Question
As seems to be common knowledge, exchanging website URL links with other complimentary websites, can INCREASE one's OWN website "exposure", "traffic" and "page rank", here's some of my thoughts on this subject.
"Link" pages with no rhyme or reason. No alphabetical order, no "theme" or "category" order, etc. I find these to be absolutely USELESS - despite what the page rank for that site/page is.
"Link" pages with a zero (0) page rank. Why? Is there a "robots exclude" on these link pages? Does YOUR site receive any "benefit" to linking to such a site?
Watch out for sites which offer to link to you, but their "links page" is listed elsewhere - ie another domain.
I've come across many sites which show only ONE or NO backlinks, yet they have a page rank of "5". Not certain where they show up in the "search engine line ups", but not bad for 1 or no links!
How do YOU "manage" your links?
Do you accept every offer to link which arrives in your mailbox?
Do you periodically check those backlinks to see if they still link back to you? Do you use a software program to "manage" your links? And if so, can you recommend it?
Currently, I'm using an Excel spreadsheet, and "manually" checking backlinks monthly.
Questions?
Advice?
Tips?
Opinions?
Anything else?
Answer
Recommended Reading
Here are some good resources for information on this topic, including Increasing search engine rank; Getting links to your site; and Building your site's link value.