The Sweet Mystery of Linking Strategy

There is no end to the emails that come forth from other website owners asking to link to them. But the game is to know which ones to PAY FOR and which ones to just delete. Recently, the talk on the web was about a scurrilous notion that Google Page Rank, those little bars that many of us notice when we go to a site, are there for appearances only, that the real scores are hidden in their algorithm. Here is a statement that is wisdom for the ages about linking, from Alexandra Search Engine Fact's newsletter...

When you want to trade links with another web site, don't look at the PageRank of that site. Instead, ask yourself: Is the web site related to your site? Would it make sense for web surfers if they linked to you and you linked to them? Could visitors of the other web site be interested in your site? If you find a web site that you would want to visit or your visitors would want to visit then link to it and ask for a link back to your site.