Welcome to the Q&A Forum

If you like All-In-One SEO you might like this "improved" version of it.

I have been using this for my sites and I've been happy.

It's basically All-In-One SEO stripped down to the essentials.

http://foliovision.com/seo-tools/wordpress/plugins/fv-all-in-one-seo-pack

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.

Thanks so much for your quick and helpful answer. I have been knocking out content and I eventually decided to do a "write for users" approach, but I had the demon at the back of my mind wondering if all those juicy pages of text would get some search engine props.

Now that you've answered, it seems so simple. I did exactly as you described on the old version of the site. I use wordpress, and they have heaps of great plugins to make it all easier.

I think I was just thinking into this waaay too much. It would make sense that a link's anchor text would be more important to the page it pointed to, rather than the page it's on.

This has been bugging me for awhile. I am trying to build up some great evergreen/cornerstone content for my site. It's basic stuff that just needs to be there. This problem is affecting me already, and I fear that when I get the main content done I will run into the problem when I start blogging for fresh content.

The best way to explain this, is to use an example. Imagine a Jewelry store in a major metro. They are already ranking for a few "city + keyword" combos but are looking to expand their keyword reach and get some better rankings. They might have a page on diamonds, and target "city + diamonds." Then, lets say they are writing about Jewelry and you target a page on "city + jewelry" and on this page, it can be hard to write normal sounding content without saying diamond. AKA "We make shopping for "city + jewelry" super easy. You select a diamond, select your "setting, city + jewelry, or something""

What I would like to know, is if I should go crazy with the targeting and just write about "city + jewelry" on one page, for instance, and make sure not to just mention "diamond" and then make a sub-page or something to target "city + diamond + jewelry"

Does any of that make sense?

Edit for clarity - targeted keyword phrases bolded - I left my ramble above for historical and comedic purposes.

It is hard to talk about jewelry without including some really (basic terms/keywords) that I am targeting on other pages. Is this going to be a problem?

I might have a page on engagement rings, and another on diamonds probably targeted to the local area.

Later, I might decide to write a blog titled "10 Reasons you need to buy an Engagement Ring"

Should I alter that blog to be called "10 Reasons you need to buy a Diamond Engagement Ring" and try not to mention just the word diamond(s) or engagement ring(s) so that I don't confuse the almighty Google?

Please advise

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.

Thanks so much for your quick and helpful answer. I have been knocking out content and I eventually decided to do a "write for users" approach, but I had the demon at the back of my mind wondering if all those juicy pages of text would get some search engine props.

Now that you've answered, it seems so simple. I did exactly as you described on the old version of the site. I use wordpress, and they have heaps of great plugins to make it all easier.

I think I was just thinking into this waaay too much. It would make sense that a link's anchor text would be more important to the page it pointed to, rather than the page it's on.