my reviews and finds

In a nutshell it means the overall number of links pointing back to your site, with the idea that the greater number of links means the more popular your website is. Search engines are known to increase ranking based upon link popularity, however the major engines are no longer only looking for the sheer number of links pointing back to you, but the quality and relevancy of those links pointing back to you.

Link exchange isn't just about generating better search engine ranking, it is about generating sales through cross marketing your website through others that are in your industry. If you just run amok and try to exchange links with everyone and anyone, you'll do nothing to but waste your time. If you submit your site to thousands of FFA sites (free for all link pages) then you are really wasting your time! ( not to mention the truck load of spam you will get)

Cross marketing with sites in your industry: So does this mean I need to exchange links with my competitor? Not necessarily! Say for instance you sell CD's on your website, and you know of another website that sells CD players, your both in the same industry but you don't compete head to head, but you do share a similar client base. In this case it may be a good fit for both websites to swap links.

See if your link partner offers an affiliate program: Affiliate programs act as a sales commission for successful leads that are generated to or from your link partner (depending who is running an affiliate program). There is nothing quit like financial enticement to encourage link exchange, that being said its not always easy to make money with affiliate links. Make sure your link page is easy to navigate and well organized and that the link page you offer can be found by users to your site. As well be sure that the link page is indexable by search engine robots!

Asking for a link: Think cross selling, remember your prospective link partner is interested in selling more, so explain to them the benefits they will receive by cross selling both of your products and services. Link exchange is in many ways about relationship building. In a brick and mortar business you build relationships with suppliers, customers and affiliates. The same applies in the online world.

Be careful of the company you keep: If you have a good reputation online and have built trust with people who come to your site, then be careful who you link to. Do they have a privacy policy that you agree with? Are they a respectable website? Remember visitors who trust your website will see your links as somewhat authoritative, and may extend the trust built on your site to those you've linked with. If this site abuses them or lets them down, it will reflect on you!

As a rule of thumb it should make sense from a sales and business perspective to exchange links with another website. If it doesn't then you are probably wasting your time.

For more information about link popularity for blogs or blog promotion visit The Soho Quest.

Source: Free SEO Tools