Regarding link exchange on new website!

[anand2010]

I never used link exchange yet in our link building practices i want to know is after Google Panda updates etc. is link exchange with good SEOMOz rank good niche sites still effective or not ?

If yes what shall be the points which i shall remember while doing the start link exchange.

[anand2010]

1. I believe the website shall be of the same niche specific industry as of my site for which i am doing link exchange.  I will not like to exchange links with any websites which do have good site or ranks etc but not of my niche industry to ensure quality get maintained.

2. I am new thus i will be doing link exchange direct not 3 or 4 ways since that must be complicated to search and practice.

Do you think it shall be good enough to start link exchange or any other suggestion to it ?

Also i want to know in start is it ok if i place a website link in my directory and then invite the owner to check and add my link back in exchange or i shall email them talk to them then shall proceed to link exchange.

And my other question is Google Panda update against link exchange or its still worth for link exchanged to good sites for SEO and traffic reasons ?

Regards!

Anand

[steven88]

Are you referring to reciprocal linking? (You link to Site A, and Site A links to you?)

Or are you going to do a 3 or 4 way exchange?

I'm no expert, but here are my two cents...

In the reciprocal 2-way linking case, Google and other search engines can easily see what your doing. While it used to be a great strategy for links, the search engines have really smacked down the value of those links because they are so easy to get.

My theory is to trade links with a site only if it is really relevant and complimentary to mine. Basically, I do it for the value of the traffic it can send alone, rather than worrying about PR and Ranking.

For the second case, it might work out. I don't know. Kind of like my approach above, I try to go for relevant links that will stand the test of time. If you are doing a link exchange and you are getting links from completely unrelated sites, you probably won't get traffic, but if its an authoritative page you might get some juice.

The main concern should be who you are linking to. Google can't really penalize you for getting linked to, since you have no control over that, but you do have control over who you link to. "Don't link out to bad neighborhoods" is what they say these days. Make sure you check both where you might be getting a link from, and more importantly, who you are linking to.