While many people will tell you what you should be doing when it comes to link exchange, very few will tell you what you should NOT be doing. There are some specific actions of a link exchange, which could actually hurt your rankings instead of helping your website. Search engines are very finicky and the wrong actions could result in loss of ranking or even penalties for things you never intended. Therefore, it is wise to keep your eyes open and understand just what you should avoid in link exchanges.

Using your Words - In text links, refrain from using words that are irrelevant to your website and link. Using the words click here is of no real value in your text link. Search engines read text links to determine exactly what they are linking to. Use only descriptive and relevant words in any text link. If you operate Joe's Bar and Grill, put Joe's Bar and Grill.

Avoid link farms – Never, ever, ever, (did I say ever?) exchange your links with any link farm. If a website looks even close to a link farm, avoid it at all costs. Search engines place high negatives on link farms and if you are associated with one, it will cost you on your rankings, basically taking some value away from your website.

Relevance Counts – You are probably tired of hearing this world, but it is completely and totally necessary in the area of link exchange. Do not participate in a link exchange with any website that has no relevance to your own. If you operate a website for Joe's Bar and Grill, you certainly do not want to link to a website called Jake's Auto body. There is no relevance or connection between those two sites at all. Instead, you would want websites about entertainment and other sites that have something in common with your own.