to that of the target website /li /ul p/p pIf you’re considering purchasing incoming links, I strongly recommend you consider all the points above before reaching for your wallet./p p/p pIncoming links cannot damage your rankings. SEs understand you can’t control who links to your website so you will not be penalized if you receive links from bad neighbourhoods. They will simply be of no benefit to you. The only problem is when you link to a bad neighbourhood (see external links below)./p h2External Links /h2 pExternal links are an important aspect of quality content. It’s always good to offer a few links to related quality content. But beware of whom you link to. Incoming links cannot damage your reputation, but an outgoing link to a bad neighbourhood can very much do so./p p/p pA link is a ‘vote of confidence’ to the page you’re linking to and you definitely do not want to give your precious votes to poor quality websites – quite simply – it makes you look bad./p h2Reciprocal Links /h2 pI’m well known to be sceptical when it comes to reciprocal links (probably because of a href="http://fyneworks.blogspot.com/2007/03/link-sharing-doesnt-work.html"this article /a). One true, sincere incoming link is much more valuable than a thousand reciprocal links. If you read the ‘Incoming Links’ section above you’ll understand, but here’s why:/p p/p h4Reciprocal links /h4 ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc" liLink is usually on a page with poor or no content /li liLinks are normally considered poor quality because the content surrounding the link is unrelated /li liContent of linking page is almost always unrelated /li liLinking pages normally have dozens if not hundreds of external links /li liLink pages normally have low PR because of the number of outgoing links /li /ul pSo basically, reciprocal links give you a tiny share of something that isn't worth much in the first place.bOne-Way links on the other hand.../b/p ul lispan style="font-family: Symbol;"/spanLink is on a page of quality content /li liContent is related to the link /li lispan style="font-family: Symbol;"/spanContent of linking page is related to your website /li lispan style="font-family: Symbol;"span style="font-family: quot;Times New Romanquot;; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"/span/spanLinking page with have a minimal amount of outgoing links, usually just yours./li lispan style="font-family: Symbol;"/spanArticle pages can only improve their PRs because they get traffic, they get bookmarked and linked to by people (used as reference)./li /ul pSo basically, you get a big share of something that's very valuable will only get better! I'm no genius but I know what I'd go for.../p pSo one-way links are a win-win situation. “Oh yeah? How the hell am I going to get incoming links genius-boy?”, you say. Fear not my friend, read on and you shall find the way…/p