The real question here is do search engines know about this scam yet, or do they count guestbook links as additional links for poplarity rankings? My hunch is that since guestbook links are not in any way an indication of content quality, then they do not matter at all.

If ANY search engine currently gives any credit or rankings impact for guestbook links, this impact is only because engine hasn't yet figured out guestbook trick, and soon will. In fact, since majority of guestbooks pages have word guestbook in URL string, it would be absurdly easy for search engines to simply ignore any link that appears at any URL with letters guestbook in it.

And I'll bet you if they don't already ignore them they will soon.

My last point is more philosophical. If reason you are seeking a link is because

a). The link can be obtained automatically or in bulk numbers and b). You are trying to inflate links for SEO purposes, then bottom line is it's all bullsh*t, and no matter if engines figure it out today or next month, tactic is based on a lie and shouldn't be done.

Until next time, I remain,

Eric Ward, EricWard.com - The Link Mensch

The goal is to link to as many content-rich, relevant sites as possible. The higher search engine ranking of your site, more likely Internet surfers, i.e., possible customers will check out your site, bringing with them repeat traffic and repeat sales.

When sites trade links, they both benefit by:

*Sharing a percentage of traffic directly.

*Getting noticed more favorably by search engines.

Some link exchanges can send hundreds of visitors per day to your site, while others might send one or two a week. The latter is far more common, but even those are worthwhile as long as they are from content-rich, relevant sites.

Why?

More and more search engines are considering "link popularity" as a factor when they decide to rank pages in their search results.

In other words, if search engines notice other quality sites linking to one of your pages, they will "like" that page better, all else being equal.

The presumption is that a link pointing to your page is like a vote of confidence in that page. More links equals more confidence. Even a few links can make a worthwhile difference in how well a page is ranked.

I have found benefits are enormous. Consistent use of Reciprocal Link Exchange as a marketing strategy is highly recommended for driving more traffic to your website.

If done correctly, everyone wins with Reciprocal Link Exchange.