Will google penalize you for linking to non related sites?

[Billy_Me]

I've heard different opinions on this subject. I swap links with any website as long as I feel my type of customer visits those sites and if it will bring me business. Am I wrong for thinking this way? Will google penalize me in the rankings for some of these non related sites?

[waveshoppe]

If you are linking to or with bad neighborhoods there is probably a good possibility that bad things will come. If you are questioning what you are practicing then it’s probably not a good idea. IMO the shotgun approach to linking is a waste of time, all you are doing is diluting your link profile, and basically the shotgun approach paints you as a jack of all trades and master of none.

But back to your question, you won’t get penalized as long as the exchanges are not with bad sites, but your link love will most likely become diluted or possibility filtered out. But my burning question is why you are an advocate of people leaving your site through links to others? Are you more inline with affiliate sites?

[cessai]

you will not get penalized for that as long as you are not linking with bad neighborhoods. definitely, if you link with banned sites or not good sites, bad things may come your way..

but linking to non related sites isn't bad at all. its just that it will always be best to link with the ones related to you.

[cdsDave]

If you are linking to or with bad neighborhoods there is probably a good possibility that bad things will come. If you are questioning what you are practicing then it’s probably not a good idea. IMO the shotgun approach to linking is a waste of time, all you are doing is diluting your link profile, and basically the shotgun approach paints you as a jack of all trades and master of none.

But back to your question, you won’t get penalized as long as the exchanges are not with bad sites, but your link love will most likely become diluted or possibility filtered out. But my burning question is why you are an advocate of people leaving your site through links to others? Are you more inline with affiliate sites?

Charles....who let U out?

[waveshoppe]

Oh man its getting harder and harder to find a good hiding place!

[hhheng]

If the linked page is not penalized or banned by google, it will not affect you, though the link will not help you too much.

[BoSolaris]

You want to try and keep your link pool as specific as you can to your industry/hobby/topic because you want people from (example) the comic industry visiting your site, not gambling, porn and tires.

[ChrisWebPub]

Don't forget about personal perception. Off topic links stuffed in your footer (mortgage leads, debt consolidation, viagra, etc). Look like spam (probably because they are). Search engines are now employing human reviewers (and directories always have), and if one of these people view your site they'll be less likely to rate it well or list it.

As a general rule I do not do any off topic linking. Off topic links hardly help anyways and they cheapen the look of your site. This isn't to say I won't welcome a link to me from an offtopic site, but I certainly will not be linking back.