Link strategy development and link exchange.
Developing your link strategy to generate optimal traffic.
Part of search engine optimization is developing your link strategy to improve your ranking in the search engines. But search engine traffic is only one source of targeted traffic for your web site. So, your link strategy should also take into account direct traffic from your links.
While anchor text, the text in the hyperlink pointing to your web site, is an important factor in optimizing your ranking, link placement is very important in generating direct traffic. While search engines, such as Google, stress that links from pages with a similar topic will be considered more relevant, placement of a link on a high traffic page with a completely different topic might generate much more direct traffic. So, try to achieve a balance and get the best of both worlds.
Developing your link strategy to generate optimal traffic means that you should not ignore untargeted traffic in search of getting as much of your ideal targeted traffic. Targeted traffic consists of visitors interested in the exact topic of your web site and, if you are trying to sell something, are easily converted into buyers. But, if you also happen to be able to attract larger streams of possibly interested, but not yet targeted, visitors you might still be able to further improve the impact of your web site.
Link exchange.
One common link strategy in search engine optimization is reciprocal link exchange. But reciprocal link exchange is also rife with danger. Link to the wrong site and you may be penalized severly. And, a site that looks like a perfect link exchange partner today may be your downfall tomorrow. So, be selective with link exchange, check whether the page you link to has pagerank. If the page rank is zero, don't link to it. And keep checking that page rank regularly. If the pagerank disappears, remove your link to that page.
Of course, you should also check the pagerank of the page where your link partner will put their link to you. If it is more than one click distance from the page you are linking to, or its pagerank is a lot lower than the pagerank of the page you are linking to, re-consider. If you desperately need reciprocal links go ahead, but the benefit is likely to be minimal.
One other issue, one that has hit me hard in the past. Don't be too hasty in building up your links. Google will severely penalize you if you get too many links too fast. You have to build up trust with Google by showing a natural growth of links.
One-way links.
If you have lots of good content on your web site, you are already in a good position to attrackt one-way links. I often link to web sites with good content, and very often don't even ask for a reciprocal link (I know I should but I am lazy). If you have excellent content you can speed up this process by suggesting links to your web site to other webmasters. You can join forums related to your topic and build up contacts with other webmasters.
As Google makes it very clear that is looking for a balance between one-way links and reciprocal links, a number of unscrupulous webmasters are now developing link directories on separate domains from their main web site. So, if you are approached by a webmaster suggesting a three-way link exchange, never accept a link exchange with a return link from such a link directory. Much too dangerous if Google catches up. Similarly, buying paid links from a web site may get you into serious trouble. Read Google's guidelines. Of course, if you are lucky enough to get a three way link with a link back from a real web site with a topic similar to your site, don't hesitate: jump on it.