(Entry was posted by Dan Miller on this post in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 08/11/2013).

Do links between two sites cancel each other out?

Question About Links and SEO

I`m doing my best to learn about good SEO practices and came across one online post the other day which stated that two web sites that link to each other don`t receive any SEO benefit via the links. The article stated google views these as reciprocating links that effectively cancel each other out. Is this how the experts in this community understand the algorithm to work?... I understand why link farms are bad and are treated as such but in many cases it is perfectly natural and appropriate for two sites to link to each other. For example a lender website and real estate website may have very legitimate reasons to link to content on each other`s site. In my specific case the lender has mortgage information that users of my site find useful. In the lender`s case my website has market information and search tools that are a good compliment to the lender`s content.

I`d appreciate any thoughts and input that any of you in this excellent community have to offer. Thank you. Dan.

PS: My website is danecountymarket com. The other website is UWCU Org. We both have strong SEO and our links are completely appropriate but I`m curious whether we are receiving any SEO benefit from our links.

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Answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Panelists.

Rob Wagner: Here is a video that Matt Cutts did about this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO8cIcOFo4g

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Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

Erik Deckers: Dan, Google is cracking down on Reciprocal links. That's where I link to your site's main URL, and you link to mine. Specifically, they don't want people to say "I'll link to yours if you'll link to mine" as a way to increase links. So much of that was happening that they started cracking down on Reciprocal links.

However, if I link to one of your blog posts through one of mine, you're free to link to a DIFFERENT blog post from another one of yours. And if we can do it so we're not linking anchor text, but rather, linking natural sounding language ("you can read Dan's post HERE"), then we escape Google's punishing gaze.

Does that make sense?
Dan Miller: +Erik Deckers this is very helpful and makes great sense. Thanks very much.
Chris Shaffer: +Dan Miller ;as +Erik Deckers ;pointed out, just because two sites happen to link to each other doesn't mean all value evaporates. Google is constantly trying to figure out how "real people" think and act. Obviously sometimes sites with a mutual interest (like in your example) will link to each other. Google uses a variety of factors to try and figure out if you are just linking for links sake or if the links from each site actually provide value. As our friends from the 90's would say..."Keep it Real" and you will have nothing to worry about.
Dan Miller: Thank you +Chris Shaffer for sharing your advice. It is invaluable and I very much appreciate it.
Chris Shaffer: anytime +Dan Miller ;. If you ever have any questions feel free to ask directly.
Jackson Ertel: I believe that currently this won't help or hurt either site. As others have alluded to, moving forward I believe that if there is legitimate reasons to the end user for the link, it will actually end up helping both sites.

Ideally though I would look to have the link from your page terminating on an alternate page to the link back to your site. I haven't looked at the sites though so this may be how it is set up currently.
Dan Miller: Thank you +Jackson Ertel!

View original question in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 08/11/2013).

Do links between two sites cancel each other out?

Answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Panelists.

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

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