A site's ranking in Google search results is partly based on analysis of those sites that link to the site. This rating is largely based on the

• quality,
• relevance and
• quantity

of the links to your site. The sites that link to you can provide context about the subject matter of your site, and can indicate its quality and popularity.

However, some webmasters focus only on the quantity aspect of the link rating and engage in link exchange schemes without considering the quality of the links, relevance of the information, the sources, and the long-term impact these links will have on their sites. This is in violation of Google's Webmaster Guidelines and can negatively impact your site's ranking in search results.

Examples of link schemes can include:

• Links intended to manipulate PageRank
• Links to web spammers or bad neighborhoods on the web
• Excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging ("Link to me and I'll link to you.")
• Buying or selling links that pass PageRank

The best way to get other sites to create relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community. The more useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and will link to it.