Is there any benefit to link exchanging?

IMO
There is certainly some value to link exchanges but the value is minimal. I have seen a few sites rank locally with just a bit of link exchanges. This is for very uncompetitive terms though. You can do some exchanges, just don't get carried away and avoid sitewide links.

Link exchange sites offer no value and will potentially harm your rankings. You're already fighting an uphill battle as an affiliate site, don't make the situation more difficult by seeking techniques that are against Google guidelines. Start by developing an amazing content and content marketing strategy instead.

Instead of directly swapping links, let them point a link at your site from theirs, and you point a link at their site from another site you own in the same niche. Just sayin'

About the first one:
- Do a serious keyword research. Be sure to check a good domain name and start adding good content OFTEN (and be sure it's UNIQUE)!

About the second one:
- As long as the websites are quality and RELEVANT to your website's niche, it could be useful for your websites.

Link exchanges can be extremely valuable as long as they're relevant, as patco correctly stated. And anyone who says differently isn't being truthful, because if given the chance, they'd gladly exchange links with a highly-trafficked site in a heart beat.

Link exchanges do still offer some juice and help SEO wise. The biggest thing is not making them reciprocal and trying to make them 3-way instead. A three way link exchange will look more like a one-way link going to your site, which has more value than a reciprocal trade.

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/2...in-2012/47245/

From the article, 25 Ways to get Penalized

"Partnering with other websites to exchange links with each other leaves a very noticeable footprint to the search engines, which may choose to penalize these obvious manipulation attempts in the SERPs."

There are a ton of articles out there that explain why it's a bad approach by today's standards. I can also confidently say that relevancy does not matter either if you build enough links through exchanging. I've worked on manual recoveries for clients where Google was pegging relevant link exchanges as spam.

Yes, you can get away with anything in small moderation, but why even travel down that road? Why bother with things you can get away with, when it's better to focus on things that work ridiculously well.

IMO aim higher. Are marketing departments of big brands sitting around trying to find link exchange opportunities? If you truly want your site to be the best, there are better techniques you can utilize which will result in high quality links with no risk of penalty.

Further let's keep things in context. He's specifically referring to "link exchange sites" according to his post. Which is entirely different from anything that could be viewed as an "organic" reciprocal opportunity. Any site that promotes link exchanges or is there to serve that purpose is a fast track to poor rankings in any remotely competitive field.

This has been extremely helpful. I really appreciate all of the responses. I think the overwhelming response is that there are better options than seeking out link exchanges and that I really need to start with content.

Thanks for the feedback.

Be aware that Link Exchange method is recognize by Google due to its nature of obtaining links to each other that intends to boost backlinks and manipulate the rankings. Let the interesting content do the building of quality links for your site.

if you want to have a site, you must choose the domain first, then build your site, about the link exchange, i think that it is very useful to you especially for the new site, it not only helps you improve your site rank but also you can learn from your partner site.

A link with good authority value will surely work but you need to see the following before link exchange -
1. Relevancy
2. Any profit in terms of traffic
3. How they place you - link / graphic - dofollow, nofollow

In my personnel experience exchanging links have no value. Instead of that focus on creating good value contents.