Exchanging Links With Other Bloggers
Be sure to look farther than this list, however, as there are certain to be link exchanges that cater specifically to your content or your geographic location. If you can’t find one, you can always establish your own link exchange at Link Market
A number of programs, known as “link exchanges,” will allow your link to be listed on the blogs of others, so long as you carry on your blog a small ad that lists the blogs of others who are members of the same program. A link exchange works the same way as a blog ring, tying all the featured blogs into a big circle, with the exception that the blogs you link to may not be similarly grouped as they are for most blog rings. When you sign up for the link exchange, you’ll receive credits every time your page displays the links of others, and your credits are used up as your blog is displayed on the blogs of other members of the link exchange.
While link exchanges are a convenient way for you to have your blog prominently displayed on the blogs of others, there are several possible side effects that you need to examine before signing up for any link swap program.
The first caveat is that, because link swaps are generally not grouped by subject or content, you may find that your blogs is linking to content that you may find objectionable, like adult content, opposing political blogs, or competitors in your industry. Since it’s important to keep tight control on where you send your customers, it’s a good idea to watch the blog swap closely to ensure that you are displaying the content you want and that you’re not going to alienate your customers and readers by displaying offensive content.
The second issue you may have to deal with is the speed at which some applications operate, especially if they download a java application to your page. Many load more slowly than the average page, forcing your customers to wait or ‘jerking’ the page they are reading back to the top once the application is fully loaded. If the link exchange application is causing your loading speed to suffer, it’s probably going to cause you more trouble than it’s worth. Remember, your readers want to jump right in and read what you have to say. Jerking the page around as soon as they dig in to your content is not going to make many friends.
A final issue is one of cosmetics. Because some link exchange applets are one-size-fits-all, the layout size or colors may clash with your blog. Be sure that you can modify the application to make it unobtrusive before you put something on your page that will prove a distraction to your readers. You want them to notice the links, but like everything else on your page, they should add to it rather than detracting from it.
Here are a few popular link exchange programs:
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