Link Building Swap Requests

Lots of our clients get requests, take a look at a request and a reply to see our current recommendations:
[Email Request] Would you like to swap a link to my website? We are ranked number 1 -10 on google for many searches including ‘Essex  joiner’ Essex builder’ ‘ best builders’ ‘builder in Essex’ etc.  A link from us would compliment your website and we are not in competition with you.
Also if you like us on facebook, twitter, Google+ etc I’ll do the same for you.
[Website Designers] In General if you swap links (reciprocal linking) from a related business it may give a marginal benefit but its very very small. Especially after recent Google changes but in general nearly all inbound links are good for your website. You dont want your link to be on a page full of unrelated links and you dont want it from an unrelated business.  As a suggestion if you want to see if this company is genuine and you want to improve your link profile you can reply saying you agree to swap links and asking them to put your  link on their website page and once thats done you will do the same, this stops them trying to trick you into simply linking to them. Also you should be aware that they could remove your link at anytime leaving you with a link to a related company that would reduce your website’s ‘Google Power’. Thats why in general swapping links with people you know and business contacts is the best way forward. Swapping links with companies you dont know is not something we recommend or practise and you may end up getting a negative indication within the Google Algorithm that determines your website’s ranking for doing this.