Questions about link building and PR

[MrMojoRisin]

How do you go about link building to increase Page Rank and SERPs? I recently had a site drop from PR4 to PR3. I had a lot of links to other sites on the page(from reciprocal links). A lot of the partners I traded links with dumped links to my site, so I deleted their links. I am trying to increase my PageRank and SERPs now. How do I go about building links? Should I do direct reciprocal linking where I link to a site and the same page I link to links back? Should I gradually build links, a few at a time, instead of lots at once? I want to increase links to my site to increase the PR, but I don't want a big link farm on my site, how do I accomplish this? Also, a lot of the sites of trading links with are sending a lot less traffic then I am sending them! Should I not care and just try to get as many links as possible?

thanks

[jd01]

How do I go about building links?

Carefully.

Should I do direct reciprocal linking where I link to a site and the same page I link to links back?

No.

Should I gradually build links, a few at a time, instead of lots at once?

Yes. No. Depends on the website.

I want to increase links to my site to increase the PR, but I don't want a big link farm on my site, how do I accomplish this?

Build a website people want to link to.

Also, a lot of the sites of trading links with are sending a lot less traffic then I am sending them! Should I not care and just try to get as many links as possible?

Some of us don't offer links.
Sites get a link if our visitors will benefit from the site, if not, 'No link for you!'

Try to think about what your links (growth rate, increase, decrease) 'say' to a search engine. From there you should get a better idea of what to do for your particular site.

Here's a hint: Don't think 'PR' = Rankings.
It might help, but is not the only factor in the results.

Justin