The universe of search engine optimization is constantly changing. So, unless you are going to hire an SEO professional, it would be wise to stay abreast of the ongoing changes in the SEO community and the tools available to aid in your pursuit of rankings.

To that end, below is a list of useful search engine forums. It is a good idea to register for one or more of them, read regular updates and participate in the discussions.

SEO Chat – A free service with articles, news and tips for SEO.

The Unofficial Google SEO Forum – a free and open forum dedicated to Google SEO techniques.

Search Engine Roundtable – a blog maintained by RustyBrick, a well-known web design and SEO firm.

Search Engine Watch – a guide to searching at Internet search engines and search engine registration and ranking issues.

By Aquo Interactive

You may be familiar with automatic link exchange services, however, being a member of several of them I can assure you there are many services that provide the basic linking functionality, but miss the critical tools needed to ensure success with your linking campaign.

Manual link exchanges take too much time to build and maintain, especially if you don’t have an automated link checker to review link partner sites on a regular basis. Dead links on your site or exchanging links with webmasters who are not reciprocating properly is of no value to you.

A quality reciprocal link exchange service is of great value and these Link Partners are critical to long-term search engine ranking results! If you are going to exchange links… Make it count!

When you are looking to exchange links with someone, there are several important items to look for.

• Ensure the site you are exchanging links with has a reciprocal link directory/pages located on their domain.
• Third party link exchange services are a great source for a large pool of link partners. However, you should only use these services if you have complete control of who you are linking with. Many link exchange services force you to link with every one of their members, regardless of whether those sites are relevant to your site.
• Ensure your link partner clearly shows their directory from their main page.
• Ensure their link exchange software is Search Engine Friendly.
• You can validate outgoing links as a spider sees it by using a Search Engine Simulator. Looking into it you’ll be amazed at how many scripts available do not provide you with proper back link credit.

I have experienced quite a lot of request for manual link exchanges with websites who asked me to email them the location of my link, only to see that the email bounced back to me 2 seconds later. Again, time is money, use your time wisely.

Keep within your niche market. Keywords that you would use to promote your site is a good indicator of similar sites you should exchange links with.

Automatically exchanging links will require far less time than manual efforts. But be sure to use a service that provides the functionality that you need.

Aquo Interactive provides web design, software development and Internet marketing services to help businesses grow and profit.