An Unforeseen “Benefit” of 3-Way Link Exchanges
Don’t forget about the comment contest.
What are 3-Way Links?
If you’re not familiar with 3-way link exchanges, they’re basically where three different sites all link to each other in a way where it creates a link wheel.
For example:
Site A links to Site B, site B links to site C, and site C links to site A. So, what you have is something that looks like the picture to the left. Notice that B doesn’t link back to A, C doesn’t link back B, and A doesn’t link back to C.
This eliminates what is generally called reciprocal linking, a common and out-dated form of linking in which two websites link to each other. This way of linking is ineffective and won’t do much good for either site, according to Google.
However, 3-way linking IS effective because the links appear as one-way links, which are highly valued by Google. As you market your website, it’s important that you get one-way links to your site to increase your rankings in search engines.
The Unforeseen “Benefit”
Knowing what I’ve just said, I’ve done several 3-way link exchanges with other webmasters. I tend to be picky with who I do link exchanges of any kind with, but depending on the circumstance and the websites involved, I’ll gladly do so.
That being said, I found out some pretty interesting news the other week. Apparently one of those 3-way link exchanges I did got my site some added and completely unforeseen attention.
Thanks to @amabaie for the heads-up on this.
If you’re familiar with Kevin Potts or follow the Cambridge Business Academy at all, they did a webinar back on May 12, which just happened to be my Birthday. During the live webinar, seen by thousands, my website was not only mentioned, but it was shown live on the screen!
But, it’s not for what you might think…
Rather than have me explain it, I think it’s better if you just see it for yourself. At exactly 6:48 into the webinar, they mention my site as my home page links back to the CBA site, all because of a 3-way link exchange that I did.
Here’s a link to the recorded webinar which can now be viewed on the CBA website: http://www.cambridgebusinessacademy.com/products/114/2/CBA/Succeed-2
Now, it goes to show that exchanging links in this manner is not only effective, but it’s being used by the top guys. Not to mention, you may even get some added exposure from it. 
I thought it was cool and worth mentioning, even though I didn’t see my traffic increase or anything.
The main reason for writing this isn’t to make my head swell. Rather, it’s to get you to check out an awesome webinar and website like CBA, and to get involved in doing 3-way link exchanges. Your website and online business will thank you for it.
Have any questions or comments? Leave them below…
Tags: 3 way link exchanges, backlink, backlinks, cambridge business academy, CBA, Kevin Potts, link exchange, link exchanges, link wheel, online business
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Filed under: Internet Marketing • Link Building • blogging • home business • marketing • online business
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Twitter: BertPadilla
says:
I’m not sure if this is really the first I’m going to leave a comment here. Anyway, back to the topic… A three-way link exchange is far better than the reciprocal link exchange. Every SEO practitioner knows that. The “unforeseen” benefit from the title of this post really intrigued me. The opportunity of being introduced in the webinar will bring you wide readership not just from SE’s, but from those who attended the webinar. They will start talking about you, thus getting more referrals!
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@Cebu Tech Blogger@Windows 7 Crack,
I hope that is the case. I haven’t seen much extra traffic yet, though.
Thanks for the input, and hope to see you around more often.
[Reply]
Cebu Tech Blogger from Windows 7 Crack
Twitter: BertPadilla
@Alan Mater,
You might notice the progress soon… Surely, will be checking here more often…
Cebu Tech Blogger@Windows 7 Crack´s last blog ..How to Get a Gravatar?
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@Cebu Tech Blogger@Windows 7 Crack,
Great to hear!
[Reply]
Hi
Would this be an opportune moment to ask for a 3-way link exchange with your site
Sieze the moment, I was always told!
Neil´s last blog ..My 4 Priorities For a Happy Life
[Reply]
Neil
@Neil, Hmm, I was probably told “Seize the day” – One day I will leave a comment without a mistake in it!
Neil´s last blog ..My 4 Priorities For a Happy Life
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@Neil, What sites would you have in mind? Like I said, I’m pretty picky.
[Reply]
Neil
@Alan Mater, Checking out your PR I think you might be out of my league
My sites would in any case not be “relevant” to yours – not sure whether you bother about this or not. I have a debt site (the one this comment is linked to), a fractional ownership site – http://thefractionaltimes.com, and an insurance site – http://explain-life-insurance.com
Neil´s last blog ..My 4 Priorities For a Happy Life
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@Neil, Yeah, I probably wouldn’t be interested as the sites involved in exchanges like this should be at least somewhat related to each other. Thanks anyway!
[Reply]
Neil
@Alan Mater, Ah well, I’ll try not to cry too much
Looking forward to your future posts….
Neil´s last blog ..My 4 Priorities For a Happy Life
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@Neil, Thanks… hope you enjoy them.
[Reply]
Alan,
There’s no doubt that 3-way exchanges can be good… I think that any SEO that say’s to stay away from them is doing so because people are using it exclusively as a method of getting links with a network of some sort.
