If...and only if your site is so full of advertising money that you already know you can just buy your way to the top, you don't have to swap links or trade links, but for the other 98% of us, you absolutely have to if you want your search engine ranking to be decent.

There are several things to consider when deciding that you will swap links with other sites:

• Be sure to have a links page prepared on your website. Also, be sure a link to your links page is listed on your home page and other pages of your website. A links page that can't be found is of no use.

• Be aware that you are not losing anything by swapping links. You can only benefit by having an increase in popularity, plus you'll get increased traffic through the links as well.

• Somewhere on your links page, provide either information, code or graphics that can be used to link back to you. Make it as easy as possible for somebody that finds you, to link to you. You can even create or purchase linking software. See how our Link Application page is setup.

When you first start out, virtually nobody will request a link exchange with you, because they won't know that you exist. It's up to you to take the first steps in getting your Links Area established. In time, after you have linked to at least 150 sites on your own, you will find people gradually making requests of their own.

The biggest question is generally "How do I know what sites to link to? Not all sites swap links. How do I find the sites that do?" You should already be aware of who a few of your competitors are, or other sites that provide similar products and services as you do. Go to Alta Vista and in the search request box type in: link:www.theirdomainname.com . Having done this, you will get a listing of every site that is linked to them.

The information provided by the link search also confirms that these are sites that engage in swapping links, otherwise they would not appear here. Since they are of a similar interest to your site, you are all set to click on these links, one by one and request a link exchange.

There are many variations in what a site may request of you to exchange links, but you are pretty much guaranteed a trade if you already have their link in place on your site when you request the swap. Make them aware that you will keep their link in place for at least 10 days so that they have ample opportunity to respond to you and place your link on their site as well.

To determine your current Link Popularity, see our recommended Link Popularity Check site. You'll get a real good idea where you stand with respect to many of the search engines and with the Web overall.

Many sites with high page rank are now providing paid options to get listed either in their link area or on specific pages within their website. The fee is generally based upon the Page Rank of the page and the number of other outgoing links on that page...not including the websites own internal navigation links.

Besides securing a link with a great page rank, since there is no reciprocal link involved, you are also obtaining a "One-Way Link" which is given even higher popularity status with many search engines. One Way Linking is any method whereby you do not link directly back and forth from the site your link is placed upon. When a search engine finds your link on a popular page and does not find a link from your website to that popular website, it assumes your site must have even greater value since this other site linked to you without requiring a reciprocal link back.

There appears to be an almost infinite variety of terms amongst the sites that accept payment for placing links, so to get an example of where to start, take a look at the paid linking area of our parent website, Designing Online. Since there are so many places to place paid links, they have created many great benefits for placing your paid link on their site, so it's definitely worth participating.

Overall, compare prices and benefits before just slapping down money for a link. Just because a site wants to charge $100 a month for being listed on their page for a month, doesn't mean it's worth it, it just means that's what they are charging. If you haven't done so, install the Alexa Toolbar and Google Toolbar on your browser so you can easily and quickly see their page rank and Alexa ratings...before spending your money. At this point, we recommend you do not spend any money on a link placed on a page with a ranking below 3. A page rank of 4 and above is preferred and will help you the most.