Is there any point to exchanging links with other blogs?

The currency of search engines is links and they have value but the only links I would 'exchange' would be linking to posts and pointing bloggers to posts I think they would like.

That tired old shit doesn't have any place any more.

I agree Nick, but I've been surprised at seeing blogs that want to do link exchanges.

And really, how does a SE distinguish between links that have been exchanged by blogs vs other types of sites vs I post about you and you post about me?

Personally I dont care, that stuff is for them to sort out, not me.

Bloggers that worry about links SE's are not bloggers, they're either old webmasters using blog software that cant drag themselves out of the "i want everything for no effort" mentality, or seriously off track, at best.

As I said above Trish, concentrate on producing posts people want to link to, ignore exchange requests. LEs are so old-school,heh. I have to agree with Nick, a link exchange req from a 'blogger' or not seems spammy or misguided to me also and best avoided.

nick and chris generally seem to me to be pretty much anti-seo. having said that, I'd say there's a difference between someone asking you to do a link exchange (you link to me and i'll link to you) and someone mailing you to point out an interesting post on their site and then asking you if you mind covering it as its relevant to your audience.

If you get the first one, reject it. If you get the second one, read the post at least - if it's interesting, you might want to link to it.

Hi Ahmed,

Generally speaking with link requests I'd go with what Nick is saying, waste of time really as the 'big boys' particularly in the field of my blog (computer games) aren't ever going to do that. However if they want to link to my content or me link to one of their posts, that is definitely the way forward. If someone seems sincere I will look at a link they send (esp if I am familiar with the domain), otherwise it gets deleted.

I think that's exactly what I said :)

I'm sure there are better arguments against link sharing that go more in depth than just "that's so old school," but I'm not seeing them here. Just because something is old doesn't make it obsolete.

From what I've read, Google places more value on links that are surrounded by content (such as in an article/post) than it does when the link is surrounded by a bunch of other links. I believe this is, in part, an attempt to curb link farming and based on the assumption that links within content are likely more relevant to the content of a particular page than a link that appears in a large list.

That being said, if it were my blog, I would want to limit my blogroll to a select few of high-quality and relevant websites (for a few reasons). I also probably would resist a link sharing request unless I felt the website in question met the above qualifications.

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about posts/articles being buried in your site. If the article is of good quality, people will still hit it from search engines. Any links you made in the article will continue to pay dividends for the link recipient.

Focus on writing great content. Link exchange if it suits your website. Try to avoid huge link lists as their value is diminished by their length.

Noah:
'Google places more value on links that are surrounded by content (such as in an article/post) than it does when the link is surrounded by a bunch of other links.'

I think that was what I was trying to figure out - so there is a reason to prefer a link in a post over one in a blogroll then.

OK, I'm pretty new at all this, but I'm wondering about the indirect value of link exchanges. Maybe Google does devalue these. But they aren't the only game in town. How does Technorati treat these links? Do they count as "blogs linking to?" If so, such links can boost your Technorati rankings, which is bound to have a favorable result on traffic. Am I all wet here?

I usually ask myself the question whether I would be happy linking to the person asking on a "no-follow" basis. In other words do I like what they are putting up on their blog regardless of whether they might be reciprocating. If I do then I link.

But I much prefer getting links from people who like my blog gnerally or something I've said. Then, again, my personal blog is just that: a personal blog. But it has quite good PR. Which I do occassionally use to promote other projects I'm working on.

You have it there Jay - if the content is so good on a no-follow basis then it's worth doing.

Personally I wont link on general principle to anyone wanting an "exchange", regardless of the material on the blog, but then im a miserable old bastard, so dont pay any attention haha..

I wont exchange links anymore. But I will sell them.

I don't think it's worth it. If people want to blogroll you then fine, but I don't think that the act of exchanging links is all that usefull, especially when you have a pro blog and everyone wants to exchange link with you.