How to do your first backlink exchange

Updated October 16, 2026 · First published August 24, 2026 · 4 min read

A backlink exchange is simple: you link to their site from one of your pages, they link back. The fiddly part is agreeing what links where, with which words. This guide does one complete exchange and shows what the other side sees at each hand-off.

Step 1: See what's blocking you

Go to Find partners, pick any site, and press Ask for an exchange on its row. You'll be blocked, and that's the point: the form lists exactly what's missing, split into what's yours to fix and what isn't.

If both sites are yours, the form stops you. A link between two sites you own counts as an internal link, so the exchange would earn you nothing.

Step 2: Get your site ready

Verify the site. DNS is the proof least likely to get undone.
Open it to backlink exchanges.
Set your rules in Exchange rules: the topics you welcome, links per page, the partner's authority you accept, and how fast you reply. Countries, languages and page types are under More rule settings.

The dialog that opens a site to backlink exchanges — Opening a site to backlink exchanges adds it to the directory. It doesn't publish a link or accept a request.

Tip

Set quality thresholds honestly rather than aspirationally. A high bar on a new site means nobody can ask you for anything.

Open Pages you share, press Add pages, and choose Read my sitemap.
Untick checkout pages, account pages, thin tag pages and anything you're about to delete.
Share the rest.

The four ways to add pages, with the sitemap option selected — Be generous. Sharing a page promises nothing; every link is agreed one at a time later.

Step 4: Choose a partner

Back in the directory, sort by Best match rather than Strongest sites first. Strong sites with nothing to do with you are the most likely to decline.

The directory with sorting and filters — Two questions: would their readers want what you wrote, and are you close enough in strength for them to say yes?

Step 5: Send the request

Press Ask for an exchange on their row, or click their name and press Ask for a backlink exchange in their details.
Read their rules. Your request is reviewed against exactly that version.
Write two sentences on why your piece and theirs fit together, and send.

The request form with both sites and their figures side by side — The form labels which site receives the request and where their link back will live, because that's what people get backwards.

Step 6: See it from their side

They get a notification, then see both sites, the pages you offered, and your note. Accepting creates a partnership and commits them to nothing else.

An incoming exchange request with both sites and the offered pages — What your partner sees when your request arrives.

Step 7: Ask for your first link

Now you're partners, either of you can ask for a link whenever you have a page worth linking.

In Partners, press Ask for a link on their row.
Pick one of their pages, chosen for relevance.
Pick the page of yours it should point to. Not your homepage.
Select the words that will carry the link, straight from their page text.
Review, add a note, and send.

The word-selection step with the partner's page text — You select the words on their actual page. Descriptive wording gets accepted; your exact target phrase often doesn't.

Step 8: They place it, and Rankbench confirms it

They see exactly what would change on their page. They accept, suggest different wording, or decline. When they accept, they add the link in their own CMS and mark it live. Rankbench then opens the page and confirms the agreed link is there.

A link request showing exactly what would change on the page — The before and after, on their real page.

The checks panel on a live link — After that it stays under watch. If it disappears in six months, you'll know.

Step 9: Balance the ledger

Open the partner from Partners to see the ledger. One link from them and none from you is fine for a fortnight. Partners who have received a link usually ask for one back, and you answer it the same way from the other side.

The partners table with live links each way and the next step — Nobody enforces a ratio, but the ledger shows when a partnership is only going one way.

What to do next

Still stuck?

Open Rankbench and the page this article describes — most screens explain themselves as you go.