Link exchange request from a new site

Their site is on topic but no PR... Will this affect me negatively?

[J_Mac]

I just got a request for a link echange from a new site that shows no PR. It is relatively new (may 2005) and offers a service/product that is in line with my offerings but it does not have much copy/content. Will exchanging links affect the PR of my site in a negative way?

I have noticed a few requestes recently from new sites with no PR but on topic.

[tigger]

check to see if its within G's cache then if theres no spammy tricks then link up, thats what I've been doing since G moved to quarterly updates

[Crush]

Yep with tigger there

[jimbeetle]

Yeah, if it passes the smell test you should go for it. Many of those no or low PR sites today will be 4s, 5s and 6s in in time, and might even send some decent traffic as a bonus.

[J_Mac]

Thanks guys, appreciate it a bunch.

[nuevojefe]

You should be evaluating w/o the toolbar IMO. That will keep your judgement pure ;-)

(Oh, and check wayback, whois, cache:, site:, link:, linkdomain:, and fire up a script to run a search on all their outbound links to look for grey-barred sites, etc).

[MarkWolk]

PR0 is fine if the site is new and on topic. What is worrying is the lack of content; I would personally not link to a site with little or no content.

[tbear]

If the site offers something of value to your visitors, then I would suggest, link to it. If not, I personally would not link to it, regardless of rankings, etc.
If the site owner feels your site offers something to his visitors, he should link to you regardless.
In my book, that's what links are about ;)

[sugarrae]

Check for spammy techniques being used on the site itself
Check the quality of its backlink partners (aside from yourself)
Check the cache (as mentioned)
Check to make sure the page your link would be on is indexed and cached in the engines

If it passes all of those, ask yourself...

Would I link to this site if there were no SEO benefit and the only benefit was for my users
Will my site visitors find this link useful
If I were looking for information or products that they offer, would I be happy with what I found on this site