Anyone and everyone even remotely familiar with SEO (search engine optimization) well knows the importance of quality links back to their website. One of the chief goals of the webmaster is to obtain these links to increase overall search engine ranking for his or her website. Without quality links a site cannot be truly “optimized.”

It is not within the scope of this present discourse to delve into any great detail as to just what constitutes a “quality” link. Suffice it for our purposes (and I am being overly generic here, I know) to say that a quality link is a link back to a website from a topic-relevant source. E.g., a website that sells e-Courses in Internet marketing, on Google’s ranking paradigm, wouldn’t benefit from a link back to itself from another website that sells artificial flower arrangements, whereas it would benefit from a link from an Internet marketing related discussion forum.

Most webmasters have implemented a “you scratch my back, I scratch yours” mentality with regard to link exchange. Oftentimes, when you visit a website you have the option to add your URL to their link database (pending your site is relevant to the needs of their customers). Generally, the requirement for having your link added is as follows: “If you would like to have a link to your website placed on our site, please place a link to our site on your site first, provide your link URL for verification, and we will post a link to your site within x number of days.”

It has been my personal experience that many of the webmasters offering such a link exchange don’t follow through with their side of the bargain. You place a link to their site on your links page, and you wait…and you wait…and then you wait some more…Still no link to your site! I can’t count how many times this has happened to me.

Of course you have as an option to contact the webmaster. But if the webmaster didn’t post your link as stated-good luck at getting a response!

In the end, if you leave their links on your website, you are helping them out by boosting (albeit only very slightly) their search engine ranking. In the meantime, you are still lacking what could have been a beneficial link to your site and thus your ranking stands fast. This just isn’t fair.

In the past, I have simply removed the links to sites on my website that did not do what they promised. These days, I am more inclined to remove the link first, then contact the webmaster and tell him or her that I did in fact remove it and here is why (quote their link exchange policy, provide proof of your part of the deal being fulfilled, and point out their failure to do as promised).

Of course there still remains one point worthy of consideration…is the link a valuable resource to your customer? If so, you might not want to remove the link. If it is not such a valuable resource, then by all means get rid of it!