Googles newest algo changes with some reports stating reciprocal linking holds less weight than one way linking. Reciprocal linking for your Internet Marketing should you or shouldn’t you exchange? The answer to that question is both yes and no. Let me explain. When it comes down to deciding whether to exchange links or begin a reciprocal link campaign you have you have to be careful of the black hat label. First – stay away from sites with low or zero page rank ( 0-2 ) if possible. These sites need to show value to google before you should consider exchanging links. Make sure not to link exchange with direct competitors or similar products. You want to separate yourself from the clutter of same products or service. Try to look for sites that have complimentary items – example: you sell film for cameras so it may be a great idea to do reciprocal linking with a site that sells cameras.
Do Deep research about your potential linking exchange partner by using Alexa (free tool).
See if your potential link partners website is generating real traffic at all.
A stale site with no real attraction to visitors will not do much for your Internet Marketing Strategy. Note: Make sure you only exchange links with websites that are related to your business. Do not exchange links with a gambling site if you have a camera film website, Google can smell a rat from a mile away so do not put your website in a bad position for black hat techniques. But don’t just exchange links for Googles Search Engine. Do reciprocal linking because you and your link partner can benefit from the exchange like cross marketing, helping both websites generate more traffic and supply more options for your visitors which may help you both grow your business online. How do I exchange links with other webmasters? When you go to a website you would like to exchange links with see if they have a links page, if so contact the webmaster. Make sure that you look over the website carefully looking for red flags that may hurt your ranking in search or hurt your reputation online. When you contact the webmaster let him know you looked at his site and explain why you think both of you can benefit from this partnership of exchanging links. It is usually helpful to place his link on your site before contacting him and when you send your request inform the webmaster that you already placed link on your site and it will only remain for 10 days.
If there is no response remove this link from your links page. So even thou one way linking seems to hold more weight in search, reciprocal linking still has a place and value in you Internee Marketing.