Link exchange is important because it helps you gain link popularity and Page Rank. The best thing about the link exchange is getting a lot of links pointing into your site. As a result, this will enhance your PR, link popularity, and possibly your traffic. That's why building solid link popularity should become one of the daily tasks of your SEO campaign.

Reciprocal links are not as bad as some people think. If link exchanges are made between sites sharing similar themes and topics, the exchange is beneficial to both sites – these are the best types of recipricol links to seek out. You should try to avoid exchanging links with sites that are not relevant to the themes and topics of your site.

Link Exchange with a site which has a lower PR will not hurt your PR and will be beneficial for both sides if the content is interrelated. Each page sends to the other the amount of Page Rank that is available for transfer. Lower-PR pages do not cut down the receiving page's Page Rank, rather they enhance it, but to a lower extent, and that's all. Over time, their available Page Rank can increase.

However, not everybody out there is aware of this fact. Often webmasters fall under a false conviction that if they exchange links with a low-PR site, their PR will be hurt. You may run into difficulty with other sites that belive this and don't want to exchange links with your new site because your pages show a PR of 0. If you do encounter this situation, either focus on exchanging links with other new sites or ignore link exchanges for now and concentrate on the other linking methods described earlier. Once your PR increases, you can come back to pursuing link exchanges.

Preparing for link exchange

The first step is to create a link directory within your site where you will organize your outbound links. When creating the directory, use the same template used for other pages of your site, if applicable. Make sure not to place more than 30 links on one page of your directory. Instead, split your directory into several pages; otherwise, it may be considered a link farm by search engines. Not only is it unknown how this can affect your rankings, webmasters that are aware of the issue will not want to exchange links with you.

Second, compile a list of potential link partners. Do a search on your targeted keywords in targeted search engines like Google. See what pages are ranking high. Consider if it's possible to get a link from these top sites. For instance, if the number one site in the Yahoo! Directory is Macromedia or Microsoft, you'll have little chance of securing a link. For sites that do seem like viable candidates, check to see if they meet the following criteria:

1. The content must be relevant to yours.
2. They must be open for link exchange possibilities. For instance, you see other sites' banners or links posted or you find the site has its own link directory.
3. They must correspond to your requirements in terms of Page Rank (not obligatory) and traffic rank (much more important). You can measure the traffic rank of the site with the help of Alexa toolbar (http://www.alexa.com/) and PR with the help of Google toolbar. If a site a lot of traffic, it is likely a valuable source of traffic for you.
4. The webmaster's or other contact's e-mail address must be available to send your link exchange proposition.

Another place to look for related sites is directories. Go to directories like Yahoo!, DMOZ or the many smaller directories found on the Web to find categories related to your topic and keywords. The Web sites listed under these directories may be suitable candidates to exchange links with since the directory listing will give them a boost and they'll have been listed and ranked with search engines.

Yet another place to look for potential link partners is the lists of sites that link to your competitors or to the sites ranked high for your keywords. Such lists may be made up with the help of Link Analyzer software by using the "Who links to me" analysis of your competitor's page or other high ranking, keyword related page.

Performing the link exchange

Before you start e-mailing webmasters of potential link exchange sites, make sure to first include links to them in your link directory to demonstrate that you've already favored the site with a link. Place the links to most important or prestigious sites on your home page.

Then, create a template for mailing to the webmasters. You should, of course, personalize each email as much as possible before sending it. There are many so-called "link exchange" software programs available that will automatically mail to hundreds of webmasters by substituting their names and emails into the template. In our opinion this software nullifies the benefits of exchanging links. You will probably need to deal with most of you messages being returned for manual confirmation by the webmaster's spam filter, and most webmasters are able to recognize a template generated email in any case. Just as you are unlikely to value a link exchange proposition from someone that hasn't even visited your site, other webmasters won't either.

That's why we vote for manually visiting each partner's site and personalizing the messages.

An example of a link exchange template could look like this:

Dear [site owner's first name]

 

My name is [your name], the webmaster for [your site/company name].

I am currently browsing your Web site [site address] and find it a very interesting and relevant resource for [topic of the site]. I also believe your site provides valuable content for my visitors, so I have placed a link to your page [page address] on my page [your link directory address] where I direct my visitors who are looking for more information on [topic].

I only list sites that I feel add perceived value and will not list every site that offers similar services. I have pulled a description for your site from your META tags but I am happy to add or delete any content that you prefer. Let me know if I can do anything to add more value to your listing.

I don't expect a reciprocal link from your website, but would greatly appreciate one if you currently have a directory of links yourself, or if you believe your website visitors would find our site content of benefit. If you do decide to link back, please link to [preferred URL to link to] using the following description: [preferred link description].

Once again, thank you very much for providing a valuable resource to our visitors and clients. If you have any suggestions for related websites not listed on our resources page, feel free to let me know. My phone number is listed below, or you can send me an email. Also, thank you for taking the time to review this email.

Sincerely,

[your name]

[your position]

[your company]

[your phone number]

[your email address]

Once you have added a link to each of the sites you have identified, it is time to contact the site owners. Usually this is done by email. Due to the volume of spam most webmasters receive, it is very important to let them know that you have actually visited their site in the first few sentences. Only then mention that you would appreciate it if they reciprocate.

Things to remember

1. Link exchange can't damage your rankings except for link exchanges with link farms. Link exchanges will benefit your Page Rank and link popularity as well as those of your link partner.
2. When preparing for link popularity , create your own link directory (not more than 30 entries per page), compile the list of your desired link partners and place a link to them in your directory beforehand. If they refuse reciprocation, you can always remove the link in favor of more receptive link partners.
3. Personalize each letter you send with as much information as possible, including the story about what you've found most valuable on their resources.

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