Having a wonderful website is only part of the SEO battle. How do you promote it? How do you get good placement on search engines? Having good content and good search engine optimization is only part of what you need to do. You need incoming links for good SEO.

Strategies for links
Its a common practice to do link exchange. Companies will call you or email you to suggest that you exchange links with them. There are even link exchange companies who sell links for a price. Other companies offer link building services. The important point to consider here is that links are not all created equal. You need incoming links from web sites that have the following characteristics:

1. The website providing the link should have been around for a while. A link from a fly-by-night site will not get you much credit, while a link from a company who's site has been around for several years, or a decade will count for a lot.
2. The links should be from sites and PAGES that have the same keywords that you are promoting on the page / site being linked to. If you get links from a non-relevant site.
3. The wording on the link should contain the keywords that you are promoting on your page/site.
4. Its more helpful if the link comes from a well traveled page on the site. Many people offer links from a links page which is reasonable. A link from a site's home page is much better. But a link on a page which nobody visits is not worth much.
5. The site offering you a link should have good placement on google. A site ranking on the 100th page of google is not worth much to your SEO campaign or placement.

The most common problem with link exchanges is that sites with nothing in common with yours will offer a link exchange. Don't bother doing this. In general, the more links the better even if they are not the most potent links. It makes sense to have a regular program for attracting links. Perhaps one day a month you could contact other companies in your field and offer to exchange links with them. If you offer directory listings, you can offer listings in exchange for a link. This is beneficial to al parties concerned.

Another strategy used by larger companies is to own many sites that are either in the same category or vertical. You can link all of those sites to each other and get real power that way.