What is a link back network and will it ultimately help or hurt my website in the eyes of search engines?

Question

Example: ReallyFirst.com

Answer 1

If by 'link back network' you mean a collusion strategy then yes you run a definate risk. Google says in its Quality Guidelines:

"Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or "bad neighborhoods" on the web, as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links".

If you want to do it properly read http://www.seo-blog.com/inbound-links.php , http://www.seo-blog.com/reciprocal-links.php and http://www.seo-blog.com/reciprocal-links-update.php