Just wondering. I've been doing some link exchanges lately, wondering if there were any disadvantages to having alot of reciprocals to a links page? 90% of the links are related sites, but, even so.... is there any penalty on my end if I developed several hundred links over the next 6 months? I was thinking about going hardcore with exchanges. I know the value of the link out of my site would decrease for the person getting it, but would it cost me anything by linking out like this?
Why don't you spread the links among several pages, or use some directory? Having them all on one page will make your site look like crap. I would never trade with a site that will put my link in a page with 100 other links.
I don't put more than 10-15 outgoing links on any "resources type" page. It's not set in stone, but I won't exchange links with someone who is going to put my link on a page with 40 or 50 outgoing links. People who are willing to do it will generally have no problem with that many links on their own pages. You are then exchanging crap for crap. Every outgoing link reduces the value of the link i.e. if 1 link is worth X, then 2 links would each be worth 1/2 of X. You will wind up doing a lot more work for the same benefit. You can be penalized for being a link farm, but I don't know what the exact number is. Even if it was as high as 100 outgoing links on a page, the links are basically worthless at that point anyway and you'll have a real hard time getting relevant links from quality sites because their webmaster is savvy to massive link pages. A page with a ton of links also cheapens a site imo. Lately, I've seen a lot of pages with a high number of links get their PR taken away on their link page (not other content pages).... Even PR6 sites get a PR0 on a link page that is linked to from the home page.
Google itself actually advises never to go above 100 links per page. I wouldn't break your neck trying to get too many links too quickly nobody really knows for sure but it is believed that growing links too quickly can be a flag of SE manipulation to the engines
I would stick closer to 10 links per page max ... lower if you can. I've seen a pattern where pages with 15 or more outbound links consistenly lose PR.
Just break up the links into a sensible directory-type structure and spread them over multiple pages. A zillion links per page looks crap and drags the overall tone / appearance of your site down. Better to make it look and feel much more user friendly.