How effective is link exchange?

hey..i have about 10 micro sites - regional + blogger... and was wondering if link exchange really brings in the result.. i know that google isn't too fond of link exchanges with unrelated sites.. but what about related sites...

also..i have been reading a bit about linkwheel..but havnt been able to figure out the real logic behind it.. wont google easily detect a link wheel - and isn't link spiral a better option?

and if link exchange is useful.. my sites are relates to music instruments, jewelry, and celebs.. would be more that happy to change links...

cheers..

if the content is related, yes. also the ip (where is hosted) counts too.

hi

I think if the site is related to your niche then a link exchange can be done but it is not advisable for new sites which have recently got indexed

in my opinion one should try to use all other techniques first for getting backlinks and when the site becomes a bit old then one should go for link exchanges

apart from this link wheels help a lot as it is completely white hat and a legal method for backlinks from high PR sites such as squidoo and ezine

these sites themselves have high Page ranks and the inner urls generated from them after the article gets approved helps in getting backlinks and traffic too

I hope this helps

Good luck with link building for your website

thanks,
Ankur

what exactly do you mean by "spiral"?

firstly..i can understand the importance of one way links.. but why should one way links from interlinked sites(ie. forming a wheel) be more imp.. the real concept in which a link wheel helps is not clear..

the_punisher said:

what exactly do you mean by "spiral"?

Click to expand...

what I mean by spiral is that we dont complete the link circle(wheel) and keep adding single links... cause i dont think it should be too difficult for G to trace a wheel.. so the site would be like the centre of a spring rather than a wheel.. wouldnt that be less traceable and as effective if a link wheel actually works?

One of my sites has been hovering between 2nd and 3rd on the first page of Google so I have been concentrating for 2 weeks now to leave forum posts and blog comments and last night I noticed it is now number 1. I personally never bother with link exchanges as i find it quicker and better to do the above instead.