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Does anyone have any trusted and true methods for prospecting for reciprocal links? I'm spending a lot of time going from site to site and link to link... it get a little tedious.

You can run a graphical report showing your Ranking History for each keyword targeted since you started your campaign.

To do this log into your campaign.  Click View This Campaign/All Keyword Rankings.

On your Rankings Report click on the ranking you want to see charted.  For instance, if you rank #1 on Google for a keyword this week, you can click on that ranking and a graphical report showing your Ranking History for that keyword since you started your campaign for that word will appear.

Thanks for hte clarification, Theo...

Now , about this "first make sure these extra links will actually help rather than hurt you"... I'm not the sharpest tack just yet... how would you ensure that links like this would have a beneficial or detrimental effect? Is there a tool or method about which I am unaware?

Thanks!

I don't think they are incestuously linked (as in cross-linked...) They have good metrics. The webmaster does actively solicit links, but he pulls from a variety of themes and topics, so the legal sites in question may be on the same IP as sites about art, etc. Some of the links they have on their sites may link out to relevant blogs they have created.

When Matt Cutts directly addresses this (same IP addresses) he says "no problem":

videoplay?docid=3583760678227172395#

Thanks Theo.

When you say "because they attach greater values to links coming from different IPs than from the same IP" is that "value" as perceived by Google? The sites in question all have very good metrics in the MozBar, but are you saying that they may look good on their own but as links they will somehow be "devalued" by the search engines?

Hi...

We're doing some reciprocal link building and a gentleman has been kind enough to offer me sever additional links for the exchange. All of them (5) are on the same IP address as one of his links to which we have already linked. They are in a related field of endeavor, legal websites. If I make the swap with him, is Google going to disregard, penalize or otherwise marginalize my efforts?

Thanks!