Done right, and if you’re picky as you said you are, get good links. If they are 3-way exchanges so be it… Just concentrate on good links and you’ll be alright.
Great secondary benefit that you got from your exchange there as well
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@Linda, That could be. There are a couple of such networks around. Not saying they’re bad or anything, but depending on how they’re setup, you don’t want links coming from the same IP.
Quality links is the key for sure. And, doing them this way, they’re still seen as one-way links, so it’s all good.
Thanks!
[Reply]
Twitter: BlogIsBlogging
says:
When the 3-way link exchange is from High PR Blog (As You Said You Are Picky about choosing those) it Becomes very easy to be noticed by google
This Thing May Index Your Site In Google Within 24hrs
And You May Get Many Offers of Link Exchange on forums so you can select accordingly
Lucifer@Blog Is Blogging´s last blog ..15 Things You Didn’t Know About Steve Jobs
[Reply]
Twitter: DennisEdell
says:
How exactly does it work? 3 different people? 2 different people with 1 having 2 sites?
Confusion.
Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Less is More – Here’s My Current To-Do List
[Reply]
Cebu Tech Blogger from Windows 7 Crack
Twitter: BertPadilla
@Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing,
It doesn’t necessarily mean that way… I see people doing this on their own… That means, one blogger can have 3 or 4 blogs- doing such type of linking. There’s what they called as “bad neighborhood”, but I think big “G” doesn’t put much attention to it on the SERP. However, it’s an Ess-Ehh-Ooo factor…
Cebu Tech Blogger@Windows 7 Crack´s last blog ..How to Get a Gravatar?
[Reply]
Lucifer from Blog Is Blogging
Twitter: BlogIsBlogging
@Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing, 3 People —> 3 Sites —> Each Linking to One —> Forming a Circle A–>B–>C–>A
Lucifer@Blog Is Blogging´s last blog ..15 Things You Didn’t Know About Steve Jobs
[Reply]
Leo
Twitter: netaccountant
@Lucifer@Blog Is Blogging, it can actually be any format, but usually it’s 2 people one of which owns at least 2 sites
[Reply]
Lucifer from Blog Is Blogging
Twitter: BlogIsBlogging
@Leo, Yes True it can be any format but I Am Just trying to Explain Dennis What is 3 Way link exchange…
But if a person owns two sites and if he involves in 3 way link exchange i wonder that google would track it and may be it would not be beneficial for both…
Lucifer@Blog Is Blogging´s last blog ..15 Things You Didn’t Know About Steve Jobs
[Reply]
Leo
Twitter: netaccountant
@Lucifer@Blog Is Blogging, yep that’s why I said to delay the adoption on site 2 and 3
[Reply]
Twitter: netaccountant
says:
You may also want to consider delaying the three way link adoption in order for the link to get the maximum “value”.
If A->B->C->A happens overnight SE might get suspicious (after all their business is based on links gained by websites).
I’d say Week1 A->B, Week 3 B->C and week 7 C->A … and off course rather than side column links, write an article and insert the link in it
Leo@NetAccountant´s last blog ..Thesis: how to remove multiple categories from your homepage
[Reply]
Twitter: AMater
says:
@Everyone,
It can be any combination. It can be just you with three different sites, linking them together in this manner. It can be you and someone else, with one of you owning two sites. It can be three different people, linking their sites together in this manner.
It really doesn’t matter what the combination is. In fact, you can include more sites than just three. If you take a look at my link wheel demonstration in this post, it’s the exact same concept, just with more sites and only one site to link to.
Also, the time-frame in which you complete a 3-way link doesn’t matter. It can be done within a day, or within a week. The only way you would be penalized is if you were to form, say, 50 3-way links within the same day (just an example, I really don’t know). I’m sure Google would definitely get a little suspicious, though.
[Reply]
Cebu Tech Blogger from Windows 7 Crack
Twitter: BertPadilla
@Alan Mater,
I agree with your idea about the time frame. I personally do this sometimes. Looking at the trend, getting backlinks, just in a day. Big G didn’t penalize my blogs.
Cebu Tech Blogger@Windows 7 Crack´s last blog ..How to Get a Gravatar?
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@Cebu Tech Blogger@Windows 7 Crack,
As long as it looks natural it shouldn’t raise any red flags.
[Reply]
JR from Internet Marketing
Twitter: imstrategies
@Alan Mater,
They definitely would, as with any link building that is too aggressive it might trigger a penalty and then a possible closer look at your site as well.
JR @ Internet Marketing´s last blog ..Does Blog Post Frequency Affect Google Rankings
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@JR @ Internet Marketing,
What would you recommend then?
[Reply]
JR from Internet Marketing
Twitter: imstrategies
@Alan Mater,
I recommend the same thing you did, always do link building in moderation, don’t go overboard and get too greedy, make it as natural as possible. Suddenly getting 5,000 3 way links over night is not natural looking.
