Will google penalize you for linking to non related sites?

[ArturK]

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?

[Angelus]

I don't think that G will penalize you but make sure that your doesn't look like a link farm.

p.l.u.r.

[Aviva]

I think if you organize the links in some sort of structure (like say, a directory) you're fine linking to unrelated websites.

The issue would be more one of quality - if you are linking to too many websites in bad neighbourhoods (whatever that is) you may be running a bit of a risk.

I think there may also be an issue of too high a percentage of your links being reciprocal if that's all you do in terms of link building, but I have seen websites rank well solely on reciprocals.

[The Webmaster]

Yes they do , if you link to non-related Pharma, casino, porn sites...

Ask Nintendo, he will gladly share his experience with you..

[nline]

I think google do so generally they decrease the page rank if there are many link back from unrelated sites

[ilu]

They will not penalize, but they will not consider those links for SERPs..

[KC Tan]

Originally Posted by Google Webmaster Guidelines

Keep in mind that our algorithms can distinguish natural links from unnatural links. Natural links to your site develop as part of the dynamic nature of the web when other sites find your content valuable and think it would be helpful for their visitors. Unnatural links to your site are placed there specifically to make your site look more popular to search engines. Some of these types of links (such as link schemes and doorway pages) are covered in our webmaster guidelines.

Only natural links are useful for the indexing and ranking of your site.

I believe they won't penalise unatural links but they will not help you either

Source: http://www.google.com/support/webmas...49&ctx=related

[jezza chan]

If you're linking to other sites, relevancy and quality would be best. Dont link to sites that are banned or is illegal. Keep small amounts of outgoing links, too many may kill you and your PR.

[asso]

I do not see the reason why they most penalize you.

[khasmoth]

Originally Posted by ArturK

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?

G will not penalize you as long as you're not linking to "bad neighborhood"
Also linking to sites not related to yours won't help at all.

[sitetutor]

Originally Posted by Aviva

I think if you organize the links in some sort of structure (like say, a directory) you're fine linking to unrelated websites.

Absolutely. Google has gotten smart enough to detect pages serving only the purpose of link exchange and boosting rankings. The key is to "make sense" at all times.

[Janet]

Originally Posted by KC Tan

I believe they won't penalise unatural links but they will not help you either

Source: http://www.google.com/support/webmas...49&ctx=related

That is a bunch of hog wash. My site has reached the #6 position for my most competitive keyphrase on google and all I have are unnatural links!
No black hat either. But, all my links are relevant.

[KC Tan]

Originally Posted by Janet

That is a bunch of hog wash. My site has reached the #6 position for my most competitive keyphrase on google and all I have are unnatural links!
No black hat either. But, all my links are relevant.

I cannot understand you.. so is your inbound links natural / relevant?

[softgroups]

Actualy you can easy get an PR0... if you have an IT page and link to an adult website... i did that before, and i known it now...

[Aviva]

Originally Posted by softgroups

Actualy you can easy get an PR0... if you have an IT page and link to an adult website... i did that before, and i known it now...

I don't think one bad link is going to kill your website. Domains expire everyday and get bought by adult sites; I'm sure most major websites contain a link or two to adult sites.

[Janet]

Originally Posted by KC Tan

I cannot understand you.. so is your inbound links natural / relevant?

They are relevant, but not natural since most are link exchanges. A natural link is most often a one way link to your site. That is what I meant.

[vistadivine.com]

Well no you wouldn't be penalized for this but there will also no benifit in rankings from non-related links.

Akash

[Alan30]

If they are quality links then they should be no problem.

[vistadivine.com]

Well quality doesn't matter but make sure not to link to a non-related site because this decreases your relevancy.

Akash

[easydesi]

NO