With more and more experts and search engine enthusiasts
claiming the right way and the wrong way to handle link
swapping, link exchanging or reciprocal linking!

You can tell something is important when there is more than
one name for it! GRIN!

There are also two schools of thought on the reasons link
swapping.

The first reason for link swapping has always been to carry
favour with Search engine rankings.  Have a good site with
lots of links and this is seen as a good thing and
therefore Search Engines will rank you higher.

Sadly, like all things in life, this system can be abused
and taken to the extreme.  Sites are buying in hundreds if
not thousands of links trying to "boost" their ranking
artificially.  This is fine in the short term but we are
starting to see a fundamental shift in Search Engine
algorhythms.

My last article of link swapping , If Content is King, then
surely relevance is Queen! explains my personal view of
relevant linking which is still follow.

There is now a second and perhaps more disturbing reason for
swapping links.

To build a useful link resource or directory for your
visitors.

With working with similar themed sites, swap links to build
a directory service which can share and drive traffic to
sites within it. Some have even claimed this can drive more
traffic that a Search engine ranking.

So how do I create this vision of loveliness.

Simple, build an on topic directory of your major site
content.

There are a couple of great tools you can use to automate
this process.

http://www.j2-squared.com/linking-101.htm

http://www.j2-squared.com/power-linking.htm

These tools will add new sections, manage your directory
structure, and allow you to add links or even allow others
to add their own links which you just approve.

This can all be run from a web browser so you can be
swapping links sat on the beach or in fact from anywhere.

They are so simple to use you could get family to help out
too! GRIN!

In terms of places to find links try:

www.linkpartners.com

as a good start point.

Remember, Search Engines change their algorhythms all the
time and you could fall out of favour at any time.

Your visitors are also getting more sophisticated and
demanding at the same time.  Give the visitor what they want
first and let the search engine sort the rest out!

Good Luck!