JR @ Internet Marketing ´s last blog ..Does Blog Post Frequency Affect Google Rankings
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@JR @ Internet Marketing,
Yeah… even one 3-way a day would be fine. When I set up a link wheel (I did one this morning), I’ll do just one a day. I have another one to do, and I’ll do that one tomorrow or Friday.
[Reply]
JR from Internet Marketing
Twitter: imstrategies
@Alan Mater,
Sounds like a great post idea, link wheels drive me nuts – would love to learn more. Though be careful what you talk about publicly, don’t go too blackhat.
JR @ Internet Marketing´s last blog ..Does Blog Post Frequency Affect Google Rankings
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@JR @ Internet Marketing,
Here ya go: http://www.replaceyoursalary.com/work-from-home-blog/blogging/how-i-get-backlinks-to-my-blog-posts-resulting-in-sales.
[Reply]
JR from Internet Marketing
Twitter: imstrategies
@Alan Mater,
LOL, got it!
JR @ Internet Marketing´s last blog ..Does Blog Post Frequency Affect Google Rankings
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@JR @ Internet Marketing,
Great!
[Reply]
Twitter: clickonportal
says:
There’s just that teensy part about Google not liking people who use 3-way link exchanges >_< But otherwise yeah. Well I'm not sure it's wise to say you're doing it, but a lot of people do it yeah.
Mici @ Click On Portal´s last blog ..Movies I gotta see 1 The A-Team- Inception- Knight and Day
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@Mici @ Click On Portal,
Has Google openly said they don’t like 3-way link exchanges? Is there any way that they can track them?
[Reply]
JR from Internet Marketing
Twitter: imstrategies
@Alan Mater,
Well 3 ways are generally considered a link scheme when they are done intentionally to avoid detection of reciprocal linking. Yes there is a way to tell, IP address. Many webmasters have multiple sites, BUT usually they are all on a shared hosting account, which has the same IP address. So, while they are not direct link exchanges from site to site, in reality if the IP address is the same for the sites in the triangle it is quite obvious.
Do a whole lot of these and it is a link scheme that can be easily detected.
Make sense?
JR @ Internet Marketing ´s last blog ..Does Blog Post Frequency Affect Google Rankings
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@JR @ Internet Marketing,
Perfect sense.
I’ve only done a few 3-way exchanges in my lifetime, so I imagine I’m well off the radar. Hopefully, anyway.
[Reply]
JR from Internet Marketing
Twitter: imstrategies
@Alan Mater,
BTW, in general, this is why when link building one of the important aspects of a healthy link profile is to have links from as many different IP’s as possible.
JR @ Internet Marketing´s last blog ..Does Blog Post Frequency Affect Google Rankings
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@JR @ Internet Marketing,
Yeah, I’ve heard the same thing. It’s always good to diversify and not put all your links into one basket, so to speak. For instance, always commenting on the same blog or posting in the same forum. The more links from varied sources, the better.
[Reply]
JR from Internet Marketing
Twitter: imstrategies
@Alan Mater,
Oh yeah doing a few is fine, it’s when people go crazy and do hundreds and thousands then it becomes bad news and reeks of a link farm scheme.
JR @ Internet Marketing´s last blog ..Does Blog Post Frequency Affect Google Rankings
[Reply]
Twitter: inzoneinternet
says:
I would think it’s only a matter of time that Google will come up with a way to detect 3 way link exchanges even with different IPs. I don’t know how she will do it but anything is possible, were in her world after all.
Tini@Inzone Internet´s last blog ..SEO Keyword Optimization
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@Tini@Inzone Internet,
Anything is possible with Google. What works now may not work 6 months from now. It’s happened before.
[Reply]
Twitter: DennisEdell
says:
Careful, link-wheels are already on Google’s radar.
Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Organization is a MUST I’m Taking Time Off…Line
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing,
Not surprising. It was only a matter of time. Just shows that no strategy is safe for long-term implementation as Google is constantly changing the way they rank websites.
Doesn’t hurt to use it while you can, though.
[Reply]
Hi Alan,
While 3-way linking does seem like getting one way links but the difficulty is not knowing when your link partner is going to bail out on you for whatever reasons, months later, years later. May I find out how do you monitor this. Perhaps I’m missing out on a good way to do this. It’s this reason that I never did much 3-way linking with others. But you’re probably right, that you should be very selective who you do this with.
Peter@ How To Make Money Blogging´s last blog ..Quick- Easy Twitter Backlinks Trick For You
[Reply]
Alan Mater
Twitter: AMater
@Peter@ How To Make Money Blogging,
You’re right… it’s almost impossible to track. I personally don’t attempt to track who I do this with, but rather use the “honor” system. Not the best approach, but I just don’t feel like taking the time.
However, you could probably just create a spreadsheet file that has the websites linking to you along with the location of those links. Then, you could periodically check those sites to make sure they’re still linking to you.
[Reply]