Is it worth me considering a reciprocal linking request to my authority site ?

[ChrisBIlly]

My web site is www.swimmer.co.uk it sells waterproof mp3 players & is the authority site in its niche

I have no out going reciprocal links

I don't  have advertising or encourage reciprocal linking as I thought it may devalue the sites quality & link juice

I have had a reciprocal link request from a swim wear based website called   www.onlyswim.com that has a reciprocal linking sub-page with many varied links on it that are not just on the subject of swimming

I don't think I will get any direct traffic from this website so I was wondering if ts worth me agreeing to a reciprocal link page

I think we both have a PR of 2

**Any comments would be much appreciated **

In research to try & answer my own question I have just read this on wikipedia

"Reciprocal linking between websites is no longer an important part of the search engine optimization process.Google and other search engines now do not give credit to reciprocal linking as it does not indicate genuine link popularity."

[MassivePrime]

You seem to have answered this all by yourself already, reciprocal links and close to useless nowadays and since you do not think you will get any direct traffic from their site I wouldn't bother if I were you.

[polarking]

If it were me I would stay away. I get these requests a lot. Do your research.

[Copstead]

It is alright to have outbound links, just make sure that they are relevant to the page it is linking from.  I believe I have read that relevant outbound links are actually good for SEO.  (But don't go crazy).

[Cyrus-Shepard]

In general, reciprocal links are fine if there is a good reason for them to be there. Sometimes they help, sometimes they do nothing.

But get too many off-topic reciprocal links and you will risk a penalty.

Rand did a great video awhile back that discussed this topic: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/whiteboard-friday-sitewide-reciprocal-and-directory-links

So, a couple reciprocal links on your site probably wont hurt you, but I'd be extra careful about soliciting these types of links from others. In the end, it's more rewarding and less risky to gain links the hard way.

Hope this helps! Best of luck with your SEO.

[ChrisBIlly]

Thanks to everyone for replying to this query

Having watched Rand's video & I think I'm getting the general impression with link building that if its ethical & natural congruent with ones topic it will tend to stand the test of time

In my case for me I think I will only reciprocal link with site requests that are more closely related to my niche topic 'waterproof mp3 players'  & not just generalist swim related sites

thanks again for everybody's  input