Exchanging links with the websites in the same niche, is probably the best way to increase the popularity and the PR of a website. It not only draws a good amount of traffic to your site, but is also an authentication by others in the same field.
Link Exchange (getting your links on other sites in place of their links on your own website) to increase the page rank of your own website on the search engines is one of the time tested methods,
which has not changed with time. Although its value has diminished a bit as compared to what it was in the early years of SEO, it is still one of the best methods to improve upon the search engine rankings, and jack up the PR (page rank).
Link Exchange or Link Building tactics are mainly centered around quality and relevancy. The sites with which the links are being swapped, should be the reputed ones, with a high page rank and good incoming links. The sites should be related to your own website. For example, if your site is insurance related, then you should target to exchange links with motor insurance, personal insurance or financial websites.
The following steps need to be taken for an effective Link Exchange Campaign:
Researching for Appropriate Keywords: The selection of the relevant keywords, which can help the web surfers find your site is of paramount importance. To accomplish this, you may start with a general list of keywords related to your site, and build upon the same with the keywords related to the same category. If you have an insurance site, the most relevant keywords
for you could be motor insurance, auto insurance, personal insurance, general insurance, finance, personal finance, financial websites etc. There are several keyword research tools, to help you build up your exclusive list of keywords.
How to search for Link Partners: The best way to look for good related link partners, is to run a "search" on major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN etc using different keywords. Don't focus on just the first page, because the sites already appearing on the top pages, may not be interested in exchanging links with you. You will get the best results from the sites appearing down below
Shortlisting the right Link Partners: After you have compiled a list of websites related to yours, you should weed out the useless ones, and focus on the good ones. Incoming links from .gov or .edu websites are better than getting links from the sites which host free of cost. Don't focus on just the Page Rank of the prospective link partners, although it is also one of the main factors which affect the rankings of your website. Also never link to the dubious sites
and link farms.
Sending out the Link Exchange Requests: Before sending out the link requests to the prospective link partners, it is advisable, if you set up an Resources Page or a Links Directory. And don't forget to mention the exact url where you would be including their links, while mailing them. Also don't forget to mention your own anchor text, the url to which the anchor text should point to, and the short description of your website, preferably not more than 250 characters.
Effective management of the Link Exchange Campaign: After your link is live on the other site, it is very necessary to ensure that the link does not get deleted, and remains in place with the right anchor text and the accompanying description. There are several tools on the internet, some of them absolutely free of cost, with which you can monitor the incoming links to your site. One such tool which I have been using for over three years is the "Web CEO". It is a very compact tool for doing the Keyword Research, Finding Prospective Link Partners, Managing Correspondence, Monitoring the Incoming Links and lots of other features.
