Will exchanging links with other websites give me better search engine rankings?

When you are considering exchanging links with another site you should start by asking yourself if the link is going to be helpful for the visitors to your site.

Will people visiting your pages want to also find content on the other site?

If you decide that they are likely to, then the next question is where to put it. Google hates links pages, so you should avoid adding one. Links should be a natural part of relevant content on your site.

If you think the link meets these criteria, then you need to know where the other site is going to put your link. If they are just sticking it on a links page then you might as well forget it. If they are adding it a page which is strongly related to a topic which is relevant to your site, then that is much more helpful. You would also want them to use the correct clickable words for your link.

When considering links to other sites, you should always ask yourself: will this link hurt my site and will the reciprocal link really help it?